alisonknits

600 Yards...

... is how much Manos wool I brought with me to a conference in Boston this weekend, and 600 yards is how much yarn I knit.  I was there from Thursday to Sunday, and started my new sweater on the train ride up.  It's my own design, kind of a cross between a top-down raglan and yoke sweater.  Here's what I got done over the weekend:

Aren't you proud of me for taking that picture in the mirror all by myself?  Here are a couple close ups (which you can click on for pop ups), one with flash and one without.  Someday I'll learn to Photoshop these things.. the real color is somewhere in between the two.

With the holiday off, a day all to myself, I actually finished the whole body, and am now about five inches into a sleeve.  But as usual I'm behind on taking pictures.  (I still owe my dear readers a photo of the completed Swan Sweater, which has grown on me since my initial disappointment.  But it hasn't really been cold enough to wear it.  I'm not complaining!)

Anyway, back to the Manos sweater.  I haven't made many sweaters from the top down before.  I like it, except that now that I'm knitting the sleeves down from the body, I have to keep flipping the whole thing over in my lap.  It is most definitely not portable.  But one great advantage is I can keep trying it on as I go. 

Of course, I'm already seeing things that I would do differently if I were to knit this again (or if I write up the pattern).  I would make the rate of increase in the yoke longer, because as it is it kind of puckers.  But it's not very noticable when I'm wearing it.  Also Manos has no dye lots, but the skeins certainly have variation since they are hand-dyed.  I didn't pay too much attention as I was choosing which skein to work next, and there's one band in the middle of the body that has more white in it than the others.  The first skein (that is the cabled neck) has a similar amount of white, and it would have looked better to put those two next to each other, and to work in the darker lot more gradually by alternating rows.  Scott assures me that the difference is only noticible if you're looking for it.  Perhaps I'll use the sweater in my classes to demonstrate the importance of checking dye lots.

In any case I'm very pleased with my new project, but sadly it will be over soon.  So I suppose I need a new project that's big, or complicated.  Something I can really sink my teeth into.  What will it be?

Reconstructive Surgery

Lately I have almost the opposite of start-itis (the syndrome of starting lots of projects instead of just finishing the ones you've got going).  I really want to start a new sweater now that the Swan Sweater is finished, but I just can't figure out what I want to make.  On Friday, while casting about for something exciting to knit, I came across one of my favorite sweaters that I haven't worn all season.

This sweater was my own design, knit out of Karabella Margrite, which is one of my favorite yarns ever.  It has lace rib sleeves, as well as trimming the bottom and a lace rib cowl.  Back when I was working at School Products, Arthur of Karabella liked the sweater so much he bought the pattern from me - woo hoo!

But I'd become disenchanted with my sweater, because I made the body too big.  It didn't fit with the style of the sweater.  Also I thought the ribbing on the bottom should have been tighter and longer, which I had corrected on the official pattern, but my prototype remained too loose and not in line with my vision.

I couldn't let my favorite sweater go to waste, so I decided to fix these problems with the help of a sewing machine and some scissors.  First, I picked apart the side seams and took off the sleeves.  I took off the ribbing by pulling on a stitch just above it until I had pulled out as long a piece of yarn as possible, then cut the thread.  Magically the ribbing comes off and now I have live stitches to work with.  I threaded them on waste yarn for later.

Then I took out my little $25 sewing machine (the thing looks like a toy, but it works) and sewed two lines of stitching along the sides where I wanted to cut to make the body narrower.  Then I realized that I should be documenting this whole process, so I took this picture of what I had so far:

Then I cut next to the machine stitching, and re-sewed the side seams, easy-peasy.  I picked up all the live stitches on the bottom, decreased by 10%, and lace-ribbed until I felt sure that it was long enough.  I was mindful of the need to bind off loosely, but didn't do it loose enough on the first try (as I discovered when I tried it on and it didn't really fit over my hips).  I took it out and tried again.

Sewed the sleeves back in, and voila! - my new old sweater!

The inside isn't exactly pretty, but who cares?

I wore it to knitting class to rave reviews from my students.  A very satisfactory project.  Now if I could just figure out what I want to knit next...

Breathing Room

Be careful what you wish for - you just might get it.  I've always found that to be true.  The good news is, I know have Thursday nights free.  The bad news is, it's because a program I care about that I was co-facilitating was cancelled for lack of interest.  I have to admit, though, I'm pretty relieved to have one weeknight free now.

And the program that was cancelled, while very worthwhile, was my least fun weeknight activity.  My two knitting classes are going very well - especially the beginners.  Every time I teach, the class has a different dynamic, and after a rather difficult group last time, this one is full of positive attitudes.  Everyone seems to be in a good mood when it's time to go - and in fact, I have to remind them when it's time to go, which I hardly ever do in most of my classes.  It's a great way to start my week every Monday!

In knitting news - the swan sweater is complete!  But I'm a little disappointed with it.  Drop-shoulder sweaters are so unflattering, and this one, though a modified drop shoulder so that it's a bit less fabric under the arms, has incredibly poufy sleeves.  I did notice this as I was making the sleeves, but at that point it was too late to do anything about the corresponding long armholes.  Scott assures me that it's a beautiful sweater, but I remain unconvinced that it will look beautiful on me.  This is yet another lesson for me that I should 1) not knit drop shoulder sweaters for myself, and 2) always follow my instincts when I'm knitting something and I know it's not coming out right.

In any case, I will provide a picture so that you can weigh in on the poufy sleeves.  But not just now, as my camera batteries need to be charged.

You may notice that I've deleted some blogs from my sidebar.  I thought it should more accurately reflect what blogs I actually read, and I haven't been doing very much blog reading for a while. If I deleted your link, it doesn't mean I don't like you... I've just been limiting my blog reading to people I know in real life and very few others.

Have a good week everyone!