Month: March 2012

Sweater Love

underdutchskies4 Comments

It’s about time I tell you about this sweater!  It’s finished and I’m thrilled that it’s still cool enough that I can wear it comfortably.

The pattern (in case you haven’t been following along) is the Smocked Cable Coat, published in Vogue Knitting.  The yarn is Madelinetosh Vintage in color Mourning Dove.  I knit it on US6/4mm needles.  The back and fronts were knit flat and seamed.  The sleeves were knit in the round and then sewn in.

I fell in love with this pattern as soon as I saw it and it seemed the perfect match for this yarn.  I wear a lot of blue and I will definitely get a lot of wear out of this sweater!  It really sucked up a lot of yarn though.  I used 9 skeins for this thing and normally 7 would be enough for a sweater for me.  The bottom is really full and skirt-like and all the cables make it thick and warm at the back.

It might look a little big on me, and I might have gotten away making it a size smaller, but I want to be able to wear it as a winter sweater with something substantial under it, so this is fine.  I also purposely made the sleeves this long.  They are kind of a ruffled look at the bottom and I liked them longer.

All in all it was a really fast, fun knit.  I highly recommend the pattern.  Be sure to check for errata though as there were mistakes in the printed version.

Here’s a photo of me sewing up the shoulder seam.  Unlike a lot of people, I really don’t mind sewing up garments.  Maybe that’s because I’ve done it a lot and I know quite well how to do it.  There’s no guesswork.  And a good seam is a beautiful thing, strong and functional.  You can’t even see where my side seams are, if I’m allowed to brag a little.

I’ll have more news about sweater construction, seams, finishing and all that in a later blog post.  I have some exciting news to report but it’s a little early to start blowing horns.

Anyway, you can bet I’ll be wearing this sweater every chance I get before it gets too warm outside.

It’s the Color

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Oh boy, colorful yarns are invading my life!  In spite of all the other knitting I’m trying to get finished, I joined another KAL.  I’m making a pair of La Digitessa socks in Wollmeise Twin, color Red Hot Chili.  Here’s a progress photo:

Aren’t they great? I love the yarn and the pattern so much.  The only problem is that knitting these small twisted stitches really hurts my hands.  I can only knit them for 30 minutes at a time and then I have to put them down.  The result is worth the effort.

I’m going to put this sock on spare needles and cast on the second sock using the other end of the skein (starting from the center of the cake).  Why?  Well, mainly because that’s the way the KAL is organized – knit both of the socks at the same time.  And it also gives my hands a break from the twists and turns and allows me to just knit simple stockinette stitch for a while.

And if you thought that was enough orange in the house, you’d be wrong! Look what arrived in the mail last week!

These are 80/10/10 sport weight from Madelinetosh, color Citrus.  The color in the photo is a little flat.  The skeins are even brighter.  I know, I know, what am I doing buying yarn when I’ve been trying so hard to destash yarn?  I couldn’t resist the orange.  Period.  The only other yarn I will allow myself in the next several months is a bright Spring green.  If I see some of that I will buy it.  Period.  You’ve been warned.

As for my other projects, I knit the collar on my Smocked Cable Coat, but I didn’t like it so I ripped it out and have to try something else.  That’s my goal for the coming week.

And the brioche afghan is off the needles!!!! YIPPEE!  That thing took 6 100g skeins of DK weight yarn.  It’s big and beautiful.  I now need to weave in the ends and block it.  The only way I can block it is to move some furniture and pull out a hide-a-bed and lay it out on that.  Photos should be coming in another week!

I’m so glad to be finished knitting these 2 big projects.  Now I can concentrate on Mom’s birthday present which has to be done by the end of May.  You won’t see anything about that until she gets it, in June.  And then you’ll be really impressed. 🙂

New and Colorful

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Look what came in the mail last week!

Isn’t it beautiful?  It’s Madelinetosh DK Twist in color Mansfield Garden Party.  I can’t stop looking at the photo.   I’ve made it my desktop photo.  I love it.

I’m going to make a summer cardigan with it, that is knit sideways in garter stitch.  I think that will keep the color from pooling and will mix it up enough to look good.  At least I hope so!  All I can do is try it and see how it looks.

Do you see the one rogue skein?  The one at the very top is different from the others.  I’m hoping I won’t need it at all for my sweater and can either sell it or make something else with it, like a hat.  That skein doesn’t have much pink in it but instead some dark purple that none of the other skeins have.  They are all hand dyed, ok, but still, don’t send me a non-matching skein in such a small order of yarn!

I’ve also started a sock as part of a KAL (knit a long) on Ravelry.  I’ve knit these socks before but they were too big for me so I gave them to my mom.  The pattern is La Digitessa by Yarnissima and I’m making them with Wollmeise Twin in color Red Hot Chili.  Wow! What beautiful yarn!  I knit this much…

…and then discovered it’s a little too big.  I frogged it and started over using 2mm needles.  I was using 2.25mm before, which are normally the right size for my sock knitting.

Now, as soon as I hit the PUBLISH button, I’m going to close this computer and start sewing together my blue Smocked Cable Coat.  I will first join the shoulders and then knit the collar before sewing in the sleeves.  No point dragging the sleeves around while knitting the collar.  I hope to have the whole thing finished in a week.  You’ll be the first to know!

Signs of Spring

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This morning we went running in the dunes, as usual, but at least now it isn’t so cold.  No hat or gloves needed. Yay!

Here’s someone who’s toasty warm all the time.

She walked right up to me as I came running up the path.  She stood there quietly while I scratched her head.  I could feel the heat rising off her fleece.  I wonder when they will be sheared?  These are the same sheep I caught on camera escaping over the fence several weeks ago.

I was really distracted by the animals today.  I also stopped to pet the (not so) wild horses.  The ones next to the road in this photo were happy to let me scratch them behind the ears and pat their necks.  They were really friendly.

As you can see, it was really coastal weather today with the low fog.

You can tell Spring is in the air by all the bikers that are suddenly everywhere.  Just when you are enjoying having the dunes to yourself, these guys show up again to race through the dunes and make you nervous at every corner.  I wonder how many times they crash on these dune paths every year.

It’s another busy Sunday chez UDS.  I’ve just taken muffins out of the oven, I’m preparing another blog post, and then I’ll start sewing together my cardigan.  Gotta call Mom and make dinner.  Never a dull moment!