A Sleeve ... or Two

There are those of you who aspire to have a variety of projects on your needles. You've got a hat, a sock, a mitt, a sweater, and a blanket all having a party in your knitting basket.  And then there's me.  If I have more than two projects calling for my attention, I get a little antsy and, yes, even a little dazed.  It's not that I can't multitask (I'm the queen of multitasking), but I find it hard to work on one project and not feel like I'm neglecting the other one.  Anyone willing to offer knitting therapy?

And then there's the UFO (aka unfinished object) lurking in the back corner of the closet or at the bottom of the project bag or stuffed under the couch cushions.  Okay, hopefully not under the couch cushions, but I have a feeling you know what I'm talking about.  So, here I was, at the start of fall knitting season feeling very proud of myself for having individual clear bags filled with yarn, needles, and pattern waiting for when I would finish one project to then cast on a new pattern.

And then I dug just a little deeper into my knitting basket and saw it ... my UFO from last October! It was my Bailey cardigan begun with some gorgeous Uncommon Thread Yarn that Mark brought back all the way from Loop London in summer 2013.

You can be sure that I whipped that project out of its bag, read through the pattern again, found where I had left off, and started knitting.  And I have to say, with complete joy, that I have been enjoying my Bailey so, so much.  This is all to say that I have been monogamously knitting on my cardigan and am almost finished.  Yes, you see one fully completed sleeve and another one making its way to the elbow.  

I guess you can say that I'm not suffering from second-sleeve syndrome.  

Please Knit List

Thanks so much for all your comments on my last post.  In all honesty, I hadn't even thought about the possibility of the red bleeding into the white (Maryse, you deserve a knitting medal for pointing this out to me!).  I loved the words of caution (Gail, Wildflower Wool, and Andi) mixed with the cheers of enthusiasm (Ellen, Kepanie, Kelly, and Preeti), but at the end of the day, I couldn't risk spending all those hours knitting this combination of the Nangou only to watch it morph into a pink and red shawl.  Yes, my friends, I frogged it (again!).  So, what's a knitter to do?  You guessed it ~ I cast on something completely new and different.

I'm one of those lucky knitters whose children actually ask for hand-knitted garments. Each fall, Miranda has her please knit list, and presents it to me with the sweetest smile.  This is when I wish I had eight pairs of arms because she usually has at least eight sweaters (yes, sweaters) that she's hoping will fly off my needles before the first snow flake falls.

I am always so happy to oblige but sometimes her wishes take a little time to figure out. Last fall, she fell in love with a hip-length cardigan that she saw at Urban Outfitters and asked begged me to knit it for her.  It was incredibly simple (drop shoulders, V-neck, long sleeves, pockets), but the textured stitch had me stumped.  I did a bunch of swatches but none matched the look of the UO sweater.  Fast forward to this fall ~ I came across a gorgeous cardigan on IG and traced it back to the Comfort Zone pattern.  Two seconds later, the pattern was in my library, and I was swatching to pick the best yarn for the project.  I'll tell you more about my swatching process in my next post but for now, I can't seem to put this cardigan down.  And I guess you can say that I'm not done with the color red just yet!

FO: Inland

I can't explain why my Inland took me so long to knit and finish, but I can say it was entirely my own fault. I've already gushed about how much I love Jane Richmond's patterns, and this one is no different. Yet, for inexplicable reasons, this project kept getting put back into my knitting bag and weeks would pass before I picked it up again. Completely bizarro as I loved the pattern and the cardigan is knit with bulky yarn on size US10.5 needles ~ seriously, what was the matter with me?

But I'm done beating myself up. What's more important is the fact that I now have a beautiful cozy and classic cardigan in my wardrobe.  Everyone needs a pop of red in their sweater collection and this red is the perfect red:  warm and cool at the same time.  The yarn is Cascade Ecological Wool which is one of my favorite bulky wools ~ it's economical and blooms so nicely after a soak.

My lovely and talented friend Susan spent an afternoon photographing Miranda recently, and she took this fabulous shot ~ Vogue, anyone?

Beacon Hill Revisited

A little while ago, I realized that I've never knit a sweater pattern more than once. I know, how can that be?  After all, there is an endless supply of gorgeous and well-written patterns to choose from but surely, I'm not alone ... right?

In some cases, I can see why we would knit the same pattern more than once.  A classic design in multiple colors would add a lot of versatility to a wardrobe, and a design that is flattering to a particular body type could be knit in different yarns yielding lots of great outfit options.  And then there's my reason for why I'm now knitting the Beacon Hill cardigan again.  Simply put:  I love the pure knitting of it.

The first time I knit this sweater, I was a test knitter for the uber talented Jane Richmond. I found myself enjoying this project more than any other sweater I had ever worked on.  As knitters, I'm not sure that we can always explain why we love knitting on a particular pattern, but in thinking more about this, I can say that there's a beautiful logic to the cardigan's construction, and I find the rhythm of the stitch pattern incredibly soothing.

Wanting a cozy cardigan for what feels like an endless winter, I looked around my pattern library and was happily reminded of this project so I dove into my stash and cast on.  Yes, I'm knitting with Patons Classic Wool again ~ what can I say that I haven't already said about this yarn? This is the plum heather colorway and the sweater is moving along really quickly.  Good thing, too, as New York is experiencing yet another snow storm today ... I need more knits!

Unravelled

What is it about the close of one year and the beginning of a new one that inspires so many of us to turn to housekeeping?  I spent a couple of hours yesterday organizing my clothes closet ~ one pile to donate, one pile to discard, and one pile to recycle ~ and for us knitters, recycling takes on a very specific meaning.  That's right, I'm planning to unravel these sweaters to re-use the yarn.

While some of you may cringe at the thought of my unravelling these sweaters, I'm feeling pretty stoked and inspired to knit with these yarns again.  In order, from top to bottom, these sweaters are my Sea Pines pullover, Gray Day pullover, Caramel cardigan, and Beacon Hill cardigan.

Yes, I've decided to unravel four sweaters which translate into many hours of knitting time and many yards of yarn, but these pullovers and cardigans have been languishing in my closet over the last few years because they're either too large or too small.  

So, as I say goodbye to 2013, I'm welcoming the new year with a renewed energy toward my knitting and blogging.  As one of my goals for 2014 is to be more economically creative, being able to recycle these sweaters' worth of Cascade Cloud, Cascade 220, Berroco Vintage, and Patons Classic Wool is getting me off to a great start.  I wonder how many of you plan to do something similar?  I'd love to hear about your recycling projects.

Pattern Fever

I'm not quite sure how to explain this but as the seasons have changed from winter to spring, I've had a serious case of pattern fever.  But not just any type of pattern fever ... no, I'm lusting over sweater patterns and I don't see an end in sight!

Even before my sweet husband bought me these yummy skeins, I was feverishly queuing cardigan and pullover patterns as if they were going out of style. Fortunately, some of my favorite designers have had a sale here and there fully justifying my recent Ravelry pattern splurge. (Yes, I often have to find ways to justify my passion for knitting).

One recent splurge happened over on Amy Christophers' Savory Knitting's pattern page ~ I've been coveting her patterns forever and am so happy to now have a few in my library. I find it hard to believe that I've been a fangirl of hers for so long but have yet to knit one of her patterns. I'm going to remedy that this summer, but I have to decided whether I want to start with her incredibly popular Acer Cardigan or something a little simpler. Stay tuned to find out!

Meanwhile, I'm happy to say that I've got the reading bug again. With the busyness of the last few weeks, my mind hasn't been able to concentrate much on books, but over the long holiday weekend, I started John Green's The Fault in Our Stars, a favorite with my two teens, and a novel that has been praised on both YA and adult Best Of lists.  I couldn't agree more.

Iced Coffee

Last night, by candlelight and public radio, I swatched for my new sweater.  After I posted yesterday about deciding to join in the NaKniSweMo challenge, I did a quick search for easy and quick sweater patterns and remembered that my dear friend, Erin, knit Carol Feller's Iced Cardigan recently and loved it.  I know that what I need right now, while reports say that my neighborhood may not have power until the weekend of November 10, is a comforting bulky knit project.

I have two skeins of Cascade Ecological Wool and got gauge on US11 needles so I've cast on and already feel the calm and peace I get when I start knitting.  Now more than ever, I really appreciate my stash! The yarn is a rich dark coffee color (hence the name of my project) and my plan is to have my fireplace going all weekend, coffee pot full, and knitting project by my side.

Now if I can only think of what else to cook for dinner besides pasta!

Safe and happy weekend everyone. xo

30 Days

As some of you know, I'm without electricity and do not foresee getting it back until after the weekend but if there is ever a time to make lemonade out of lemons, it's now!

During Hurricane Sandy, I took advantage of being home, hunkered down with my knitting and made great progress on my Beacon, my BFF cowl, and my test knit.  Two out of three are finished (photos and posts soon) and my Beacon is inches away from being bound off.  Yeah, I can be productive during a hurricane!

Now it's November 1, and I have limited access to the internet so I'll check in here whenever I can but I am jumping in on another sweater challenge. 

Some of my friends (and family) will be participating in NaNoWriMo where you write a novel of at least 50,000 words in the month of November.  I'm going to participate in NaKniSweMo which follows a similar concept, but I'll be knitting a sweater of at least 50,000 stitches.

While I have access to Ravelry, I'll do my pattern searching and stop by my LYS for yarn.  I may be without electricity, but I'll just look at this misfortune as a way to accomplish this goal!  Again, lemonade out of lemons!

Jump for Fall FO: Isaiah's Bean Cardigan

While I've been knitting away at my two adult-sized pullovers, it's been a real joy to knit something in miniature!

Cascade 220 in Camel, Wool of the Andes in Currant

The Little Coffee Bean Cardigan pattern is super easy and super quick which was just what I needed. My other projects are much more labor intensive, either because of their size or because of the more complicated stitch patterns so turning to this cardigan was a great respite.

My Isaiah's Bean Cardigan had to be modified as I was committed to knitting from my stash.  I had to resort to knitting the bottom and front ribbing and bottom sleeves in the currant colorway and while I would have preferred to follow the pattern exactly, I think the cardigan looks adorable.

With only a little bit of the currant colorway left, I couldn't resist knitting a baby hat to complete the ensemble!  I can't wait to gift this to my dear friend (even though this gift is months overdue!).

A Wealth of Ideas

Thanks to everyone who commented on my last post and made suggestions for set-in sleeve sweaters to knit.  I'm thinking about each of them and weighing my choices.  Julie suggested a great casual pullover called Thermal by Laura Chau which appeals to my need for more weekend-style knits.


From pattern page on Ravelry

Michelle of the collegeknitting blog suggested Livingstone and Girl Friday, both of which I would love to add to my winter wardrobe.

From pattern page on Ravelry

From pattern page on Ravelry

And Cecilia suggested the Central Park Hoodie which is completely adorable.

From pattern page on Ravelry

Thanks also to those of you who had great tips -- tutorials, hints, and books -- which I will surely refer to once I decide which pattern to cast on. If any of you would like to weigh in and vote for a pattern, I'm completely open to that.  Yeah, I need some help here!

My Bright Stash - 3KCBWDAY1

The joke around my house is that my closet has no light.  Oh, it has a light switch and a light bulb but no light as I mainly own (and therefore wear) only dark colors. I have every shade imaginable in black and brown, but you have to dig pretty deep to find anything red or purple.  And yellow or green? They're non-existent.


Now, should you open my organized but overflowing chest of drawers (and two large bins) that house my yarn stash, you will find something completely surprising. You will find some really bright colors and variegated skeins of pink, green, gold, and blue. So, what is it about yarn that lets me push through my preference for dark colors that my wardrobe can't?


I'm currently working on three very colorful WIPs, and I can't tell you how many compliments I get about the yarns that I'm knitting with.

Citron in Malabrigo Lace Brilliante

Concentric Circles Cardigan in Maxima Peach Melba

Wholehearted Shawl in Madelinetosh Merino Light Glazed Pecan

I've been rotating these three WIPs and each one is not only a different colorway but also a different yarn weight. I didn't intend to do this but now having found myself with these three projects, I think I need to make this a regular practice. I'm still committed to keeping my WIPs to three or fewer on my needles -- I just feel more relaxed having only these few projects in the works -- and having each one be so different from the others is really inspiring.


The Wholehearted Shawl KAL is gaining steam, and if you want to see some great photos of our progress, check out the pattern page over on Ravelry. I love seeing what colors everyone chose and there are also terrific notes (and corrections) that are incredibly helpful.  I hope you'll consider joining along!

Yarn Along #10

I'm joining in Ginny's Yarn Along this week.

Do you remember when I bought these skeins and then wondered if I should return them?

Manos de Uruguay Maxima

You encouraged me to get out of my color comfort zone and knit something with these beauties, so I listened and knit a pair of leg warmers for Miranda.

One skein I included in my birthday giveaway, and I had one more skein left.  What to knit? I decided that a baby knit would look adorable in peach melba and found the perfect pattern.

What I love about this pattern is the fact that I never have to cut the yarn, I don't have to seam a thing, and it looks wonderful in worsted weight.  I can't wait to finish this cutie and cast on another, perhaps next time in a cotton blend for the summer.  There are a couple of teachers I know who are having babies, and I'll gift these to them.

So, what am I reading this week?  Like many of you, I just got the Twist Collective newsletter and loved each and every article.  The one that got me thinking the most is the piece on organic wool.  

Yup, that's my new iPad!

I try to buy organic food as often as I can, and I've recently noticed a trend in organic fiber. I figured it was a similar concept as organic food and this article helped me understand better why I want to add organic yarn to my stash whenever financially possible. The work that goes into raising organic wool is mind-boggling but oh so worth the effort.  Hmmm, I have to go back into my stash and see how many organic wools I have.  So to those organic wool makers, thank you!

FO: My Caramel

Can you believe it? I knitted my first adult cardigan, and I'm so proud of myself.

My Caramel Cardigan turned out nicely although I think Berocco Vintage might be a tad too heavy for the design.  This is a blanket-style cardigan which I love and it has a nice drape to it but in BV, the drape is more weighty than I like.  I'm petite with small shoulders so the front drape is longer than I prefer.  Still, BV knits up into a solid and cushy fabric which lays nicely across the body.

After my failed attempt at setting in sleeves, this raglan method gets an A+ in my book. Again, because of my small frame, the raglan shaping here is slightly larger than it should be but I can live with it.

Thanks for all the votes on the sleeve length and while the majority of votes went to 3/4 sleeves, I went rogue and ended them just above the elbow.  Why?  Two reasons:  (1) I knitted this as a spring season cardigan so wanted to keep some lightness to the shape and (2) I started to run out of my fourth skein, and I really didn't want to have this cardigan cost more than I had budgeted it for (I know, I'm cheap practical).  I think the sleeves look pretty nice and have been happily throwing this on as my everyday cardigan.

I'll definitely knit this pattern again ... next time I'll use a sport-weight yarn and stripe it!

Question of the Day

Short or Long?

My cardigan is humming along, so much so that I'm knitting my first sleeve. I was able to finish the body, ribbed hem and all, over the weekend and in my final hour of knitting on Sunday, I joined my yarn on the left sleeve and managed a few rounds.  

I haven't decided if I'm going to knit 3/4 quarter sleeves or full-length yet.  Since I'm thinking of this cardigan as one I'll wear mostly in the spring, the 3/4 quarter length is speaking to me.  It's a very loose and drapey cardigan so I don't want to feel overwhelmed in it but then again, will a shorter sleeve look odd?  That's my question of the day:  what do you think?

The Cardigan Chronicles: Letting Go

I thought to name today's post many things:  Epic Fail, Misery, Jumping Ship, UGH!  But Letting Go is the most appropriate because that is how I'm feeling this morning.  I feel that it's a more positive way to describe my huge disappointment in the cardigan that I've been working on for the past four months.

It was a busy weekend mainly spent in the city doing wonderful things (dance class and an audition for a summer intensive for Miranda, attending a contemporary dance performance with friends followed by tea and great conversation) so my time working on the second sleeve was precious.  My KAL partner teased me last week when I wrote about abandoning the two sleeves I had already knitted and trying the top-down sleeve method instead -- yes, I was avoiding doing the maths!  So, on Saturday night, with one more sleeve to go, I picked up the one I had already knitted (yes, the one with the too-long sleeve cap), frogged back to what I thought was the right measurement to fit into the arm opening, bound off, and began sewing.  I did this four times and none were right.  I have a feeling I know what I did wrong but I don't want to talk about it.


I ended the evening where I began, with one sleeve left to finish.  Last night, I decided to do the top-down sleeve method again but no matter how many times I picked up the stitches around the arm hole, I couldn't get the same number as I had on the other arm.  I pushed on, knitting the short rows, going on until I reached the bottom of the opening, only to discover that the sleeve would be too tight. I'm not one to easily give up so I frogged back and did this two more times. By the third hour of working on this miserable sleeve, I threw the cardigan back into my knitting bag and went to bed in a huff. 

I usually like to sleep on problems that I'm having and this was no different. So, this morning, I woke afresh, put my cardigan on, and after looking at the way it fit, decided that I have to let go.  There are too many aspects about this cardigan that doesn't work for me.  The rib collar is unflattering, and the one sleeve that I did manage to knit is too puckered around the arm opening and even with severe blocking as Julie suggested, I don't think will smooth out to my liking.  Perhaps more than that, the shoulder seam is now mimicking a dropped sleeve look which on my frame is really unattractive.


So I've come to the only conclusion that makes sense (to me, at least):  I'm going to let go and chalk this experience as a lesson learned. I'm not vowing to never knit a cardigan again -- far from it -- but for now, I think I'm better with knitting a top-down or raglan-style sweater instead. Setting in sleeves is a real skill, one that I just don't have yet, and that's okay. I'll learn it and I'll try again.


Thanks for all your incredible support during this failure of mine -- I really don't see it as wasted time (okay, maybe a little) and instead can appreciate what I have learned in the process.  I'll be frogging this little terror soon as the yarn is just too beautiful to let languish.  I'm sure you'll see it done up in something much more successful soon!

Berocco Ultra Alpaca Light

The Cardigan Chronicles: Day 107

I hope you'll indulge me as I post about my cardigan again today.  It's day 107, and I'm inching ever closer to my target date for completion (it's this Friday, if you remember).  Thanks to all of you who commented yesterday, and offered both words of wisdom and empathy.  I was feeling so dashed but knowing you're with me here really helps.


Privately, I had two very special people send me incredible notes on how to salvage what I had already done.  My KAL partner reminded me about the notes she made when knitting the sleeves, but I had already taken those into account.  I suppose somehow I still managed to knit more than I needed to in the sleeve cap.  She also suggested blocking the cardigan before setting in the sleeves which is an interesting idea.

Gail sent me incredible notes on the construction of sleeve caps to help me better understand how they should fit into an arm opening and was a true cheerleader in trying to convince me that perhaps all was not lost.


I thought a lot about both what Wei Siew and Gail shared with me and I sat with my cardigan for a good long while last night before I decided to do something completely radical.  Okay, maybe not radical but definitely different than what the pattern calls for.  I searched the Web and found a great tutorial on how to knit sleeves from the top down.

So, I threw caution to the wind, told everyone in my family that I was to be undisturbed, and followed along.

I had to frog back once as I messed up the short rows the first time -- they were not evenly spaced -- but the second time worked like a charm.

There are a few spots that pucker just a tiny bit, but I think that might happen even if I set in sleeves so I'm hoping that once I block the cardigan, the piece will smooth out including the front rib which is pulling up a good inch or so.

I'm feeling so much better this morning and re-energized about this project. Thanks again to  all my blogger friends -- I hope you know how much it means to me that you visit me here and offer me so much support. And to Wei Siew, fingers crossed that we'll soon be able to wear our cardigans at the same time!  

The Cardigan Chronicles: Day 106

One of my goals this past weekend was to get my WIPs close to being finished. It's not that I'm buried under a mountain of projects. I've definitely had more WIPs in the past, but for some reason, having three projects currently on my needles is making me feel overwhelmed. So, what's on my needles, you ask?  I'm still knitting this lovely scarf but the chart reading is keeping me at a turtle's pace.

I'm also knitting this shawl which has been excellent movie-watching knitting, but I hit a snag last week which sent me back a few steps.  I'll post about that little nightmare another time.

And as you all know, there's my Autumnal Cardigan that I am determined to finish in the next few days. I started the weekend excited, knowing that I was really close to finishing, but then I discovered an incredibly frustrating problem on Saturday which makes me feel blah about moving on.

I completed the 1x rib collar and am happy with the way it turned out.  It's smooth and wide and lays nicely against the front of my body.

But when I started to attach the sleeves, I discovered that the sleeve caps are much too long for the arm openings.  I'm not really sure how this happened but at this point, I don't care. Wait, I do care but I don't have the energy to try and figure out why this happened.  I just want to finish this cardigan and wear it.  I've come so far and the yarn is so lovely .... I'm not giving up but I just need to whine a little.  I have to think about what I'm going to do as I would rather modify the pattern than re-knit the sleeves as instructed.  After all, I followed the instructions correctly the first time so I think I need to do something different now.

Wish me luck!

The Cardigan Chronicles: Day 99

Yes, you read that right ... I'm on day #99 with my Autumnal cardigan and my hope is to be wearing it by Day# 110.

Berroco Ultra Alpaca in Mahogany Mix

Last week, Andi posted a kind of love letter to all the yarnies she's met via her blog, new friends whose generosity in spirit and yarny goodness has kept her knitting fresh.  I, too, feel the same way.  There are so many of you whose comments keep me both excited about blogging and knitting.  You are incredibly funny, warm, generous, and oh so talented -- I love reading your blogs and reading your comments on mine.


When I cast on this cardigan in mid-November (yikes!), I wanted to finish it in time to wear to Thanksgiving with my family (yeah, right).  Needless to say, that didn't happen.

But it wasn't because you all didn't encourage me.  My KAL partner, Wei Siew, was the little knitting angel on my shoulder who, with only loving encouragement, never meanness,  kept tapping me and urging me on.  

Erin, Pumpkin, Julie, Gail, Erin-Kate, and Andi, to name just a few, have been wonderful about keeping my spirits up about this cardigan.  

And most recently, Kirsten gave me the heave-ho that I needed to jump start me back on schedule.  I've now picked up for the 1x rib collar and am getting that part done.  The second sleeve is almost done and then all I have left to do is sew in the sleeves.  

Thank you to ALL my dear friends, named and un-named, for pushing me through.  Fingers crossed that I'll be posting about my new FO very, very soon!