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?

Fait Accompli

I'm excited to say that Mark's sweater is finished .... for real, this time .... and we're both so happy with how it turned out.  The color suits him, the texture is soft and warm, and most importantly, the fit is comfortable.

The little trick I used to pick up stitches before unravelling worked like a charm.  While I hope not to have to employ that method again in the near future, it's good to know that it works.

This sweater is meant to replace the one he's had since college but that remains to be seen.  Sometimes, I think beloved old and worn sweaters are hard to retire but perhaps this new one will last just as long.

WIP: Flax Pullover (Part II)

In my last post, I called my hubby's Flax pullover a finished object because at one point in late December, it was ... well ... finished. The ends were woven in, it was soaked and blocked, wrapped in pretty paper, and placed under the tree.  Mark loved his new sweater and wore it immediately.  At first, I was so pleased that it fit him ~ the shoulders were spot on, the width was not too snug nor too loose, and the sleeves hit just below his wrists perfectly.  Yeah, I was pretty pleased with myself. That is, until he sat down and the sweater rode up a few inches above his stomach.  He spent most of Christmas day tugging to keep the bottom ribbing from riding up above his waist line.

So, today I'm calling Mark's Flax pullover a work-in-progress because I promised to frog back to before the 2-inch two-by-two ribbing and add about four inches to the body's length. Yes, I took accurate measurements of Mark's body, and yes, I knew I needed to knit to 17 inches from underarm to hip before starting the ribbing, but when I was nearing 15 inches of body, it looked long enough and so I decided to end the sweater there. I know, I know ~ what was I thinking??

Accurate measurements are done for one very simple reason ~ to get a properly fitted garment ~ and as someone who is spending oodles of time, energy, and money on making such garments, you'd think I would treat those measurements like gospel!  I've learned my lesson.

Now, as I was facing having to pick up hundreds of stitches to knit the additonal inches to the bottom of the sweater, I decided to try a little trick.  Rather than frog the ribbing and pick up those very risky live stitches, I put my needle into the stitches just above the start of the ribbing and threaded the entire circular needle along one entire round.  Once that round was securely on the cable, I unraveled the two inches of ribbing until I reached the needles. No drop stitches and no eye strain!

Let's hope knitting the additional few inches goes quickly because I've got some other projects I'm itching to cast on.

FO: Beacon Hill

We all have our favorite designers, and like you, I love seeing new patterns pop up on my blog reader or on Ravelry when their newest designs are released.  For me, Jane Richmond is one of those designers I keep a close eye on. Her patterns are always really well-writtten, thoughtful, and simply beautiful.  

Over the summer, in spite of my knitting ennui, I got to test-knit a couple of Jane's patterns, one of which was just released as part of this gorgeous collection.

Beacon Hill is an all-over textured seamless cardigan that is knit from the top-down.  I loved knitting the stitch pattern as it had a rhythm all its own and produced the most beautiful motif from the shoulders down to the bottom hem.

As this cardigan grew on my needles, I couldn't help marveling at the fantastic stitch definition that the yarn produced. I wanted to test-knit from my stash, and Jane was happy for me to use Patons Classic Wool as it's an affordable and easily attainable yarn.  I used four stashed skeins in the Natural Mix colorway, and I think the cardigan works really well in this neutral shade.

While both Miranda and I are on the slim side, the test-knit I did in size 28 is much too small for either of us, even after soaking and blocking.  I wanted to knit the 32 or 34 but as Jane really needed someone to test the smallest size, I obliged.  Now that I've photographed this FO, I'm definitely going to unravel it and re-knit it in size 34 as this cardigan is sure to be a staple in my fall wardrobe.

Let's Try This Again....

As many of you know, summer was an epic knitting fail for me. The humidity, heat, and overall busyness that consumed my life made it so that even knitting wasn't calming. I did finish some test-knits which I'll share soon, but my motivation to create was low, low, low.

Now that New York is experiencing the most incredible autumnal weather, my mind is racing again and I'm excited to cast on a zillion sweaters and accessories all at once.  But I know how poorly I do when I have too many WIPs on the needles so I've spent the last few days prioritizing and letting myself be inspired by yarn rather than all the amazing patterns I've been seeing on Pinterest and Ravelry. 

What's first on my needles?  A top-down, raglan pullover for Miranda of my own design.  She's been asking for an off-white cabley sweater and I haven't found The One in all my pattern searches so I'm going to attempt a customized version just for her.  We recently had a big life change in our family which finds me and Miranda living in New York City during the week so she can attend a fantastic high school and much to my delight, my new LYS is Knitty City.  I stopped in last weekend to get some inspiration and happily bought four skeins of Berroco Ultra Alpaca in the perfect white for Miranda's pullover.

I'm using the standard raglan method and while the first attempt went well enough, I discovered a couple of minor but irritating mistakes in my knitting so ripped the whole thing back last night.  Yes, the.whole.thing!  I'm really determined to be a mindful knitter this season and let's just say that I got excellent practice the first time around! If any of you have a favorite cable stitch pattern that you'd like to share, I would love to know about it.

Oh, and by the way, the gorgeous blue skein pictured above is not yet in my stash, but I'm coveting it for a sweater project for me soon.  Pretty, right?

FO: Derry Raglan & Cowl

I've managed to keep my Jump for Fall challenge alive by having a sweater on the needles at all times.  Wait -- correction:  now that I've finished my Derry Raglan & Cowl, I'll be searching around for a new winter knit to cast on, but for now, I'm basking in the satisfaction of another hand-knit sweater in my closet!

This raglan pullover was great to knit -- the pattern instructions are incredibly clear, sizing was spot on, and the lace detail running down the sleeves kept the knitting interesting.  With the removable cowl as an added detail, the pullover sports two different looks which is a bonus.

I didn't knit with a particular high-end, luxurious yarn.  Nope, I chose Paton's Classic Wool, a true workhorse yarn, and I'm delighted to say that it was a great match with the pattern.

Purloining from the Knitmore Girls' podcast, I happen to be in stitches today:  wearing my newly finished sweater and these! I'm so warm and cozy, I'm not even blinking at the next impending snow storm that's heading to the east coast.

Simplicity

One of my dearest and oldest friends just celebrated a birthday, and I wanted to knit her a hat to keep her warm during hikes that she likes to take in the woods.  I knew that I wanted to knit this hat with one of my all-time favorite yarns: Malabrigo Worsted.  I knew that I wanted to knit a beanie. And I knew that I wanted to keep it simple.

I pulled out my US8 Chiagoo circulars, cast on 100 stitches, knit a 2x2 1" rib, and then knit until I reached 6.5 inches.  

I began decreasing until I reached the tippy top and then threaded close the few remaining stitches.

The birthday girl has organized a birthday hike near where she lives which sadly is far away from me so I won't be able to join her, but I'm hoping this hat will keep her warm and smiling knowing that I knit it with the hike in mind.

Sometimes simplicity is a knitter's best friend.

Looking Forward

I've been enjoying everyone's end-of-year posts, looking back at what's been learned in 2012. I started to collect my thoughts in a similar way, and while it was fun to do, I realized that I'd much prefer to look forward and so here I am with what I hope to learn in 2013.

Over the past year, I've been honing my skills at knitting sweaters, so I'm excited at the prospect of working with new techniques.  I've only knit raglan, seamless designs and while there's so much more to learn and perfect with this method, I want to try my hand at a few other styles such as set-in sleeves, contiguous, and saddle shoulders, to name just a few.  What any new technique will require though is mindfulness and if I were to apply a theme for my knitting in the new year, it will be that: being mindful as I work a project.

A case in point:  when I cast on the Derry Raglan and Cowl last week, I made a few mistakes.  They were minor, and I easily fudged the corrections by increasing a stitch here, decreasing a stitch there. It nagged at me that hidden in my stitches were these mistakes and despite my hours of knitting, I knew that I had to start the sweater over.

Patons Classic Wool

It was the right thing to do. I thought about my initial attempt as a practice run where I had a chance to become familiar with the pattern and to see how the sweater was constructed.  

An especially positive aspect of knitting a practice run was becoming more comfortable with a new way of increasing at the raglan markers, one which I had never done before.  The pattern calls for a LLI (left leaning lifted increase) and a RLI (right leaning lifted increase) both of which had me stumped at first.  Once learned and practiced, I love increasing this way and can see why a designer would prefer it:  the increases are subtle and almost invisible.

I don't know if I'll make it a habit to knit practice runs first but with the result that I'm getting now with my new pullover, I just might.

A Knitter's Christmas -- Part II (Yarn)

Before Christmas, my yarn stash was already overflowing, and now I can officially say that my stash is out of control! There were so many amazing deals just before the holidays that were just too hard to resist -- yes, I succumbed but I'll blog about that some other time.  Today, as promised, is part II of A Knitter's Christmas:  my gifts of yarn!

One of my two sisters works at Michael's and she shares my love of all things crafty.  She's an excellent artist and creates the most beautiful cards and scrapbooks -- as you can imagine, she's much admired at her store and has a great time working there.  Esther is generous beyond belief and while the kids were opening their gifts on Christmas, she surprised me with a huge bag of Patons Classic Wool in three colorways: dark grey mix, oatmeal, and plum heather.  I love Classic Wool as it's a great workhorse yarn with good yardage, sturdy texture, and a great price.

As you can see from the photo above, Esther gifted me enough for three sweaters (size small, of course), and I'm starting to plan which patterns I'll cast on.  Before she gave me this stash, I had asked her to pick me up some basic black and cream, and yesterday I casted on my first of many sweaters that I hope to knit in 2013.  While I took advantage of yarn sales before the holidays, I also jumped on a great deal from Interweave Press and bought a digital copy of New England Knits which I had been coveting for months. Both Erin and Renee have knit beautiful items from this book.

I'm knitting the Derry Raglan and Cowl pullover in black, and while I already had to frog it once, I'm excited about this pattern and am now enjoying its rhythm.  I made a few minor mistakes when starting the set-up row and then fudged it but as Gigi of the Knitmore Girls always says, if you don't like it now, you won't like it ten rows from now. My goal is 2013 is to be a more mindful knitter and as this sweater will count towards my 2013 collection, I best start being mindful now.

ChiaGoo Stitch Markers

A Little Help From My Friends

Today, I'm going to use the term monogamous knitter a bit differently than how we knitters usually do.  I've got four WIPs on my needles:  my Sea Pines Pullover ...,

my Gray Day Pullover ....,

my Diagonal Pullover .....,

and the irresistible Little Coffee Bean cardigan ....

For the astute knitter with a keen eye, you know what these four WIPs have in common.  I love raglan, top-down, and seamless garments. Usually knit in one piece, I don't have to worry about seams or set-in sleeves or picking up stitches. Here is where monogamy starts to be too comfortable. Now that I've finished my first Jump for Fall challenge (my Westwood Blouse) and am happily knitting along on these other projects, I want to take my knitting to the next level.  

You may remember my epic fail with set-in sleeves last spring. I'll admit that experience was painful and has made me shy away from cardigans and sweaters with seams.  But, dear friends, I think I'm ready to get back on the (knitted) horse and now turn to you for advice and suggestions.

If you have a favorite, well-written pattern for a cardigan or pullover with set-in sleeves, I would love to hear about it.  I'm willing ... and maybe just a wee bit able.

Oh, and for those you who asked, here I am wearing my new sweater!