For some reason recently, I always seem to spell sweater as “sweather” the first time I type it – if that’s a Freudian slip, I’m not really sure what it means. . .
My latest knitting project is a sweater for a niece’s 4-year old step-son. I made an afghan for her new baby, and I want to make sure that LS knows that it isn’t just the new baby who gets special attention. Of course, they live around 1500 miles away, which means we don’t get to give them personal attention very often, so making things for them is about the only way to let them know we’re thinking of them.
I’ve never done a top-down sweater before, and I’ve also never made a seamless sweater, either. So far I’m really pleased with both techniques. I tried converting a lace-patterned baby top from a seamed garment to an in-the round pattern, and although I got it right in terms of keeping the pattern, because I was working it in the round, it started to skew the lace. I later read somewhere why that happens, but I haven’t been able to find the reference again, and my brain is like a backless drawer – the more I put in the front, the more stuff falls out the back.
At any rate, here is a picture of the sweater before I started the split for the side slits. I think I’ll have the body done by mid-next week, then I’ll start on the sleeves, and the hood will be last.
face-on view
side view
I’m a little bit worried about the cotton yarn – Blue Sky Organic Cotton. It’s lovely to work with, and machine washable/dryable, so I’m hoping that it will be easy-care for a young mother with two children, who also works; but a friend suggested that it will stre-e-e-tch badly. I’ve heard about this being a problem with some yarns, and indeed, had the problem with the aforementioned baby afghan.
baby afghan using Rowan Classic Cashsoft Baby DK
This afghan was made with Rowan Classic Cashsoft Baby DK. A simple strip afghan made with garter stitch, using the “Circle of Friends” pattern from “Last-Minute Knitted Gifts”; and I carried it with me to work on pretty much wherever I was going. I found that, if I happened to be standing rather than sitting while I was knitting, I had to loop the strip over my arm to keep the weight of the strip from stretching it all out of gauge as the strip got longer. And once I sewed the strips together, the weight of the afghan dragged out the middle and top, and the sides stayed relatively in-gauge. So I tried blocking it three times, and each time, the same stretching action happened. I wasn’t terribly pleased with the end result, although working with the Cashsoft was a lovely feeling – it was soft, slid nicely on the needles, and perhaps with stockinette stitch, or some other pattern than plain garter, it wouldn’t stretch so badly.
I’m really jonesing to start a lace project – I’ve got a sock pattern that I’ve adapted to a scarf, and I plan to make it with Kidsilk Haze. Hmmm. Lace socks are made in the round, so why don’t the lace patterns skew there?
I should probably finish the sweater for Brian – I’ve finished the back, and nearly finished the front. I’m using Lion Brand Homespun in Candy Apple Red. But it takes up a lot more room in my bag and is a lot heavier, and right now I’m trying to limit how much I’m carrying because I’m not supposed to carry a bag on my shoulder during the radiation treatment. Afterwards, maybe, although they really don’t want me to.
The other piece I need to finish is a Fair Isle hat, but because of the yarn colors, I find that I really need good direct lighting to work on it, so carrying it around is wasted effort.
Once I’ve finished the crib quilt, I’ll pick up one of these as my “home” project, and carry the scarf or a new Fair Isle project.
Or perhaps this – the other thing that is on-needle is a cabled pillow cover by Jo Sharp – I don’t really remember why I put this down, although I seem to recall that the cables were kind of a pain – I mean, they’re just regular cables, but they were wide, and the cross-over was puckering the fabric. Maybe that’ll be a good one to carry with me. . .
