News

I have finally finished my very first sweater, and I'm wearing it right now! Whee! It's the same sweater I posted about ages ago, in Noro Silk Garden #34. I basically started with the OSW pattern, plus some extra stitches for fronts, and instead of stopping at the OSW length, I divided for body and sleeves and continued.

It's a no-closure cardi (it was originally turning into a wrap sweater, since I was mistakenly increasing each front edge every RS row, but I ripped it and restarted). It can be worn open and loose, or closed with a brooch for a more fitted look.

The knitting on this has been finished for months. I finally took the time last night to weave in the ends. This morning, I did a very half-assed steam blocking (I hung it up in the bathroom while I took a very hot shower. It actually worked surprisingly well). I have the next two days off work, so I will take photos and make a proper FO post tomorrow night.

Do I like it? I love the 3/4 sleeves and I like the way my raglan "seams" came out (I did M1's set in one stitch from the "seam" rather than Kfb's as in the OSW). I like the fit. I love the yarn, BUT I DON'T LOVE IT ON ME. My blog picture is pre-Wibbles and minus about 18 pounds, and horizontal stripes are just Not My Friend these days. I'm still holding out the hope that one day I will shrink into someone whom this sweater will flatter, because I really like the sweater. In the meantime, I'm wearing it open, and it isn't too bad. As for the sweater itself, there are only two things I don't like. One is the underarm seams. I suck at seaming. You'll see in the photos. The other is that the front/neck edging pulls up a bit at the bottom (again, I will show that in the photos). I picked up 3/4 of the front stitches, and every stitch from the CO edge, but apparently that wasn't enough. It doesn't bother me enough to do it over, but next time I will try 4/5 of the front stitches.

My second-ever sweater is hot on this one's heels. I'm making a top-down raglan for The Wibbles in Shaeffer Elaine. Plain ole stockinette, with 2x2 ribbed cuffs, waistband and neckband. The body and sleeves are done - I need to knit the neckband and sew that on, then weave in the ends and block it. Notice how I did not say seam the underarms! This time, instead of casting on extra stitches for the sleeve underarms, I just picked up the extra stitches from the CO edge of the body underarms. It looks awesome. I will never seam underarms on a top-down sweater again. As for the neckband, I'm going to do what a certain rabbit does, and knit it separately, then sew it on using free-loop backstitch. This way, the neck ends with a CO edge rather than BO, and will be stretchier and hopefully have no problems going over a giant toddler head.