The Sweaters! :)

Well, The Sweater is finished. Actually, two sweaters are finished; as I was working on the body of Brendan's pullover, he asked (in his oh-so-sweet way) if I would make a matching one for his bear, Heywood. How could I say no? Hence the sepia-toned pic (hides the redeye that I couldn't get rid of!) of the two boys. :)








I knitted the larger of the two sweaters in Lion Brand Homespun, with two colours (Nouveau & Deco). I whipped it up on aluminum needles (size 10.5) in a size 6. I had approximately 1.5 oz of each colour leftover (by the time I finished Heywood's sweater as well), and started with 12 oz of Nouveau and 6 oz of Deco. The whole project took me approximately 5 days or so (stitching in the evenings for a few hours). There is a 5 row garter stitch at the bottom of the sweater and sleeves; the rest is done in stockinette.

Obviously the sweater is too big. But I didn't want to make it a size 4 (what he currently wears) and have him outgrow it by next winter. And after comparing notes with another knitter, it's possible that Lion's patterns are upsized a bit...that making a size 6 isn't a true 6. Ah well...live and learn.

The sleeves *should have* had two stripes, but the pattern never indicated to stop the stripe pattern. And so I didn't. Ah well...I'm still a bit of a novice! ;)

This was stitched together at the seams, and I found it a tad disconcerting that I had more fabric than fit together neatly. I guess I'm too used to sewing, where the patterns and stitching are more precise. But with some small tucks here and there, I got it all stitched together. :)



Heywood's sweater was a fling on my part--I simply modified the pattern down in size. While Brendan's front was 47 stitches (94 all the way around), Heywood's was 16 on the front and back (for a total of 32). I still did a garter stitch for 5 rows at the bottom, but basically did the stockinette stitch until I measured it on his body and decided where the stripes would go. The sleeves are very similar; I started Brendan's sleeves with 30-some-odd stitches, and decided that Heywood needed around 12. Of course, I didn't make that determination until after I had a few rows of 8 stitches are realized it was too small.... :::blush::: Good thing I don't mind pulling out stitches, eh? ;) Anyhow, this took me all of about 4.5 hours to do--very manageable, and both Brendan and Heywood (or so I am told) like their matching sweaters a lot. :D

Finally...The Projects

I finally took pictures of the 3 projects I've completed since beginning this knitting odyssey...explanations are beside the pictures. :)

And I tried bamboo needles with the current project (a chunky-knit sweater for Brendan)...I made it through 4 rows of stitches before I gave up. Ick...they are much lighter than the metal ones I'd been using, but my speed went from quick to snail-like, and I fumbled much more with them. Maybe with a lighter weight yarn, I'd have better luck. But for ease of sliding the stitches off the needles, the metal ones are working better for me right now. I'm currently using a Lion Brand acrylic-blend (Homespun) and inserting stripes in the body of the sweater right now. I'm using a 10.5-size needle and it's going pretty quickly. Although the whole idea of yarn getting tangled on itself is a pain in the caboose--two skeins going (alternating stripes), and it's a struggle right now to figure out how to untangle them for the current row of stitches! :0 So if anyone has suggestions on that, I'm all ears. Right now I'm resigned to having to deal with this until I finish the back of it and begin on the front. ;)


To the left you'll see the first scarf I ever knitted--the one I had to start 6 times because I goofed up in the first 10 rows and couldn't figure out how to fix my goofs. ;0 It was knitted on size 9 needles with an acrylic blend yarn by Lion Brand (Homespun), in their "purple" shade. This is a straight garter stitch with 20 stitches for width. The fringe is already looking somewhat nappy, but I can't figure out how to remedy that problem. This is the entire 6 oz. skein of yarn (minus the fringe).








To the right is the 2nd scarf I knitted; a very dainty small one done on size 7 needles, using Red Heart's Plush yarn in Wine. The pattern is simple (modified from a larger pattern) of k3, p3 and 15 stitches cast on the needle. The larger version is 33 stitches with a k3, p3 pattern. Of course, in order to get the ridges that are visible, you must start the next row with the opposite stitch you ended the previous row. In other words, if you ended on k3, the next row begins with p3. I found it confusing to remember, so I put a small loop of yarn on one needle to remind me that when that needle was empty, I had to start with p3. :) The skein of yarn was 6 oz, and this scarf weighs in at just under 2 oz.







And finally, this is my "be resourceful" project. I finished the red scarf in record time (4 days total, stitching a few hours in the evening) and I hadn't made it in to town to buy more yarn. But I HAD to stitch *something*...so I picked up the 'eyelash yarn' I bought several months ago and had asked Mark to crochet with (for a sewing project I have) and figured if he wouldn't do it, I would! ;) This is using "Fun Fur" and size 8 needles, doing a straight garter stitch for 10 stitches. While it could be used as a scarf or boa, it will be used as embellishment for a collar on a fall coat I'm making. :) This was the entire skein of the eyelash yarn and although it was a bit complicated to work around (those stray pieces), I'm pleased with the end result.



More later...time to go do housework so I can knit without guilt tonight. ;)

The Inexorable Draw to Yarn

So what *is* it with the immediate zombie-like march we make towards the yarn aisle when we start knitting, anyhow? ;)

I made that march to Michael's today to pick out yarn for Brendan's sweater. I imagined they had more than they did, but what they did have really ran the gamut. I was impressed. And I fondled the stuff...is that wrong? I gazed and touched, I planned and plotted...and looked in vain for a 100% wool yarn. Rats! None to be found...only a wool-acrylic blend. Which, if I was making a sweater with, would be great. But my *next* *next* project is felted items, and you can't felt with a wool-blend. Ah, well....

I ended up picking out a wonderful acrylic for Brendan; he heartily approved after he discovered there was no "red yarn, Mama" that fit his bill. And I know some knitters are snobbish about yarns and specifically towards acrylics, but criminy! I'm not gonna spend all this time knitting my kid a sweater out of something that isn't *machine washable*. I may be a knitter, but I'm not insane! Kids need non-washable items like I need another hole in my head...or maybe I should say "moms need non-washable items like I need another hole in my head." Because the reality of it is that I do the washing, not Brendan. Although he loves putting his laundry in the washing machine and watching it for a good 10 minutes after the cycle starts. But that's another post on another blog! ;)

I'll get pictures of my current works up tomorrow, along with mistakes I've made and maybe how to avoid them in the future, too. Right now, there's a project that's calling my name, since I'm at the end of a skein and it wants to be finished! :)

Calling all Knitters!

Okay, the title of this blog is a bit ambitious, I think...at least for now.

I'm not an expert knitter; I am a bit of a novice (15 days in to the art form). But I have completed 2 projects and am a good way through my third--and my own personal knitting sherpa encourages me that I can DO THIS (including my next project of a sweater for our son!). And in my exuberance, I am about to become a sherpa for another friend of mine who wants to learn before they begin a new life-adventure living in Turkey. :)

So maybe my knitting notes (knotes?) will help someone else who's just getting started. At least, that's my hope. :) And hopefully, other knitters will comment and help me out of binds. And then maybe, we'll knit a yarn of good stories and adventures (sorry, I can't resist a pun--good OR bad!).

Anyhow, thanks for reading; I'm going to post pictures and hopefully give some even newer knitters some tips and things to avoid. Yes, I've already got those things catalogued. ;)