A week in sweaters, part II

I am so grateful that my kids are still small enough that I can work up a sweater for them in about a week. From the front,

and the back.

Pattern: my own, using the same stitch pattern as in this sweater, but with YOs instead of M1s
Yarn: random worsted weight yarn bought many years ago in Florence, originally grey but we dyed it with fuschia and ended up with purple.
Needles: US 6/4.0 mm
Start/finish: 29 September - 7 October 2011 (that's when it was wearable, not knitting finished)

The story: so I've got this men's sweater pattern that's being test knitted, and one of the testers noted that it would be easy to make it girly by substituting yarn overs for the make ones in the stitch pattern (that syntax would only make sense to other knitters, wouldn't it?). I was intrigued by the idea, but not enthralled to work up another adult sized garment trying it out. Boo had laid claim to this yarn for a sweater for her, so I whipped this up relatively quickly.

The sweater is knit in one piece to the underarm, then split for fronts and back. Sleeves were knit separately and sewn in, the neckband was picked up and knit, and then the button bands. I've had these buttons for ages and they were just the perfect match.

And Boo was a most agreeable little model, although I can't quite manage to get behind the purple lace sweater over pink with white polka dots. So be it.

Spinning new wools

Right, it's Friday, which must mean it's time for some fiber, right? We've successfully arrived back in the UK, and have had a lovely week getting over jet lag and getting back to the Real Life (TM) schedule. I now have not one, but two English schoolgirls, who are pretty thrilled to be back in academia.

 

I've spun two yarns in the 6 days we've been back (hooray for the wheel!), both of which are destined to be turned in to socks for the school girls. I ordered a bunch of different wools that I've never spun before we left, and have been happily working my way through dyeing and spinning them. First up is for Devil - some Lincoln Longwool dyed in blues.

This was dyed to give a specific stripe pattern, so I split it in half and spun each half separately, then chain plied. Since Lincoln is a longwool, and I tend to overspin, I spun and plied at much lower ratios then I usually do, hoping to avoid ending up with wire (spun at 6:1, plied at 7.5:1). The fiber was fairly slippery, surprisingly so, and it took a bit for me to figure out the right amount of twist to keep the single together without overspinning. I ended up with 114 yds of bulky chain ply, which I'll knit up into some quick, cosy socks for her. It's not terribly tightly plied, but I'm hoping a small needle size and the durability of the fiber itself means they won't wear out by Christmas.

The second yarn is for Boo Boo, dyed by herself:

Cheviot fiber, spun/plied at 12:1, 2-ply.

I spun this one as a quick wheel fix right after we got home. I think I did the entire 100 gr in a day and a half. I've never spun Cheviot before, but I now consider myself a huge fan. It's not a soft as some fibers, but it has such a great toothy feel while spinning - it would be great for sturdy mittens or outerwear sweaters. Plied up, it's a lot softer then I was expecting from feeling it in top form. I'm not terribly sensitive to wool prickle, but I'm not sure I could wear a Cheviot sweater without a layer underneath, but that may just be this batch. I plied fairly tightly for durability, and I think these socks will be a huge hit.

There they are, all balled up and ready to go. Time to bust out the bigger needles and get started!

TdF Yarn #2 and a Rest Day

My second TdF project was/is 1.5 lbs of Romney from Hello Yarn.

So I started in on the spinning. And I spun. And spun. And spun. And all my bobbins were filling up, and it didn't really feel like I was getting anywhere. Here's a photographic rundown of multiple days of spinning:

Day 5:

Day 6:

Day 7:

By Friday I was over the Neverending Romneying. Over. It. So after I finished that third bobbin, I totally jumped ship, threw the plying maiden on the wheel, and banged out this.

1.5 hours, 227 yds/4 oz of my first attempt at thick and thin singles. The fiber is Amy's Corriedale in the "Twenty Ten" colorway (from my 4 Oz Challenge prize last fall). Fun colors, quick yarn, end product is soft and squishy. Love it.

And then it was back to the Romney, Day 9:

Today is a rest day, and so far I have: read on the porch with the girls.

Played with (and bathed) the dog.

Gone raspberry picking.

Made raspberry chocolate chip ice cream.

As yet, there has been no spinning. I suspect that won't last, as I'm on a tear to get all these singles done so I can start the neverending plying. The extra special good news is that I've cracked open the last bag of fiber, so the end is in sight!

Now I just have to decide what's going to be next...

FO: Boo's Elephants

My copy of Interweave Knits Summer 2011 arrived in its belated fashion last week (it goes through a corporate forwarding system from Houston), and as I paged through it the first time, I wasn't so impressed. But the girls were yelling at each other and the dog was chewing on a dirty sock, so I had to leave it and go deal with the chaos. And when I came back, I discovered in the very last section the perfect sweater for Boo, the future veterinarian.

A vest! With elephants! What could be better? So last Thursday I cast on, and today I've got this:

Pattern: Baby Elephant Vest by Melanie Rice, Interweave Knits Summer 2011
Yarn: Classic Elite Provence, 100% mercerized cotton, 205 yds/100 grams, 2 skeins in a lovely periwinkle that I picked up at the Yarns2Ewe Christmas sale many years ago.
Needles: US 5/3.75 mm and US 6/4.0 mm.
Gauge: ~5 stitches per inch in stockinette on larger needles
Start/finish: 12 May - 16 May 2011
Comments/mods: the modifications were many and huge with this sucker. To start off with, there was no way in hell I was going to get 6.25 stitches/inch with this yarn without making a bullet-proof, stand-up-by-itself sweater. So I threw gauge out the window (always a dangerous idea!), swatched a bit, found a fabric I liked, cast on for the smallest size (21" chest), and hoped for the best. I used the measurements for the Boo-sized sweater (27" chest) for the length to the underarm and the length of the armholes. That was the first major modification. Thankfully, the FO ended up at just about 27", so win-win.

Major modification #2: worked in the round instead of in pieces. I hate seaming, so I did this sucker in the round. I cast on the appropriate number of stitches with 2 extra (for seam stitches), and worked the garter stitch band back and forth. Then when I started the lace pattern I joined to work in the round. The two extra stitches (one on either side) were purled every row to make a nice side seam and to hide the jog that happens with garter stitch in the round.

Major modification #3 (which isn't actually so major): instead of casting off and seaming the shoulders, I kept the stitches live and used a three needle bind off to finish. Ta da! No seaming! Well, except for the bit at the hem and the neck band and armhole edges. But still, not too bad...

Are these not the cutest elephants you've ever seen?

And Boo seems pleased.

 

So that's May's sweater done. And it's not the one I was planning by a long shot. Maybe this will be a two sweater month???

Cheeky girl

The pattern for the Cheeky pullover is now written up, test knit and available!

This easy rollneck pullover is worked from the bottom up with raglan sleeves. Sizes include 12 months [18 months, 2 years, 4 years, 6 years, 8 years]. Pattern as written is one color in stockinette, but it can easily be done in stripes or with a colorwork pattern.

Pattern calls for approximately 315-850 yds of DK weight yarn. I did mine in Stylecraft Life DK, an acrylic-wool blend, but the testers used Cascade 220, Sidar Click DK, Berroco Comfort DK and Dashing Dachs superwash DK.

Many thanks to FeistyMuse, bellarose4, monatraix and rocksteady from the Ravelry Free Pattern Testers group for their quick test knitting and helpful suggestions. And to Boo for being such a good sport while I shot a ton of pictures!

Cheeky

$5.00
Pattern includes written instructions and schematic. Gauge is 22 sts/30 rows over 4 inches.