FO: Manon

Self-portraits

Pattern: Manon by Norah Gaughan, in Norah Gaughan Vol 1
Yarn: worsted-weight no-name wool purchased in Florence, then dyed using Jacquard Acid dyes. I had two big skeins of this, and ended up using just over one, so I've got plenty left for something else.
Needles: US 9/ mm
Gauge: 18 st/24 rows = 4 in
Comments/mods: To start off with, I think this is the best sweater I've knit for myself so far. I loved the construction - the peplum gives a lot of visual interest, but the upper body isn't to busy - and the way the pattern fits together. The dyeing worked out incredibly well; there some varigation to the yarn, but it doesn't pool or stripe or do anything terribly funky.

Thankfully, IM took some other shots

I did a number of modifications, so I'll try to remember them all.

1. I knit the fronts and backs together, splitting at the armholes and then finishing each section separately.
2. I left off the daisy chain stitch on the lower seams.
3. I completely ignored the directions for the sleeves and knit them as set-in top down sleeves a la Barbara Walker. Since my arms are somewhat generous for the size of the rest of me, I can avoid having too tight sleeves this way. I did knit the cuffs separately as in the directions and then mattress stitched them on.

Now I have to decide on some kind of closure. I've been wearing it open, which is fine for this time of year in Houston (or the weather last week in Houston, since it was 80 degrees today!), but I suspect I'll need something to keep it shut next winter.

One last self-portrait...ooops!

All over but the finishing

Which in my case is as difficult as the shouting.

FO: Two Tomtens

Last night, in the throes of an oncoming cold that had my brain leaking out my ears and unable to do anything remotely complicated, I finished Boo's Tomten. Staying home today gave me a great opportunity to do the crocheted edging and sew on the buttons.

Pattern: Modular Tomten by Elizabeth Zimmerman (I used the version in the Sweater Workshop)
Yarn: Lamb's Pride Bulky from the stash, with additions in Pink for Devil's version. Devil's Tomten: 2.5 skeins of purples, less then 1 skein of Really, Really Pink (chosen by Herself). Boo's version: 3 skeins in Blue Magic, plus Lamb's Pride Worsted in Creme held double for the edging/buttonholes.
Needles: US 11/8.0 mm, size 10.5/6.5 mm hook
Start/finish: never mind
Gauge: 3 sts/6 rows per inch
Comments/mods: first for Devil's jacket. I was really limited by the amount of purple yarn I had in the stash, so we went to the LYS and she picked out some pink for stripes. I didn't bother with a hood, and used the pink to add button bands once I'd finished, since she tried it on and it was a wee bit small. She picked out the Flip Flop buttons herself.

For Boo's, I had plenty of yarn, so I did the hood - I think it ended up a bit small, and I used every scrap I had. Instead of grafting the top I did a three needle bind off.

The buttons were some I had lying around. I wanted to finish this today because they're predicting 20-something degree temperatures around here in the next few mornings. Which means there's a small chance I might get a modeled shot. Very small.

Time for me to head off for a nap. Begone damn cold!

Manon issues

So waaaaay back in September, Devil and I dyed some Eye-talian wool that had been marinating in the stash (and hopefully spreading around some wonderful Firenze cooties to the rest of the gang) for a couple of years. And then I blithely cast on for a sweater by one of my favorite designers.

I'm afraid my brain seems to have been permenantly damaged by motherhood, because I have now knit the peplum for this sweater approximately 42 bazillion times. The first part (center triangle) went just fine.

Then came the sides of the peplum. Having made a previous NG sweater, I didn't have any problems with the construction. I happily picked up stitches and went on my merry way. One side finished, I went to cast on for the second side and realized something.

Click for notes

While the center triangle has three garter stitch ridges at the base, the peplum sides only had two ridges. I went back to the pattern repeatedly, checked the errata, checked Ravelry threads, hemmed and hawed, but could not convince myself that I was misreading the pattern.

In the grand scheme of things, this is not a big deal, right? But somehow I fixated on this as a huge problem. So I figured I would cast on for the other side and work three ridges, just to compare.

Before I knew it, I'd knitted the entire other side of the peplum, without pausing to check and see if I liked three ridges better. I think I subconsciously decided that I was going to rip out the first side, and I didn't want to give myself a chance to change my mind, since why knit two sides when you can knit three? Or four? Or x+infinity?

In any event, I now have completed the peplum. The trauma of repeated reknitting notwithstanding, I have gone on to work the fronts and back all together. I made it up to the armholes before my brains melted and poured out my ears, and that's where things stand now.

I've been enjoying my new stitch markers though - from a swap for a skein of Essential on Ravelry. I definitely got the better end of that deal! And I'm loving the way the variegation on the dye job is playing out. So far, so good, but now I've got to get back to the Christmas presents. The list hasn't gotten any shorter.

FO: Gathered Pullover

The nice thing about having a number of ongoing projects is that every so often, you get to indulge in a massive spurt of FO generation. Which means lots of fun, "look what I made!" posts on your blog, thereby boring the bejeezus out of your readers (all 6 of you!). But tough noogies my friends. Here's another one.

Pattern: Gathered Pullover, by Hana Jason, Interweave Knits Winter 2007 (Rav linky)
Yarn: recycled from a sweater I found at Goodwill. Some kind of multi-plied red wool, in copious quantities. Someday I will either purchase or borrow a McMorran yarn balance, and figure out exactly how much yarn this took.
Needles: US 7/4.5 mm
Start/finish: I made the 40.5 size, 6/12/08-9/24/08.
Comments: I read the thread about this sweater on Ravelry before I started, so I knew at the beginning I wanted to do a bunch of modifications. My gauge was slightly larger then called for (5 sts/7 rows per inch instead of 4.75 st/6 rows) and picked a slightly larger size to compensate. I added ~2 inches of waist shaping, and left out the increased/decreased stitches in the middle of the cable motif. I also knit a bit longer after finishing the motif before starting the neck.

I was a bit worried that it was going to end up too short, but blocking fixed the hem curl admirably.

For the neck, I knit it in the round with a centered double decrease (slip 2 tog as if to knit, knit 1, pass two slipped stitches over) in the middle of the V. Finally I bailed on knitting the sleeves on their own and messing about with setting in sleeve caps, and knit them from the top down as instructed in this genius tome.

The finished product is nice and light and flowy, thanks to the larger-then-recommended gauge, and fits perfectly (bad Photobooth picture not withstanding). And I will never fit another sleeve cap again in my entire life.

The End.