It’s finally done…

I’m really proud of it.  For my first adult sweater, I think it’s pretty good.  Of course, it is a pretty easy pattern.  My bind-off for the sleeves is looser than the bind-off for the bottom.  I used a size 8 needle for the right needle and tried to be as loose as possible.  I knew that if the sleeve was too tight, I would have to redo it, and I really didn’t want to redo anything more.

 

Pattern:  Wicked by Zephyr Style

Needles:  Size 7 32″ circular

Yarn:  Dream in Color superwash merino wool- I used 2 full skeins and a little more than 1/2 of another.  I still have 2 full skeins left.  I love this yarn.  It’s not cheap, but it knits up great.  I did quite a bit of frogging and it held up really well.  It’s very soft and it’s very wearable next to the skin.

Guage:  ??  It fits, that’s all I care.  I had a really hard time getting gauge and ended up  fudging a bit.  For this pattern, it worked, but I wouldn’t do it with a cardigan or something that required seaming.

Modifications:  I used the crossover rib on the bottom, as well as on the neckline and the cuffs for the sleeves.

 

So, now, I’m going to be working hard on the Go With the Flow socks.  I really need to seam and finish LouLa’s wrap dress, too.  She’s going to grow out of it if I don’t get it done.

Body Finished!

I’ve been marathon knitting the last couple of days, and my hands are feeling it.

As you can see, I’ve finished the body of Wicked.  I used the crossover rib for the bottom, instead of the k2, p2 rib that the pattern called for.  It just seemed to make more sense to me, and I like the way it looks.  The sleeves will be longer than the short sleeved version of the pattern, but won’t be long sleeved.  I’ll probably have them stop just above my elbows.  I should be able to finish this sweater over the weekend.  I’m really excited, though I won’t be able to wear it for some time.  We are going to Vancouver, B.C. in August, so I’m hoping for a cold snap to go through the area during that time so I can wear it.  I think I’m going to be disappointed.

I did do the waist decreases which were suggested, and I did some increases a few inches below that for my hip area.  I like the way it hugs my body, which gives it some of that wicked look.  The length is just about perfect, but my bind off is a little tight.  I’ve always struggled with getting my bind offs loose enough.  It’s not something that’s worth taking out, though.

I’ve gotten past the heel on the Go With the Flow second sock.  The foot should go pretty fast.  I’m not looking forward to redoing the first sock, but it has to be done.

I ordered a skein of yarn from The Loopy Ewe last week and ordered a skein from Knitterly Things this week.  Both are sock yarns and I’ll get some pictures when my recent order comes in.  It’s not like I need more sock yarn, but both skeins were yarns that I’ve been wanting to get and they were almost sold out.

Falling Short

I’ve made tons of progress on Wicked and I’ve finished one of the Go With the Flow socks. All would be well with the world, but for one thing.

I’m short on both of them.

I am a short person (5′1″), but it seems with both of these, I thought I was shorter than I really am. I tried on Wicked and thought that just a few more rounds of stockinette and then I could start on the bottom cuff. I had almost finished the bottom and I tried it on. It was too short. It barely covered what it needed to cover. I tend to wear a lower rise pant (not the really low rise), because it makes my ass look smaller. At least, that’s what I tell myself.

Anyway…I ended up frogging and I’ve been busy doing more stockinette. I will show a modeled picture of it (probably sans my head) when the body is done.

The pattern for the Go With the Flow Socks said that the lace stretched vertically, which needed to be taken into account when determining foot length. I knit to what I thought was an appropriate length, finished the sock, and tried it on. Too short. I tried to think of someone with smaller feet than I have who would like a pair of orange-ish handmade socks. I couldn’t think of anyone. Then I tried to convince myself that I could wear them, it wouldn’t be that big of a deal, and maybe they would grow after washing. I wasn’t convinced. I’ll need to pick out the kitchener and frog back. I’m going to wait until I’ve finished the second sock, so I have a better idea of how long it really should be.

The last couple of weeks just haven’t been my best knitting weeks.

Book News:

I’m still half-heartedly working on The Princes in the Tower. It’s pretty dry. Even though it’s short, it’s not that interesting of a read. I may give it up. In between reading that, I read Better by Atul Gawande. Another really interesting book. Right now I’m working on Licey’s Story by Stephen King. I’ve really liked some of his stuff, but his newer stuff has been hit or miss for me. This started out slow, but it’s picking up speed.

I finally have made some progress, so I’ve got some pictures to show you.

As you can see, my flow has some issues:

It’s either that I made a mistake, or there’s an error in the pattern. Chances are, it’s me, though I did think that I followed the pattern correctly. But, I’m not ruling out the possibility of errors in the pattern, it is a new book, after all. In any case, by the time I started knitting the instep and found out that I had flow problems, there was no way I was going to go back and frog the heel turn and heel flap. These are for me, so my standards aren’t nearly as high as if I were making them as a gift.

I’ve even made progress on Wicked:

I tried it on when I was at the number of stitches for the second (medium) size.  It fit okay, but was a little high and tight, so I increase 3 more times and tried it on again.  It fit much better, so that’s where I stopped.  The great thing about this pattern is that you just kind of knit until it fits.  It’s my first top down raglan sweater, and I suspect that they are all like that.  I’m almost ready to knit decreases for waist shaping.  I may end up doing more than is called for in the pattern, because my waist is fairly small, relatively speaking.  I’ll just keep trying it on and seeing how things look.  I still love this pattern and the yarn.  I’m not so sure about the pink, but with some nice black slacks or a cute swingy skirt, I think it’ll look very nice.

I’m getting close to finishing up the 6th Harry Potter book.  I have no idea what I’ll read next, though I have about 10 books in the “to read” stack.  Maybe The Princes in the Tower, which is a library book and needs to get back.

I’m leaving…

on a jet plane?  Probably not.  It’ll probably be very small, but I’m one of those people who actually likes the smaller planes.

Anyway, Josh assures me that with the wireless at the hotel, I should be able to log on there.  I’m not confident that will actually happen, but we’ll see.  If it works out, I’ll post at least once while I’m gone.  If not, I’ll be back on Friday.

Wicked is going with me and we will forge on ahead.  I just want it to work!  Grrr…

I always have my Go With the Flow socks, so all is not lost.

As usual, I’ve overpacked.  I’ll need to weigh my suitcase to make sure that I don’t have to pay the over weight fee.  I’ve traveled a lot in my life and you would think I would have this packing thing down.  Nope.

A Wicked Relationship

It was a rocky beginning, and it continues to be so.

Our first meeting was love at first sight. The pattern is cute and just the right amount of sexy for me (meaning, not too much). The yarn was beautiful and so soft.

Then, we got to know each other a little better. Gauge was a problem. Wicked wouldn’t meet me halfway and do what it was supposed to do. However, being a grownup, I compromised and swatched in the round. Wicked seemed to come around.

We had a great honeymoon! I cast on and it was everything I had hoped for, and more. I used a smaller size needle (7) so that Wicked wouldn’t be *too* wicked. Then, after the neckline, I switched to a larger needle (8). Life was good.

Unfortunately, we hit a rocky spot. I checked my gauge after an inch or so. With the larger size needles, I was getting about 22 stitches over 4 inches, as opposed to the 18 over 4 that the pattern called for. This could be a big problem. So, I again compromised and frogged back to the needle switch, going back the size 7s.

We had some good times for awhile.

We’ve hit a bad spot now and I’m not sure what to do.

Looks good, doesn’t it? Just the right amount of pink, not too much. It’s a little brighter in the picture than it actually is.

Unfortunately, gauge is not my friend. At this point, I’m at 20 1/2 stitches over 4 inches.

I don’t want to start over, but what’s a girl to do? Sometimes, going back to the way things were in the beginning is all you can do.

On the other hand, I can increase to the number of stitches that the next smaller size calls for and just use those numbers for the rest. That’s iffy and there are no guarantees.

Or, I could keep going and see what it looks like when I separate for the sleeves. It may be just fine.

I don’t know what to trust anymore!

Chevron Scarf

Here is the Chevron Scarf:

The colors aren’t quite as bright in person. I like it. Well, I like it better than I would like the socks if I were to use the yarn for that. It’s very mindless knitting, which is nice for now.

I’m afraid to start on Wicked. There, I’ve said (typed) it. Eusebius mentioned that the gauge seemed more like that for a heavy worsted/aran weight. But, the pattern calls for worsted weight. I may swatch in the round and see what happens with that. The pattern didn’t specifically say anything about the gauge being for in the round, but maybe that’s a given, since it’s knit in the round. If my gauge is still off, I’ll go with my plan and forge on ahead, come what may. A quick google search didn’t come up with anything. Some people have gone up a needle size, some down a needle size, and some have used the size 7. So, I guess it’s just me.

ETA:  I swatched in the round on size 8s and I *almost* had 4 inches over 18 stitches.  It looks like the size 8s will work okay.  When I did a search on Wicked, someone had said they used a smaller needle for the neck.  I think I may try that.  I have narrow shoulders and not much of a bust and I would hate for the sweater to be something I would have to be very careful about when I wore it.  Am I playing with fire?

Wicked Gauge Issues

Houston, we have a problem.

I did my gauge swatch last night. I can’t get gauge. The pattern calls for 18 sts over 26 rows, at 4 inches, on a size 7 needle. I’ve done a gauge swatch on a size 7, size 8, and size 9. My swatch measures about 3 1/2 inches on a size 9.

Swatch squares- from left to right, size 7, 8, and 9 needle:

Swatch for size 9 needles- Measures 3 1/2 inches:

Here’s my plan: I’m going to use the size 8 needle and cast on for the large size. From my experience knitting in the round for socks, my gauge seems to be pretty loose when I knit in the round. I generally use a size 0 needle and I get 8-8.5 stitches per inch. Plus, I’m working on losing weight, so if the sweater is a little small, maybe it’ll be okay by the time I can wear it in the fall. Since this is knit top down, I’ll be able to try this on and I can always frog it and use a size 10 (!) needle, I guess, if it’s impossibly small.

Am I crazy?

I have started on the Chevron Scarf. It’s too early to tell yet how the color combinations will turn out. I’ll probably have something to show tomorrow. By then I should be able to decide whether it’s too hideous to continue, or whether it’s okay and wearable.