Ingrid Cardigan lives!

On the coldest day so far, I finally finished my cardigan, which is great, as it is 19 degrees here today! My son obliged me in taking some photos. On the whole I am pleased with how it came out, as I gave in to the zipper fetish I seem to have. There is just something so cozy and symmetrical about zippers. Maybe it is the nice hug feeling, or the fact that, despite shaping and such, I always feel buttons will gape and open unattractively. Anyway, I have nearly finished writing up the pattern, except for the size modifications, and then it will be ready for prime time.

Now I'll have to finish my blue cardigan, and then contemplate my next project...

Here it is with collar up...and then, back view:

And finally side:

Scarf Attack, part 2

Here it is, December 23rd, and I have finished 2 scarves, with 1/2 of the third one done. What happened? Well, it turns out that knitting on large gauge needles ( size 11s) gives me a case of Knitter's Elbow, and the neck pain to go with it. Oy. Something about the way I knit at that gauge sets off pain in the small muscles of my forearms. But I have the yarn, the idea, and the deadline. But the flesh won't cooperate. I can knit for 1/2 hour, and then the pain sets in. Pushing it only makes it worse. Rest is the only cure, but how long can you rest? How to get these done? Frustration is setting in!
I finished the second one by a combination of resting for a week, then limiting the time to 20 minutes at a clip, changing to 14 inch straight needles so I could rest the needles on my lap, using cushions to prop up my elbows. Neck exercises and hanging my head over the side of the bed with my head suspended in my hands helped a bunch, as well as Advil and heat.
Here are the scarves so far:

The middle one is Lauren's Scarf: A double Moss pattern with 1x1 ribbing cable. I like the fluffiness of this pattern, and it is a snuggly scarf, same size as the green one. The purple one is Kaitlin's Scarf, but it is half done. It is also Double Moss on the sides, but here the cable is 2x2 ribbing. I think it makes a more raised cable, and it is easier to work with the Double moss, as the whole thing is K2,P2. I like all of the patterns, I just can't knit with such large needles!

Meanwhile, for breaks, I resumed knitting a top-down cardigan version of St Brigid which I'd begun last winter and put aside as the weather warmed up. This is on size 6 needles, and for some reason doesn't hurt my arms! I can knit on this one for 3 hours at a clip ( with short breaks, of course). Very odd. But I'm glad I can do something! It would be very hard if I had to stop knitting entirely. Shudder....

Anyway, I am going to try to finish that last scarf! Otherwise, she will get an IOU...
Next year I will remember why I don't knit to deadlines!

Side to Side Cardigan II

Continuing on my quest to design an easy and fun sweater using odd balls of yarn, (purchased on yarn buying binges, furtive sales,random search and buy operations), here is the next in the series. Designing sweaters is kind of like making art in a series, where one idea leads into another, and all the tricks and tools I've gleaned are used to fabricate something interesting.
This sweater follows my earlier Ariel sweater, and is constructed basically the same way: knit in the round from the wrist up to the underarm, then stitches are cast on for the body and knit flat in one piece back and forth to the base of the neck, then stitches are divided for front and back. Then the back is knit to the center where both halves are joined with a 3 needle bind-off. Then the front is knit, stitches picked up at back neck, and knit down the other front to create the fronts and the shawl collar. I cord is used to bind off the fronts and collar. I've found an easy double sided cast-on for the side "seams" which delighted me, as there is no visible seam, in fact!
Here I've used Rowan Summer Tweed, 6 skeins of the grey and 2 of navy blue, with a skein of hand dyed sari silk to give a contrast and some color punch. As usual, this sweater is customizable to any yarn and any size, in theory, working from gauge of yarn and body measurements. I actually wrote up the pattern for my friend Linda, who is here modeling the sweater ( before darning in ends and blocking!):. She looks fabulous in it. If you want the pattern, email me! I think I might attempt it in Koigu Kersti next...

Side to Side Sweater

Ah, summer. Hot and sticky. But sometimes I want to wear a sweater, and so far everything seems too hot. I thought it might be interesting to knit with Ariel, a dk cotton/rayon blend, but on larger needles and produce a light, airy sweater, so I cast on 27 sts with size 10 1/2 double pointed needles, and proceeded to knit a sleeve. I liked how the fabric was coming out, so I increased 2 sts every inch or so until I reached 47 sts at the armpit, then cast on another 47 stitches to knit the sides. By casting on both sides of the needle, I could knit up the side, around the arm and down the front. I knit about 6 inches, then divided for the back neck, and did some decreasing to make a V neck in front. When I had half a body, I cast on for the other sleeve, and likewise knit merrily along. Finally, I did a 3 needle SSK bind off ( to preserve the stretchiness) and then arrived at the top back neck. I crocheted scallops of 5dc around the fronts and bottom edge, arriving at the back neck. At this point I thought it might be nice to close with 2 crocheted double bobbles, so that is what I did. A very light, airy sweater, perfect for summertime. I used around 580 yards, or most of 4 balls.( 160 each). Here is another photo taken by my artistic son Bobby: