Progress

Okay, Day 2, and I have made some progress on the left front of my brother's sweater, which now measures 13", completing the first full red diamond between the black and white diamonds. The neck and armhole shaping are coming soon, hopefully by the end of the day. I am going to use a modified drop sleeve and a deep V-neck, so I consulted The New Knitter's Template, and this is what I came up with:

I want a cardigan with length = 26"

and chest measurement = 48"

For these measurements, the armhole depth  should = 9", so 26" minus 9" = 17" from hem

V-neck depth = armhole depth + 1", so 10", or 16" from hem

As I recall, I modified the armhole depth to give my brother a little more room. I will measure the back piece later today to determine where changes might need to be made to my plan.

I checked the gauge, and I am slightly concerned. Whereas in November 2011 my gauge was about 23 stitches to 4", now it measures about 24.5 stitches to 4". The width of the piece in the lower section is right on 11", and in the upper portion it is about 11.25". As this is my first sweater knit in pieces, and the only other sweater I ever completed was in the round and 20 years ago, I am wondering:
          "Is this close enough to block out, or do I need to frog (rip-it, rip-it)?"
Experienced sweater knitters, please send your comments, and for now I will continue, just in case it will come out. If I hear from someone that I need to frog, I'll deal with it then.

ETA:The back piece measures 14.5" to the beginning of the armhole shaping, 24.5" total length, giving an armhole depth of 10", the same as the suggested V-neck depth according to The New Knitter's Template. I will therefore begin the shaping for both at the same time.

I'm Back (Again)

My brother has asked for a sweater. Several times. First he wanted an Irish Fisherman's sweater in wool-- He lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, so I ignored this request; after all, when would he wear it? I know, it's not the place of the knitter to question the desires of the requestee. But with all the work involved, not to mention the expense of the yarn, wouldn't you want to make something they can wear... and wear... and wear?

However, I finally suggested a cotton blend in an argyle cardigan. I found several pictures online, played with the color in Paint, and came up with something he loved. This morning, I couldn't find the image on my computer, so I did a web search and came up with the following:

This is the general style

These are the colors

Last summer, as we prepared to move to a different state, I ordered yarn from Knit Picks, CotLin in Moroccan Red, Black, and Swan, along with the book The New Knitter's Template by Laura Militzer Bryant and Barry Klein. I discovered that I loved both. 

The CotLin feels sort of rough at first due to the linen content, but it works up nicely with a great drape. The only problem I can see so far is that the red rubs off on the black and the white. I am hoping this will be fixed with washing and blocking, but will let you know. I am using a 24" circular size 3 Addi Turbo Lace needle, and my gauge is about 5.5 stitches to the inch.

The book is incredible! I have learned so much about construction, I feel I don't need a written out pattern anymore. Knitting the perfect sweater seems to be a matter of making a few decisions about length, armhole style, neck shape/depth, and ease. The rest is frosting-plain stockinette, cables or lace, color-work, whatever. Just determine your gauge and the chest circumference you want and begin!

For this sweater, I have decided to make a 48" size. My brother's chest is 44.5", and I want him to have some ease for wearing over a shirt, but I also want to keep it from being too slouchy. I have determined that the modified drop sleeve will look best, and the V-neck should hit him mid-chest, as shown above left.

I cast on 132 stitches for the back, and knit the entire piece in red. Needless to say, stockinette is the stitch pattern here. I finished the back in mid-October, which I considered pretty good, considering our move from a 3 bedroom house in Iowa to a 2 bedroom apartment in South Dakota took 2 trips with a 26' U-Haul truck, two 6' x 12' storage units in Iowa and one 12' x 26' storage unit in South Dakota. (We only recently began sorting and organizing the storage unit in South Dakota; someday I'll know where everything is!)

I have been pretty slow to work on the fronts, especially as I had some trouble deciding at first how to go about knitting the argyle pattern. Should I try to knit everything at once or add the diagonal lines in duplicate stitch after knitting? Well, I tried the everything, and ended up with a tangled mess, so I frogged and decided duplicate stitch was for me. 

I was side-tracked for a good portion of the winter into other crafts(!), but have now gotten back to working on this sweater. It will be done before I see my brother in July! Therefore, I thought I would blog my progress on a regular basis to keep myself on track. As I see it, my goals are: two weeks for each front piece, which puts me at the end of May; two weeks for the sleeves, middle of June; leaving two weeks for finishing/blocking. Wish me luck!

New Beginnings

Teaching is more than an occupation for me; it’s a fulfillment of my inner self not found in any other venue. Ask me to teach you something, and my brain automatically says, “This is the thing for which I was created.”   I taught music for eight years and subbed in many subjects for two years after that. I am eternally grateful for the opportunity I had to fill in for a high school science teacher for eight weeks, which was the most affirming experience of my life. Those students responded to my teaching with so much enthusiasm, it was difficult for me to say goodbye at the end; I wanted it to go on forever, and the students begged me to stay to the end of the year.

Since leaving the teaching profession, I had felt a void in my life that nothing else could fill, until a friend asked me to teach a class for community education. I offered a general class of crochet instruction. No one signed up. Then I offered a class on knitting two socks at once from the toe up using the Magic Loop, and I had six students! Most recently I taught a class in which students learned to make reversible cables on a hat and scarf.

What fun! I have always been amazed at how much I learn when I teach. As an added bonus, my students are my equals, peers with whom I can share myself and who can open up to me in ways one can never experience as a school teacher. I have made some dear friends and they, in turn, have given me the impetus to continue learning and exploring and sharing what I have found.

I would like to offer classes more often than three times per year like I am with the community ed program, but I am stymied by the prospect of finding a location for my classes. My home is not an option, as MS prevents me from keeping the house in order and my husband, working all hours, doesn’t have the time to do it, either. I have considered local churches or the community center, but have not yet contacted any of them to find out about availability or cost. This is a small town, and my options are few, but I have confidence that with some effort, a place to teach will be found.

In the meantime, I am also thinking about making items to sell and offering custom jobs as well. I have thought about the typical washcloth and towel topper types of things, but am curious to find out what will sell the best for the least  amount of time expended. Extra cash is extremely short and entirely welcome right now.

Knitting Socks

So I started this on 10-27, late at night. I can't seem to put it down. It's my first (knitted) socks, and I have tried several techniques and patterns before settling on this one. I don't like dpns or two circs for sure... too "fiddly" to deal with. Magic loop rocks! I have frogged my work at least 15 times now, finally got the hang of the cast on and increases, gonna keep going... further bulletins as events warrant! Pics to come.


http://www.knitpicks.com/cfpatterns/pattern_display.cfm?ID=50631220&medid=RAV