sweaters

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Nothing fancy

Y2_raglan

The third project is done. A very simple raglan knitted in pieces from the bottom up. It also has a stitch pattern that matches at the shoulder seam.

Sometimes simple is good, especially when juggling several projects at once.

Still haven’t started the second project, a dolman sleeved cardigan. I keep pressing on with the other projects, hoping I’ll eventually find time for the dolman.

The Aran is almost finished but it’s on the back burner while I make progress on the gansey and Lopi projects.

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Finished a project

Nv_puffy_sleeve_small

Yippee! The first project of year two is finished.

It’s the Shaped Lace T from Knitting Lingerie Style by Joan McGowan-Michael but redrafted with “puffy” sleeves.

This weekend I’ve been catching up on my projects. It took me two days to sew sleeves on the raglan. I swear, I’ll never use Jo Sharp Silkroad DK Tweed again. The yarn is wonderfully soft but breaks too easily when seaming.

On the way home from the Farmers market I popped my head into  the Quilting Loft. Last year I remember seeing some wonderful bags by Cheryl Kuczek on display. She was teaching a class on how to make these bags but not having much time for another class, I asked whether they had patterns for these bags. They didn’t but expected to have some in a couple of months. Time flies … and I totally forgot until yesterday when I was in the neighborhood. This time they did have them. Don’t know when I’ll find time to make one though.

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Irish Moss

Irish_moss_finishedPattern: Irish Moss from Aran Knitting by Alice Starmore
Size: medium
Yarn: 17 skeins of Jamieson’s Soft Shetland
– Anthracite (1050)


Notes:

– Pattern calls for 16 skeins while I used 17. Extra skein was from a different dye lot which was used for shoulder panels and ribbing around the neck. Difference is not noticeable.

– Able to achieve tension mentioned in the pattern using size 4.5 mm needles.

–  Easier to obtain correct tension sample when sample did not have borders.

– Perfect yarn and pattern for splicing yarn ends so there are no yarn ends to weave into the sides.

I found this interesting Aran website called www.clanarns.com.

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Le cardigan rayé est fini.

phildonefull.jpg Thanks to Alison for sponsoring the Phildar Fillies knit-along. I’ve enjoyed watching the progress of other Phildar projects.

I did end up cutting 3/4″ off of each center front and finished the edge with a zigzag machine stitch. I found that my regular machine foot does have a tendency to stretch the fabric. It probably would have been a good idea to use a walking foot to minimize the stretching, but I did ok without one.

Collar

Attaching the collar was a simple process. I just followed the detailed directions in the pattern book. I pinned the collar to the outside of the sweater positioning it so that more stitches were on the front. Then I pulled out all but one row of the red stitches. The last row of red stitches was unraveled stitch by stitch as I sewed each collar stitch to the sweater with a backstitch.

Satin Hook and Eye Tape

The pattern didn’t have much detail on how to attach the hook and eye tape so I decided to handle it in the same way I hand sew a quilt binding. The goal is to fold the tape around the edge of the sweater fabric and tack it down with an invisible stitch. The top and bottom edges of the tape are hidden by folding them to the inside of the tape. I recommend using a needle with a small eye.

I started by basting (or pinning) the back half of the tape to the sweater and then carefully stitching down the tape. Once the back of the tape was secured I folded it to the front and stitched this edge of the tape to the front of the sweater. I used an invisible stitch that I taught myself and find difficult to explain but I’ll try.

I start the stitch by inserting the needle into the fold of the tape, trying not to catch either side of the tape (just a piece of the fold). After the needle catches a small amount of fabric from the fold I push the tip of the needle out. To finish the stitch, I catch a bit of fabric from the sweater, then tug the needle free and tighten the thread so the stitch doesn’t show.