Res Completa: Holiday Sweater

It started in June. I saw Philigry's Amanda Sweater (based on a turtleneck worn by Cameron Diaz in The Holiday), fell in love, and immediately added it to my mental queue.

Then, at the end of October, Philigry's lovely sweater was featured in a Modification Monday segment over at Knitted Bliss. I still loved it. But I had so much stuff to knit! Especially with Christmas coming up.

Whatever. A week and a half later (after an encouraging/enabling note from Philigry herself) I had my yarn from Webs, and soon after that, I cast on. Just in time to wear home for Thanksgiving.



Pattern: Improvised top-down raglan
Yarn: Cascade 220, 4 skeins of Natural (8010)
Needles: US6 circs
Start to Finish: November 16-24, 2009

Notes: This sweater is a simple top-down raglan, with the cowl knitted on at the end. Loving the look of the neckline on Francis Revisited, I calculated the length of the cast-on edge and did mine the same. I did a few calculations beforehand to make sure I ended up with the bust and arm measurements I wanted and a raglan depth of 8 inches. I decreased 2 inches for the waist, then increased another 2 for the almost-to-the-hip hem.

If I hadn't been on a hard deadline (I was determined to wear this thing the night before Thanksgiving), I may have redone the sleeves. I thought I was giving them a little bit of positive ease, but I was wrong. I guess I have been working out more lately...(and by "working out" I mean "eating")...



I also may have redone the cuffs. Because buttons were going to go down there, I wanted to overlap the cuffs to make them look like they were actually buttoned. So, when I got to the ribbing, I started working them flat, and increased 4 stitches before I bound off. Because they're a little tight, they also get a little gappy when I bend my elbows. I think I will sew the two pieces together, now that I think about it.

For the cowl, I picked up stitches all the way around the cast-on collar edge and worked in reverse stockinette (turned the sweater inside out and knit it that way) for several inches. I thought about doing something at the edge of the cowl so it wouldn't curl, but decided I liked the curly look.



I LOVE this sweater. LOVE. I live in turtlenecks this time of year and am excited to have a winter white wardrobe item for this holiday season. Thanks so much to Philigry for this wonderful idea and to Julie at Knitted Bliss for reminding me about it!

Patternum Gratis: Candlestick Baby Sweater

At long last I've sized and finalized this pattern, which I started writing two and a half years ago! Named after Candlestick Park, the home of the San Francisco Giants during my childhood, this little cotton baby sweater is modeled after men's raglan-sleeved baseball t-shirts. As with my other free patterns, Candlestick has not been tech edited, though the greatest amount of care was given in writing and proof reading it! If you have any questions whatsoever or encounter any errors, please do not hesitate to email or pm me on Ravelry.



Pattern: Candlestick (click here to download now)
Sizes: 3 months (6 mos, 12 mos, 18 mos, 2 years, 4 years)
Finished Measurements: 16.75 (17.5, 18.75, 19.5, 21.25, 23.5)” finished chest measurement
Yarn Requirements: MC: 2 (2, 2, 2, 3, 3) skeins: 158 (165, 175, 184, 203, 222) yards in Natural White; CC: 1 (2, 2, 2, 2, 2) skeins: 93 (100, 104, 110, 120, 126) yards in Orange
Needles: US 6 (4mm) 16” circular needle and same size preferred needles for working a small piece in the round (or size needed to get gauge)
Gauge: 21 stitches x 28 rows = 4” in Stockinette stitch

More info: The body and sleeves are worked in the round until the raglan decreases begin, at which point they are worked flat. Pattern employs short rows to shape the collar, basic increasing and decreasing, seaming, working in the round, and a little bit of grafting.

Res Completae: Autumn Goodies

Amongst all the knitted Christmas gifts (and, by the way, thank you all for your encouragement!), I've also squeezed in a couple of little cooler weather treats for myself this fall.



Pattern: Felicity, by Wanett Clyde
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpacas Alpaca & Silk, 3/4 skein each of lilac and peach
Needles: US 5 circs
Start to Finish: October 22-25, 2009

Mods: Yarn was thinner than called for, so I cast on more stitches. I was sick-as-a-dog at the time, so unfortunately didn't record anything. Actually, I'm shocked this came out, now that I think about it, because I really have no idea what I did to mod the pattern.



I was first introduced to this great pattern by Canary Knits, who has made several of them and who also did a profile on the designer last year. This pattern is fantastic -- Nettie seems to have gotten the proportion and slouch of this hat just right and it's fun browsing the 1662 Felicities on Ravelry to see the various yarns and color combinations people have used. They all look fantastic.



Now the question is whether or not I can actually pull off wearing an orange and purple slouchy knit cap. We shall see.

Next up...



Pattern: just a simple, vertically-knit, garter stitch scarf (300 stitches)
Yarn: Valley Yarns Stockbridge, 2 skeins of purple, 1 of red
Needles: US 7
Start to Finish: October 15-19, 2009



I made something similar last year for a gift and it was one of those that I kind of wanted to keep. Strangely enough, I used the same exact yarn and cast on the same number of stitches with the same size needles, and this year's scarf turned out a few feet longer. Maybe I'm knitting looser these days, who knows. My favorite thing about this scarf is how the wrong side looks; the stripes aren't quite so apparent and the colors almost start to blend into each other. Plus, it's very, very warm!

Happy Thanksgiving, all (who happen to be in or from the US)! If, like me, you "get" to travel on this, the busiest travel day of the year, be safe! And let's all collectively cross our fingers for zero flight delays and minimal traffic jams.

Pleased

Over a month to go until Christmas and I have to admit...I'm feeling a little pleased with myself.



Not only are most of my knitted gifts (which are, I believe, much more substantial than previous years' knitted gifts) done, but they match, too!

Now that I have confessed this, I wonder: what exactly is going to happen to wipe this smug look off my face? Because I know something will.

Patternum Gratis: Safire Minisweater

Working my way through the patterns on my to-do list... Safire (originally created last year) is now available on Ravelry (and below)! As with the others, this is a free pattern so I did not use a tech editor. Though I checked, double-checked, and triple-checked, there may still be errors in the pattern, so please do not hesitate to contact me if you encounter any.



Pattern: Safire (click here to download now)
Sizes: XS (S, M, L, XL, 2XL, 3XL, 4XL)
Finished Measurements: 28” (32”, 36”, 40”, 44”, 48”, 52”, 56”) bust
Yarn Requirements: 1 (1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2) skeins of Tess’ Designer Yarns Superwash Merino, or 490 (560, 630, 700, 770, 840, 910, 980) yards of a similar worsted weight yarn
Needles: US 6 (4mm) and US 7 (4.5mm) circular needles, at least 32” long and same size of needles preferred for working sleeves in the round
Gauge: 21 stitches x 26 rows = 4” in Stockinette stitch

Res Completae: Baby Gifties

So back in September, I actually forgot that I knit and sew. I had been invited to the dedication of a dear friend's baby around the same time that her other baby had turned 2 years old, and I completely agonized over what to get them for days. What would be special enough for the little one, what would be fun enough for the older one, etc. etc. I finally called my mom for her advice on what to do about gifts for these two little boys and she responded, ".......Couldn't you make them something?" I don't know if in the back of my mind I was thinking that I had already knit them things when they were born so I couldn't play that card anymore, or that they were boys and there was nothing to make them, or what. But.....yeah. Not sure why that was so hard to figure out.

For the little bebe, a blankie:



Pattern: Sumptuous Ripple Afghan, from Lion Brand Yarns
Yarn: James C. Brett Marble Chunky, about 3 skeins of color MC10
Needles: US 10
Start to Finish: September 20-26, 2009
Mods: I really just used the ripple stitch pattern from this pattern and didn't follow much else. I did 8 repeats of the pattern and worked until I had a 3ft square blankie.
Notes: I cannot say I adored working with this yarn, but as acrylics go, this one was pretty soft and squishy. I do love all the blues, though.

The 2-year old got a sewn stuffie:



Pattern: Peanut the Wee Elephant, from Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts
Fabric: Some leftovers of a fat quarter for the body and some of an old shirt of Neill's for the insides of the ears.
Start to Finish: September 23, 2009
Notes: This was a great, quick project! But I have a question for the sewing experts out there: how is one to press the seams of something when the space for said pressing is much smaller than the width of ones iron? For example, the seam that runs along Wee Peanut's head and nose? Or the space between his little feet?

In the end, I believe the little ones liked their gifts. The baby actually wasn't present for the opening of his blankie, but his mama assured me he'd love it. And the 2-year old (who was thrilled to be getting a present in general) opened Peanut then promptly threw him across the room. I think that's a good sign.

Better

Thank you all so much for your warm well-wishing last week. I think all the happy thoughts kicked my immune system up a notch and I was able to start knitting a little bit the day after my post. And by the weekend, I was on a project-finishing rampage that could not be stopped, including, but not limited to, the following:



A couple of those just needed to be blocked, one's brand new, another needed the brim and a few inches ripped back then the brim reknit...the scarf needed a few more inches knit (I had ripped out half of it to make Ishbel, then had some of the yarn left over...it was bothering me so I reknit the end of the scarf with the leftover yarn and reblocked it). Not pictured are a sweater that needed a couple inches and some finishing as well as the only sweater I have ever made Neill which didn't fit right and had needed some fixes (*cough*for the past two and a half years*cough*). I'm telling you, I was on fire. I was coughing, sniffling, and in pyjamas, but I was on fire. It felt great to check those things off the to-do list.

I'm still not feeling 100% back to normal, but, characteristic of my healthy self, I have been obsessing over what my next project should be all week. (Well, I know it should be something that will be given as a Christmas gift, but that's no fun.) I can't stop thinking about Philigry's Amanda Sweater....or this, the Not-A-Poncho City Cape from Custom Knits.

Any thoughts on knitted capes? Cool? Insane?