Saturday, January 17, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
Gloves!
I'm entering new territory, once again.
They're really not that hard. I bought some great yarn, this magical algorithmic sock yarn from Germany that automagically makes stripes in what you're knitting -- no changing yarn. I'm using this pattern, except that I skipped the extra long cuff & just started with the short cuff. It's great to be able to make custom-fit fingers.
They're really not that hard. I bought some great yarn, this magical algorithmic sock yarn from Germany that automagically makes stripes in what you're knitting -- no changing yarn. I'm using this pattern, except that I skipped the extra long cuff & just started with the short cuff. It's great to be able to make custom-fit fingers.
Friday, December 26, 2008
FINISHED!
The cardigan is done!
I was warned by the daughter of a very seasoned German knitter that zippers were hell. She'd done one once -- 20 years ago -- and swore them off forever. Hmmmph.
With lots of perturbation, I pored over online tutorials here, here, here and here. I ended up with a hybrid of links 2 & 4, mostly, and remembered many things from my sewing days. First, I tacked the stripes together with small pieces of red yarn. I then whipstitch-basted the fronts together with the silver yarn, being careful to stay in the same row for an even edge.
Turned the sweater inside out, then pinned the zipper -- face down -- onto the flaps from the front pieces. I then whipstitched the edge of the zipper to the edge of the front flaps & then basted down the centers of the zipper on each side. The pins came out, I turned the sweater rightside-out again, and then came the moment of truth of removing the yarn basting.
Beautiful! The stripes matched! I spent several hours yesterday then going over the basting and backstitching the zipper in place by hand. Not going to take it near a sewing machine after all that work...
The sweater is warm and cozy, and the lengthening adjustments I made seem to have worked perfectly, albeit a little bunchy in the sleeves. It's not been blocked yet, though, so that can probably be remedied. The body, however, is bespoke!
I was warned by the daughter of a very seasoned German knitter that zippers were hell. She'd done one once -- 20 years ago -- and swore them off forever. Hmmmph.
With lots of perturbation, I pored over online tutorials here, here, here and here. I ended up with a hybrid of links 2 & 4, mostly, and remembered many things from my sewing days. First, I tacked the stripes together with small pieces of red yarn. I then whipstitch-basted the fronts together with the silver yarn, being careful to stay in the same row for an even edge.
Turned the sweater inside out, then pinned the zipper -- face down -- onto the flaps from the front pieces. I then whipstitched the edge of the zipper to the edge of the front flaps & then basted down the centers of the zipper on each side. The pins came out, I turned the sweater rightside-out again, and then came the moment of truth of removing the yarn basting.
Beautiful! The stripes matched! I spent several hours yesterday then going over the basting and backstitching the zipper in place by hand. Not going to take it near a sewing machine after all that work...
The sweater is warm and cozy, and the lengthening adjustments I made seem to have worked perfectly, albeit a little bunchy in the sleeves. It's not been blocked yet, though, so that can probably be remedied. The body, however, is bespoke!
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Ok, this is good.
I can confidently say that this sweater is going to fit. One sleeve attached and seamed all the way through. It fits!
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Finishing Up
Ande was kind enough to take a few photos as I joined the shoulder seams and started the collar on the cardigan. These were Sunday night -- the collar is now finished, and I'm sewing on the sleeves. Yay, mattress stitch.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
More Triumphs
After a few sloppier attempts, I'm finally getting the hang of the purled increase as I start my first sleeve. This cardigan project has been good, as each step adds one or two new challenges. As I was working through my last row, I was reading ahead in the pattern for the instructions for the collar -- in so doing, I noticed I was knitting while reading. This is progress!
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