My blog about knitting, teaching, and being a mother to two energetic young boys.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Not one, but two

I'm on a roll now, baby! Within a week of finishing Hey, Teach, I finally finished the sweater originally cast on for my new year knit-o-lution. Not Your Standard Issue Sweatshirt, Take Two c'est finis! This sweater has been a pile of sweater pieces for months now. Since May all I've needed to do was finish knitting the front and do the dreaded finishing (seaming...) Then the road trip got in the way, so the sweater just sat.

and sat...

and sat..

Until I finally got it in my mind to finish the darned thing. Finishing Hey, Teach gave me such a thrill that I brought this sweater to some knit gatherings so I could finish it up. On Saturday when the sun made a rare appearance in Anchorage, I sat in the middle of a sunbeam shining onto our living room floor and took the plunge - I seamed the darned thing together.

What a chore. The sides of the sweater are done in seed stitch and for the life of me I could not find a decent tutorial on how to seam seed stitch together. I muddled through and think it turned out okay. Of course - wouldn't you know it - as soon as I sewed the back to the front, I found I'd forgotten to add the last cable on the middle section. Oops - I guess it's now a design feature as there's no way in the world I was ripping anything out. Then there was the issue with attaching the sleeves - I still haven't mastered that. I thought about waiting until my next formal finishing class at our LYS, The Yarn Branch, but I just couldn't wait. Have you ever had a feeling that you just had to finish a project NOW? So a formal tutorial on how to attach sleeves will have to wait for another project (Central Park Hoodie is in my queue - yarn is stashed & ready).
Next I had to sew the hood together, attach it, and then create a place to insert the draw string (i-cord) which meant even more sewing. The photo above shows sweater before hood. I was just tickled pink to have a sweater to wear - so I wore it while I kept sewing. Of course, I haven't taken a picture w/the hood (looks a bit too elfish for my taste - I almost prefer it w/o the hood) & now the sweater is drying after a good wash to clean off the months of dust & get those stitches to lie the correct way.

While it isn't the most flattering sweater - makes me look a bit too bulky, it's quite warm & I adore it. It's mine; I did it. I love cables, I love green. It's mine. Did I mention that I knit it?

Gory Details:

Pattern: Not Your Standard Issue Sweatshirt, Take Two from The Yarn Girls Guide to Beyond the Basics.

Needles: Knit Picks Size 8 (for bottom) and Size 10

Yarn: Classic Elite - Dutchess (40% merino, 28% Viscose, 10% Cashmere, 15% Nylon, 7% Angora) Soft & very warm... Holds detail like cables extremely well.

Colorway: ?? #1097, Lot #221

Modifications: Did a three needle bind off. I just love this for attaching the back to the front.

Thursday night is the 2nd Icelandic Sweater class. Is sweater #3 not too far behind?

Ciao!

7 comments:

Kelli said...

You hair covers any mistake. I vote for the "intentional design feature" rationale. The color and fit are very flattering. ~ksp

Holly Jo said...

HOLY COW! I let two posts stack up and come back to TWO finished sweaters! Congrats!

I like the sweater a lot. Seed stitch is a b*tch to seam and if you find a good tutorial or get some advice be sure to share.

AfternoonMoon said...

Love that sweater, the fit looks great, and we are having perfect sweater weather.

You will love the Central Park Hoodie, I just started it two weeks ago.

Anonymous said...

I think it looks fantastic! Great color!

LisaW. said...

way to go! two finished sweaters in short work! great looking...sorry the hey teach is a little small, it's lovely all the same. the seed stitch/cable sweater is gorgeous and while it is not 'svelte-making' it is not unflattering or too bulky at all. and the color is so cheerful. great job, can't wait to see whatcha come up with next.

Ann said...

Lovely sweater & I also love Hey Teach. 2 garments in a row - that's a big accomplishment. Thanks for visiting my blog. I do intend to make my sock pattern available & will post in on my blog.

carolyninAlaska said...

Hey... it looks great!
Lovely color and texture.