Showing posts with label Knitting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Knitting. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Paisley Sweater Update

I am close to the end on the Debbie Bliss Paisley Sweater.  The front and back are both done, and look the same:


I was sad, actually, to finish the last paisley motif on the second piece.  They were fun to knit, and there aren't any on the sleeves:


The design of these sweaters is actually very thoughtful.  Look at how the zig-zag motif lines up perfectly with the decreases on the raglan edge, on both the sleeves and on the front and back:


I can't imagine how much planning went into that!

After I finish the second sleeve, I will still have four cable inserts to do for the raglan seams.  Then I sew it all together and knit the rolled collar on a circular needle.  Won't be long!  I may have to start thinking about the next knitting project...

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Flood Update

As you can imagine, I've been completely swamped (*rolls eyes*) by dealing with the flood in our basement the past week.  Plus, the flood happened just as I was in the trickiest part of setting up a new website for my quilt guild Rouge Valley.  I've been stretched to the limit for several days now.  The flood remediation process has been quite difficult, and punctuated by a trip to the emergency room for my dad's heart.  So it's been pretty stressful all around.

The only vaguely stitchy thing I've been doing is knitting.  The front and back are done on the Paisley Sweater, and I'm halfway up the first sleeve.  I can't say when I'll be able to organize a photo, though.

Two weeks ago I was thinking that my "sewing machine holiday" has not been the greatest success.  I have not enjoyed it.  I really enjoy handwork as a break from working on the machine, but just handwork all the time became tedious pretty quickly.  So that's good to know.

Of course, I haven't had time to be bored since the flood.  Nature always fills a void!  From now on I'll be more careful about leaving one.  ;)

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Debbie Bliss Paisley Sweater Errata

I have been knitting up a storm:


This is all brand new knitting since the last post.  I started over from the beginning.  Now there are two complete reps of the zig zag panel, and there are exactly four in the piece, so I am halfway.

I am pretty sure there was an error in the instructions for the top of the paisley motif.  The instructions for Row 45 read "P5, C3FP, C2BP, p15."  They should read "P6, C2FP, C2BP, p15."  That's what I did, and this is how it looks:


If you followed the printed instructions you would start the cable too soon, and it wouldn't finish to a clean point.

I think I saw this pattern republished in a Debbie Bliss magazine, and I don't know if they fixed the error in that.

It is a pet peeve of mine that Debbie Bliss never provides charts for her cables or lace.  If she had, this error would have been avoided!

This week I also upgraded to the new Corel Paintshop Pro X4 photo software.  I am finding it easier to use than the X3, and much less buggy.  Plus, the manuals that come with it are better, so I finally figured out how to use the text tool properly.  You will be seeing labels on my photos from now on!  It is a good deal for $40.

Saturday, June 30, 2012

Starting Over

Well, there was much beating of brow and gnashing of teeth around here last night, followed by deep philosophical sighs.  After a day and a half of steady knitting, I got this far:


You will notice that it is off the needles.  I realized that it is now going to be way too short!!  What has happened is that my rows are coming out narrower than the suggested gauge.  So in fact, I didn't need to reduce the number of rows at all.  Fortunately I bought extra balls of this yarn.  I am just going to start over, because some of the yarn near the hem has already been re-knitted twice.

You know, I do usually make a swatch before I start a project, but that is because I have either substituted the yarn or made my own design.  In this case, because I am using the yarn called for by the pattern, I guess I didn't think I'd need it.

Third time lucky!

Friday, June 29, 2012

Debbie Bliss Eco Aran

Recently, it seems like all my Australian blogging friends have been knitting, which is natural for them because it's winter there, but it's put me in the mood for knitting too.  Since I became so allergic to wool, all my wool knitting projects are semi-permanently on hold.  But I do have some cotton lying around.  Webs had a sale on Debbie Bliss Eco Aran a year or so ago, and I snapped up enough for two projects from the Debbie Bliss Eco Fairtrade Collection book that came out in 2009.  I am starting with colour 616, the powder blue:


This is kind of a challenging yarn to work with.  It has several thin plies loosely wound together, so you have to knit carefully to make sure you catch them all in each stitch.  I also found two flaws just in the first ball, which is a pain because then you have to back it up and find a good place to hide the join.  But, I have concluded that it is worth it, because the knitted fabric feels fantastic.  It is very soft and plush, unlike a lot of cottons which can be stiff.

I'm making the Paisley Sweater from the back of the first Eco Fairtrade Collection book:


I don't have much to show yet, because I've had two false starts.  The first time was a tension problem, and I've reduced the size of my needles.  Even though I was knitting to the gauge, the garment was coming out bigger than the pattern suggested.  I met a woman at a quilting workshop who had made one of these projects, and she mentioned that she found she needed to knit this very tightly.  I don't like to put so much strain on my hands, so I have gone with smaller needles.

The second false start occured when I realized that the project was going to be too long.  The front measures 26" long, but when you realize that it isn't 26" from the top of the shoulder but rather from further down, the whole thing became longer than I wanted.  So I decided to shave off 18 rows, which required me to re-jig the placement of the cabled panels, and I had to start those over.

But now I think I'm headed in the right direction.  It is really great to be knitting again, it feels like visiting an old friend.
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