FO: Elizabeth Zimmerman Pullover

This is the first Elizabeth Zimmerman pattern I've knit. But when I saw my friend Ann's pullover I knew I wanted one just like hers. I've been dreaming of just a basic stockinette sweater for awhile, something to fly off my fingers on and a cozy pullover to wear through the winter.

I bought a bag of Knit Picks Swish DK, when they discontinued the turmeric color (How could they? Wouldn't everyone want that beautiful yellow??) But it worked out in my favor because I got a whole bag of it super cheap.

For anyone not familiar with Elizabeth Zimmerman patterns many of them are based on percentages and your own personal gauge. I did do a gauge swatch, like a good little knitter, but I really under estimated my own personal preference for negative ease (how tight a garment is). I originally had two inches of negative ease (so it was two inches smaller around then my actually body is) but when I got about half way into the body, I tried it on and I was swimming in it. So when I cast on the second time I took out SIX (6!) inches of negative ease. I was really worried I was being crazy, but luckily I stuck with my gut feeling because it fits just perfectly, exactly how I wanted it to. I'm also a little more on the loose side as a knitter, so I tend to have a lot of stretch to my knitted fabric.

My cousin Kedar was in town last weekend and snapped some photos for me. When I handed it to her folded, I hadn't noticed it was inside out, so a few of my photos feature the purled side of the fabric. But once I got it on I didn't have that problem.

I love how simple and comfy this sweater is, I still plan on adding a small pocket to the front and although it was 75 here yesterday, knowing Minnesota I'll still get plenty of time to wear this.

Georiga Cardigan

 
I've realized there's quite a few sweaters and projects that haven't made it over to this blogosphere so expect to see some new things in the next few weeks.

Keeping knitting affordable is always a concern of mine and it's why I love Knit Picks so much. I can make a sweater out of quality yarn that isn't going to keep me from making my student loan payments.

That said I recently have been dabbling into more luxury yarns. On a whim I  bought a skein of Madeline Tosh Light from Windy Knitty. This eventually became the Sad Day Shawl. I quickly became pretty obsessed with the Madeline Tosh line. I mean, look at all of those effing colors. I had caught an eye full of a color named ginger when I bought my first skein of Mad Tosh but they only had one skein in stock and the more I looked at it the more I knew I need a whole sweater of this stuff. It took me a little bit to decide on pattern but when Laura pointed out Georgia I knew that it was perfect. A simple, classic cardigan ideal for showing off a show stopping yarn.

After reviewing my purchasing options (and determining no Chicago yarn stores had any in stock) I realized that I would have to buy online and I had my heart set on ordering from Webs. If I'm going to spend that much on yarn, even better if I can get a discount! In addition, none of the Madeline Tosh yarns have dye lots and I felt the most confident in the expert yarn handlers at Webs giving me the best three skeins together so I didn't end up with some crazy ugly variations. (At this point I know people will point out that I can alternate skeins every few rows and to that I will say. No. I will probably never do this. It's too fussy and involved. So I will get the best color match I can, but variation and difference can be some of the most exciting things about knitting with artisan dyed yarn.)

Although it took me about three months of waiting for the color to come back into stock I finally got my hands on this yarn. Look at those colors!! Definitely worth the wait. Now, I know I'm really crazy about this yarn because I'm knitting a sweater ( A SWEATER) in sock yarn, on size 2 needles. Not really my style, if you know anything about me. But I've been surprising myself over the last few months with the projects and yarn size I've been choosing. I know that this is going to be a long term commitment project.

 
I pick it up in between projects, or when I simply get sick of working on something and so far it's been working. I've put the sleeve stitches on holders and am working through the body. It's just lots of long, long rows of stockinette stitch. But it's a nice break from all the lace (LACE?!? Who am I???) projects I've had on the needles.

Resolutions

Six days into the new year and most people have written their lists of resolutions. They have looked back on the year that has passed, reflecting on what has happened, perhaps thought about successes, assessed what they would like to differently in the future for those less successful times. This blog is no different. There are many notes that I have scribbled down over post-its on my desk or the pages of my journals and one of them dirrectly relates to my knitting.

You see, earlier this summer I had the idea to knit a sweater for a very special gentleman in my life. I worked, in secret on this sweater waiting, until I could reveal it as the perfect, well thought out, and crafted with care present I envisioned it to be. As I was knitting it, I kept having the nagging feeling that something wasn't right. But I pushed those feelings down and kept blindly following the pattern. I've been known to go rouge on patterns at times, and I was determined to put my head down and follow the pattern to the t. All of this was going fine and dandy until the gentleman opened my gift, and prompltly drowned in my sweater.

You see, I had knit something large enough to fit not one but TWO adults. So, this sweater had to be ripped out and knit over again. I was able to save the sleeves and just rip back the shoulder caps but the entire body was a gonner.  It languished for months until I mustered up the courage to start ripping that sucker out. Over Christmas I recast on. I'm hoping to finish it by end of February hoping that it can see some sweater weather this winter.

In frogging this sweater I started to think about some of the other projects I have that don't work for me. Although I loved knitting The Dollar and Half Cardigan. I've never actually worn it. It was the first sweater I made and there are some changes I would make (like remembering I have the worlds shortest arms EVER and I need to not knit the recommended lengths, ever.) Other sweaters like The February Lady, just really aren't my style anymore. So, I have made an executive decision. I need to be using, and loving the things that are in my life. 2012 is all about making what I have work for me. The February Lady has been frogged for good, and the dollar and half is in the process of being frogged to be re-knit. Sometimes it can be hard to re-do projects, or to let go of them all together but there's no use in keeping them in my life when they aren't working for me. This year is about doing more with what I have and one of the ways to do that is to re-purpose the things that are already in my life. Sometimes that means letting go of things to make space for something new and sometimes it means starting over, and trying again. The best part of re-doing a project is getting to use the experience of making it the first time around. Thanks to Allyson for being my co-model and here's to 2012.

Sunday Snapshot

I pulled my February lady sweater (started all the way back in February) out of hibernation this week. I've been itching to get some sweater knitting done but my next sweater knit along (more on those soon!) doesn't start for another two weeks. So, I broke this puppy out of the cabinet and got started. An easy top down cardigan I'm just about finished with the garter stitch before I start in on the lace pattern which will make up most of the body and the sleeves. Lots of lace ahead of me. I can't wait!

Fiona's Two Boyfriends

I just got back tonight from nice little jaunt to Minneapolis to visit my family. It was great to see everyone and I was able to hand out some very very belated holiday gifts.

For my sister Fiona I knit up the Two Boyfriends Cardigan by Allyson, over at The Sweatshop of Love. One of her original designs it is a simple and easy to knit top down over sized cardigan but she keeps it fresh and fun by having each side a different color. A favorite color for each of your boyfriends. get it?

The stripes and color combo look like they were designed for Fiona. Just her style! I love the pockets and the buttons. I found the button's at Steven B's Yarn Garage which I visited with my mom and will post about next time. It was really fun, just like those buttons!

I've never made something that was so perfectly fit for the person. I wasn't so sure about it as I was packing it up to take but the moment she put it on it fit her perfectly and was so her style. She even loved that I had used blue and orange stripes on the pockets (I had run out of brown yarn).

I also gave my dad his "turtle" as he calls them. Essentially a cowl. A nice neck warmer for those Minnesotan winters.

Seflish Knitting

It's been a busy month around here without any internet access. Luckily my frown is getting turned upside down by my new internet connection! It took AT&T 10 days longer than they should have and I spent a combined total of two hours on the phone but it is finally working.

The good news about being on hold is that you can get lots of knitting done with your phone on speaker.
This week I started and finished my sleeves for my beatnik sweater.

I'm using Allyson's method of knitting two sleeves at once. It helps them fly by faster and keeps the mistakes the same on both. I am notoriously bad at counting rows so knitting them together means they are always the same exact size.

 I'm trying to keep on with the body of my sweater but I've gotten a little discouraged, I've got the shoulder shaping on the back to finish and then the entire front.

I'm taking the beloved mega bus up to Minnesota this weekend so I'm going to have lots of time to finish up my body and seem my sleeves into my sweater. After that I just have the collar to do. There is a slim chance I might finish in time with everyone else!! But I'm not holding my breath, it's more important to finish than to finish it in time with everyone else.

I've got a few more projects sitting around on my needles that I'll try to get up here in the next few weeks and once my (very belated) Christmas gifts for my family once I've finally distributed them.

The Beatnik Continues

The Selfish Knit Along is rolling right along and despite my best efforts I'm still about two weeks behind. It's been a crazy week around here complete with an ER trip for a very very sick husband. Thankfully David is doing ok and there was a lot of waiting around in the ER so I did get quite a bit of knitting done.

This sweater has cabled charts which I had never done before, its really no different than following any other kind of chart but there are small variations between them that I took Allyson's advice and color coded the different cables so that I could identify the variation quickly and find the description. 

I had a really good time of calling out "GREEN" or "RED" when I got to the right cable, although I'm sure it was a less endearing quality to my surrounding human beings. None the less, it gave me a little chuckle and kept me entertained. 

I'm really enjoying this pattern so far and I've pretty much go the charts down so that I really only need to double check stitches a few times. The trouble becomes in remembering where I am in the chart and in all of my increases. The little post it note up there comes in handy to mark where I am before I put it down and don't have a complete brain fart the next time I pick it up. So, the plan is to just keep plugging along and hoping that I can pick up some time along the way. Either way, I know I'll finish and that's what's important.

Snowpacolypse

Here in Chicago we were treated to a truly epic blizzard last night. THUNDERSNOW is new to my vocabulary but it truely was a sight to see. A thunder storm INSIDE a blizzard. I felt like an arctic adventurer braving the snow this morning to make it to breakfast. After a quick (and by that I mean a few blocks through knee deep or waist deep snow drifts) jaunt to our local breakfast place david and I holed ourselves up inside most of the day.

I had the very rare adult treat of a snow day from work! Unheard of! But considering that the side streets were impassable at most points much of Chicago was shut down today. Tomorrow I'll be hitting the slopes bright and early to make it out to the mall that I work in. But today I got to relax and luckily get a lot of knitting done.

I'm still plugging away on my Beatnik Sweater as part of The Sweatshop of Love Selfish Knit Along. It's going pretty well for just starting it a few days ago, I've gotten through to the waist decreases and am just getting ready to knit up most of the body before the waist increases. Super exciting stuff all around.

Looking good!

I'm very excited to have Friday off of work as well so I'll just be drinking lots of tea, firing up some movies and knitting my little heart out. I also have some new projects I'm working on and hopefully will have some more information about in the next few weeks. Until then I'll be glad that this isn't my car:

There are two cars under there! Promise!

Knit Along!

While my lovely friend Allyson over at The Sweatshop of Love has been staycation-ing in Minneapolis for three months my Chicago knitting sceen has been a little lonely. That's why I was super pshcyed to get on board with a knit along. I've never done one before but I am drooling over The Beatnik sweater in the deep fall issue Knitty that I just couldn't help myself.

The Knit Picks gift card my lovely mother in law gave me for Christmas was a nice little bonus as well. Unfortunatly I waited so long in my deicion and ordered my yarn late so I'm THREE whole weeks behind schedule.

The idea is to turn this:

into this: 

I'm working with the Knit Picks DK City Tweed. It's a slightly thiner yarn than what the pattern calls for but I think that I'm going to be ok as far as size goes. I half heartedly knit up a gauge swatch, eyeballed it once or twice with a ruller and just dug in. It kind of just feels like I need a little blind faith in my life right now. So here's jumping in head first. I ordered a few extra skeins so I should be alright in the end. 

I'm really loving how soft and buttery it is. The yellow is a little more mustardy in real life than it appears on the web site which I love. We've got a crazy snow storm forecasted in the next two days here in Chicago so I plan on enjoying my days off and getting some serious knitting in!

Sweaters in Summer

This year I'm forcing myself to try knitting new things I've never made before. I've just embarked upon my most ambitious project so far... a sweater.

I do have to admit that I'm not doing it all by my lonesome. I've signed up for the sweater club though The Sweatshop of Love. Allyson runs classes out of New wave Cafe in Logan Square, a short hop and skip away from my house. Her classes are so fun, approachable and reasonably priced. She has been really helpful and accommodating!

This is the pattern I've chosen




It is The Dollar and a Half Cardigan, designed by Véronik Avery, published in the spring 2007 issue of Interweave.

I really love the contrast of the reverse stockinette stitch and lace pattern. I also love the bold statement of the cable on just one side. It gives it an appealing asymmetry.

I've chosen a nice cotton linen blend from Knit picks. In creme brulee. Its a beautiful soft buttery yellow. Definitely something that will see a lot of wear.

Its coming along well so far. Just lots of repeating patterns. Five more inches and I'll be starting my arm hole decreases.

Here's a picture from a few days ago.






I'm sure I'll be getting a lot of work done during the Blackhawks game this evening.