Delancey Knit Along: Week 7

Week 7 saw us finishing the sleeves. I managed to finish a few days earlier so I busted out the bottom band as well. I'm loving the way that the garter stitch looks and it feels so soft and springy.

I'm loving how light and smooth the Swish feels, especially on the previously blocked body. I can't wait to see the collar come to fruition. Just a collar, some buttons, and weaving in all those pesky ends stand between me and my delancey sweater wearing days!

Sunday Snapshot

Just shaping some shoulder caps.

Delancey Knit Along: Week 6

For the next three weeks we're going to be working the sleeves. The construction of these sleeves like most of the sweater is a little unusual. You pick up stitches around the sleeve and work short rows to create a "cap" for you shoulder to slip into. Then you knit the sleeve down pretty normally, working your stripes as you go and decreasing along the way.

I have really short arms and so even though I've finished most of my first sleeve I didn't even complete the full section of decreases. I'm could only fit 3 stripe repeats in and am going to get some creative fudging going on before I go into the cuff. I don't them to be too loose so I'm probably going to decrease down a bunch more stitches than what the pattern calls for and also knit the cuffs in a smaller needle size to tighten them up a little more.

I love that I can try it on as I go and I'm so excited that I almost have most of a real sweater!

Delancey Knit Along: Week 5

This week was a rest week. A chance to get caught up, work on other projects or get a head start if you so like. I bet you guys could guess what I did... Well if it was start 18 billion new projects (Okay, 4) then you would be right. I was planning on weaving in all the ends from those adorable stripes but instead I just got the shoulders seamed.

It's a pretty sexy vest. The good news is I did block it out and was worried about how much it had grown and how light the fabric felt/how lose the gauge was. But once I let it dry and I tried it on, the length is looking good. I'm still a little worried about it getting "pulled down" or stretch out once I get the whole thing put together, but I had a great tip through the forum that super wash yarn (which I'm using) does well in the dryer after blocking. So I'll be trying that for sure once I block the whole thing.

The next two weeks have us working on the sleeves. I'm excited but let's see if I can put down my other 18 billion projects.

Delancey Knit Along: Week 4

The goal this week was to finish up the body. I also gave my Delancey a little bath to straighten everything out before I seam up the shoulders.

Lookin' Pretty Fine! I'll be using the rest week of Week 5 to weave in all those pesky ends and seam that puppy up.

Delancey Knit Along: Week 3

My post is a little late this week because I've been so busy working on other projects Delancey took kind of a back seat. I also was nervous about separating for the arm holes. It's a lot of row counting to keep track of and depending on what size your knitting your instructions jump around in the pattern. Finally I sat down with my highlighter, planned my route through the pattern and got started. I'm sorry I put it off for so long because once I started in, it really wasn't that hard. This week it even started to look like a sweater.

I'm done with the right front, about half way done with the back and then it's on to the left front. I'm just a touch behind of the week four goal (to have the body complete) but we have a rest week next week so I'm sure I'll catch up in no time. This sweater has been such a breeze to knit. It's simple enough but so engaging because of the construction.

Delancey Knit Along: Week 2

Because I am following the shortened version of this pattern this weeks goal was pretty small. I actually finished my goal early on in the week and was able to keep myself from knitting ahead. I just pulled out lots of other projects.

I'm really loving the stripes in this project. I haven't done anything striped in awhile and I forgot how simple they are to execute but how much excitement they add!

Delancey Knit Along: Week 1

Well we've just finished our Week 1 of our Knit Along. I'm enjoying the construction of this sweater very much.

You start out with 5 STITCHES for each side triangle and increase on your way up. The side triangles are then connected and you knit the body up from there, the are triangles pulled out as they are connected, to create the bottom of your sweater. It is really interesting construction and a great way to highlight the stripes.

many other people have mentioned how addictive/exciting it is to see this sweater come together and I completely agree. I even knit a few rows past our week 1 goal just to finish out my striping pattern. I'm following the shortened version of this sweater (short torso hey!) so this up coming week I have a few less inches to knit then everyone else.

I'm really loving how quickly this knits up, and the Swish DK is a pleasure to work with. This pattern is written with a lot of row counting (it's integral to the process) and I've even managed to stay on top of that so far. Thanks to this little trusty row counter.

Others have talked about their methods whether it's writing down row numbers and crossing them out, hash marks on a post it or smart phone aps, the consensus is- go with what works for you. I've never really used a row counter on a project before, although I happened to have a few tucked away in the corner of a knitting drawer. I'm glad I unearthed this baby because as much as I am a fly by the seat of my pants knitter, that method would not have worked for this pattern. I'm looking forward to next week, I have a feeling I might even make it past the week two goal (shhhhh, don't tell!)

Delancey Knit Along

I've participated in a few Sweatshop of Love Knit Alongs, although all of them haven't gone swimmingly (looking at you summer.) This time around I'll be knitting the Delancey Cardigan. I've been waiting to make this sweater for awhile now and I'm so excited to chart my progress along with all of the other fabulous knitters participating.

After my massive sweater debacle I've become a little more dedicated about swatching and calculating my gauge.I know that a little more work in the beginning will save me A LOT (re-knitting an entire sweater) work in the end.

This pattern runs a little large so I'm going down two needles sizes ( I knit a little loosely). I ended up with a swatch that is a little narrower than called for in the pattern gauge. I'm going to knit a size smaller than I normally wear. Sometimes sweater making is part logic and part gut feeling. I know that I would much rather have a smaller sweater I have to block out larger then a sweater I'm swimming in. I'm looking forward to casting on for this project so soon and excited to stay on top of it documenting it all!