Another FO: Central Park Hoodie

I finished this sweater a while ago, and never got around to taking a picture. Details:

Pattern: Central Park Hoodie
Yarn: Berocco Peruvia - 8.5 skeins
Needles: US8
Size: 48" bust, with 6" positive ease

The Berocco Peruvia is a nice yarn - but it pills like a mofo under the arms. It's soft enough to wear with a t-shirt underneath.

I knit the 48" size, and got around 5 - 6" of ease - it's a little too big for me, but I find it very very comfortable to wear. I wear it pretty frequently on colder days - now that it's threatening to warm up here in Portland, it might go to the back of the closet. It's VERY warm.

All in all - an excellent pattern and yarn - I'd probably go down a needle size to make the sweater a little bit smaller next time.

Sweater Fix #2 - complete

The top-down sweater has been reknit - comparing the pictures of the sweater to the previous one, I find that I actually like the 3/4 sleeves better than the full-length - I'll probably shorten the sleeves. I have been so fussy with this sweater - if only I hadn't killed the first iteration of the sweater by giving it a full wet-block! But I am happy with the deeper neckline. Still not tired of pastels, strangely enough!

I interrupt this long unncessary blog silence for a proclamation:

If loving Rick Astley is wrong, I don't ever wanna be right.

Sweater Fix #2 - in progress

From this:


Back to this:


Using the wrap sweater as a starting point, and then going to improvise the rest again. The yarn isn't as lovely as pre-blocking, but it's still nice to work with, and I'm getting the right guage. It's a good thing I like knitting.

Sweater fix #1 accomplished

Before:


During:


After:



Hooray! No more sleeves getting in the way!

Contemplating knit surgery

So I haven't had a great track record with my knit sweaters.

One of the fancier-looking sweaters that I've knit, the Aran-weight Lace Cardigan, keeps getting longer and longer in the arms - the lace stitchwork makes it really easy to pull down and down and down.

Diagnosis: What I need to do is pick out the cast-off, rip back a few inches and cast-off again. So that could be considered an out-patient procedure, one of those almost-instant-gratification projects to crack into when I'm feeling impatient or frustrated.

Then, there's the Top Down V-neck freestyle sweater - it was total perfection... until I, like a complete dumbass, did a wet-block to wash it and the thing grew like a monster. I was able to pat it into shape, but it's still about two sizes too big, maybe due to the 50% silk 50% merino yarn - but not sure.

Diagnosis: I think I'm going to have to just reknit the whole schlemeil, since it's knit top-down in once piece. Major surgery, like The Swan Complete Makeover surgery. I liked how the piece worked out the first time around, and once I got into the groove, I could really crank that one out. Now I know i just can't get it dirty ever.

And then... there's my lovely Dickinson pullover. It's a little flopsy. I was thinking that the overall garment would benefit from a firmer fabric - and a longer hem. I knit a swatch, washed it in cold water - it grew. Washed it in warm water - it grew in width, shrank in length (which I read somewhere - knits shrink UP more than they shrink in). I tossed the swatch in the dryer. Not a single piece of evidence of felting - BUT the fabric is getting more and more next-to-the-skin soft, and shorter in length. So on to the sweater examination. I think the width of the sweater itself is too wide by about 3 - 4 inches - and a little too short. I think all the times i shortened the body, I went too far. Anyway, for grins, I threw the sweater in the dryer. It came out intact and un-felted, and too short and too wide, which it already was. And so so so soft.

Diagnosis: Keep the sleeves, reknit the front and back pieces, make the bottom ribbing longer, take the sides in by 3 inches. More major surgery - but TOTALLY worth it.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Still recovering from last night's Company Year-End Party - really wonderful party, and I knew how much work the committee put into it.

I realized it's been almost a month since posting, and I've been knitting furiously all month. OK, not furiously - because I can say that knitting is my relaxation / zen exercise. So anyway... I've been making stuff. Nothing exciting is done, really, but I love this hat I made for myself a couple weeks ago - it took me a couple hours on a Saturday:



This hat pattern was posted on Ravelry - the designer was "inspired" by a hat that Banana Republic was selling for $50 (inspired to not spend $50 on a hat, even if it is cashmere). For me, this hat actually beats the coronet hat that I learned to cable on as a favorite hat for me. I've worn it as many times as I have been able to. It's lovely.

I also made this hat - the "Unoriginal Hat" (inspired by an abercrombie and fitch hat) in one day for my sister-in-law:



I'm pretty sure that I love this hat more than she does - but them's the breaks when you knit something for someone else - particularly a *gasp* NON-KNITTER. I shall make another of these hats, and I decree that it will be just as awesome. In fact, it'll be AWESOMER.

I wish it would get colder so I can bust out the hats again.

I'm also knitting the Central Park Hoodie. I'm way past this point:



I've already knit the back and two fronts, and cast on for the sleeves tonight. I am just lazy and haven't gotten a good shot of the pieces yet. The cabling looks wonderful in this single-ply wool. The wool is stiff, but not scratchy. K doesn't like the feel of the wool at all, but I think it'll soften up after washing. Not like he has to wear it, anyway.

Happy New Year!

Onward

I was going through my yarn cabinet last night looking for something to jump at me for my next big project when I came across the dark gray Peruvia I bought at this year's Stitches West with the CPH (round 2) in mind. Despite all the other projects in my "queue", I realized I wanted a simple cardigan and cast on right away. My skin is somewhat sensitive to wools, so I wasn't sure how I'd like knitting with 100% Highland Wool - turns out to be just fine. (PS - if anyone's interested, it's currently on sale at Patternworks for $5 sk.)

In addition, when I get bored knitting with that, my "palette cleanser" project is a delicate little cashmere scarf, made out of this gorgeous Handmaiden 2 ply Cashmere. From their website, I think the colorway is called Cornflower but it's so subtly colored, it basically looks like different shades of cream.



The stitch pattern is called vine lace. Astonishingly easy for a complicated-looking stitch pattern. My favorite kind.