The fix is in

You may remember that we were a little uncertain about the sleeve cuffs of the Bada Bing sweater – they seemed like they might do the stockinette roll.  And roll they did, in a most annoying way.  Here’s a close-up of the cuff-rolling action: I ripped this out and knit a 2x1 rib for about 12 rounds in red before re-adding the grey edge.  Here’s the fix: This yarn (Berroco Peruvia) was heck to pull out.  It is so fuzzy that it had forgotten it was once a strand of yarn and wanted to become one with the entire sweater.  I cut most of it off and didn’t try to save the yarn.

Look at the felting under the arms: I have more Peruvia in a color for me, but I’m rethinking the best way to use it based on how the red sweater is wearing.

Also, this sweater has given me the opportunity to remind my loved ones that wool and Velcro are enemies.  Boy 1 said “No, Mom, they’re friends, because they like to stick together!”  But I maintain that they do not stick together in a good way, and therefore are enemies.

Progress Report

There has been relatively little blogging lately due to holiday preparations and general busy-ness!  But there has been some knitting.  Here’s my update:

Big news first: Sharon’s Bada Bing sweater is done.  I had to rip out the neck and redo it because following the same seed stitch pattern I used at the waist just didn’t look right.  I did a standard stockinette stitch neckband and used Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off (JSSBO), and it looks pretty good.  Also, does anyone remember that this was supposed to be a v-neck?  I followed the more conservative v-neck instructions (for a less plunge-ful version) but it turned out to be a conservative scoop neck instead.  Well, live and learn!  I also had to rip out the sleeve cuffs because somehow, even after much measuring and fitting, the sleeves were several inches too short.  When I redid them, I followed the same edge pattern that I used on the neck.  The cuffs roll up a bit right now.  We might be able to make them behave by blocking – or we might not.  She doesn’t mind the rolling so I’m calling it done.  I’m terrified the whole thing will change size in the wash so we’re just not thinking about that right now.

I also finished this pair of socks, which is very plain (mostly stockinette) except for the arch shaping on the foot.  Look carefully – do you see the unusual lines running around the side and to the top of the foot near the toe?  This is a very interesting construction, and I cast on for another sock that uses it right away: Ahhh, Knit Picks Felici sock yarn.  I love you so.  This self-striping yarn will be perfect for a relatively simple sock (just the unusual arch shaping to content with, but it’s my second time with the pattern) to knit on my journey to Texas.  The colors are so warm and cheery – but not too dark.  Dark yarn is always difficult to see but especially so when traveling.  I think the person who picked Knit Picks circular needle cable color designed this Felici colorway – they coordinate perfectly!

I planned to knit Amy King’s Guernsey Socks pattern (from The Knitter’s Book of Yarn) using the 100% Icelandic yarn I got at Knitters’ Day Out last September.  I wound the yarn and did some swatching at knitting group on Wednesday.  I don’t think it’s going to work out.  Perhaps not at all, but definitely not for travel knitting.  So I’m putting aside that pretty grey yarn (for now) and I wound up this Wollmeise that I won in a Loopy Ewe contest a while back.  Sharon says she is always wishing she had red socks in a more pinky-red rather than orangey-red, and this yarn fits the bill.  I will reknit a simple pattern that I’ve done before with this yarn – remember my green zebra socks?  Charade is the official name of the pattern.

So that is 2 sock projects for the trip.  The other thing I decided to take is my spindle and some fiber.  Now that the holiday knitting is done, I want to focus more on spinning.  I know I need to log 15-30 minutes a day with the spindle to develop the fine muscle control I need to become natural at this, and I thought the vacation might be just the time to start my new exercise regimen. And now, we just hope that the snowstorm headed this way doesn’t delay our flight out.  I’ll be knitting my stress away!

Update on Bada Bing

I’ll bet you forgot that I was knitting this cherry red sweater… I cast on way back in late June when local cherries were in season.  I turned my attention away from it for Sock Summit and it took a while to get it back.  Then I worked on it pretty consistently for a while until I cast off the waist stitches.  That was a few weeks ago.  Here is its current state:

This is supposed to be a v-neck; I followed the instructions on The Incredible, Custom-fit Raglan Sweater page.  I didn’t make it very deep, though, and as a result, it doesn’t really look like a v-neck at all.  I’ll just make the neckband stitches (which are picked up later) pretty narrow.

At this point, I’m ready to pick up the arm stitches (still live on cables) and knit the sleeves down.  I’ll have to keep careful track of my decreases so I can replicate them on the other sleeve.  I didn’t keep very careful track of my decreases/increases in the body because I wouldn’t have to replicate them.  (There is a little bit of waist shaping in the body.)

There is a tiny edging in contrast color (a nice medium gray which doesn’t display very well in this photo) at the waist which I’ll repeat at the wrists and neckband.  We decided to make the edges in seed stitch so they won’t roll but also won’t pull in drastically like ribbing can do.  Here’s a closeup of the waist band:What else can I say about this project?  Oh, I bought new needles to knit it.  When working on my swatches, I realized that I fought with this yarn (which is Berroco Peruvia, a heavy worsted single) when using my pointy Knit Picks needles – and I didn’t fight with it when using my blunter Addi Turbos.  (I was working a circular swatch using 2 circulars, and I only had one set of size 9 tips for my Knit Picks cables so I supplemented with an old Addi that hadn’t seen much use in a long time.)  It made a huge difference in the snagging department.  My longest size 9 Addi was only 24”, so I ordered needles in two longer sizes (32” and 40”).  I’m happy to report that Addi has vastly improved their cable flexibility since the old days (when I was easily wooed to the Knit Picks needles partly for that reason).I think this is going to be a Christmas gift, so there’s not a huge rush, but just typing up this post makes me want to get back to it!  Thicker yarn really does knit up more quickly than sock yarn!  (I hear your “duh” from NE, K!)

Next update will be about spinning.

Bada Bing!

It's cherry season where I live here in south-central PA - yum! Eating my breakfast oatmeal with cherries and almonds is like having dessert for breakfast. It's so good. I bought a cherry pitter last year that has made serving cherries even easier (especially for picky children who are unable or unwilling to pit a cherry in their mouths).

Anyway, cherry season seems like a good time to start thinking about knitting a sweater whose official color is "Bing Cherry." This is Berroco Peruvia (color 7151) and will be a sweater for S1. She wants a v-neck pullover with a collar, and contrasting trim as in this photo (but not this style sweater). I bought one skein of medium gray Peruvia for the trim. Still swatching for now.