(Plan) C is for Victory!

Look, it fits over his head! Plan C – cutting out the knitting from the cast-on edge – worked.  Here is what I cut off:The original neckline used short rows at the back so that it was higher at the center of the back than at the center of the front.  I didn’t try to replicate this on the new neckline because the raglan seam wouldn’t have been pretty.  Since I would have knitted in the opposite direction, the seam wouldn’t have lined up.  So instead, I picked up a round of stitches just below the cast-on edge at the front, which made it about 6 rounds down at the back, and just called that the new neckline.  You can see that it is now symmetrical – no more short rows:I did an applied i-cord and I think it looks very tidy.

It turns out that having a larger neck opening is probably better.  Boy 2 does not love clothes up around his neck.  This way, he can wear a t-shirt under the sweater and not complain about ANY itchies.  To me, this sweater is soft soft soft, but the angora fluff can be a teensy bit irritating, I guess…The sleeves look a bit short, but again, Boy 2 doesn’t like cuffs in his way.  I can always lengthen those next winter as needed, since they were bound off at the cuff.

I’m happy to call this project DONE!

Double Trouble

I’ve had some knitting setbacks as of late – involving Boy 2’s easy raglan sweater and Pam’s piquant socks.

First, remember the sweater that wouldn’t fit over Boy 2’s head?I executed Plan B: adding a neckline again, this time an applied i-cord edging on size 10 needles (the sweater itself was on 9s).  The result looked acceptable… …but it still doesn’t go over his head.  So I’m going to rip that out.

My next plan (Plan C) is to do what everyone says can’t be done.  I’m going to run a cable or a lifeline or something through a round of stitches 3 or 4 rows below the edge, and then CUT the preceding rounds out.  I think I’ll still have live stitches, and I’ll try again with the i-cord edging.

If that doesn’t work, I’ll just unravel the entire thing and start again (that would be Plan D).  The way I see it, it can’t hurt to try the crazy Plan C if Plan D is your only remaining option.

As for Pam’s socks… I have knit the leg and am poised to begin the heel flap, and they are simply too tight.  S1 couldn’t get them on at all.  I can get them on my ankle, but I know from experience that once I put a heel on these babies, they won’t fit anymore.  So they are going to be completely frogged.  Here is what I have so far: I have not knit on these for about a week as I consider my next step.  First, I need to do more reading about how to knit colorwork.  I think I’ve been catching the long floats all wrong, but I’m not yet 100% certain of that.  I read this long blog post on dealing with floats, and I’ve determined that I’m definitely catching them too frequently.  I was worried about the really long floats – like 9-11 stitches long – and I would catch the float every 3-4 stitches.  But some Ravelry forum browsing indicated that with fingering weight yarn, I really needn’t catch floats unless they are more than 7 stitches (which some of mine would be).  Catching the floats, especially the way I’m doing it, tightens up the fabric.  It makes it really durable, but not very flexible.

As much as I hate to step back from Pam’s socks, I think I need to get out of the deep end of the pool and go back to the shallow end.  I’m not in the baby pool anymore, but I’m feeling decidedly out of my element.  So I’m going to READ more before casting on again, and I’m also consider knitting the Mad for Plaid socks before Pam’s socks:

Mad for Plaid will give me a chance to practice stranded knitting but it’s an intermediate step, in terms of difficulty.

If anyone has recommendations for a good book or website about stranded knitting, I’m very open to suggestions!

Pain in the neck

I finished Boy 2’s sweater this weekend.  It was quick and easy.  That is, it was quick and easy until I picked up stitches around the neckline and put in a very simply 2x1 ribbed band.  After that, it didn’t fit over the boy’s head anymore!

Sorry for this truly terrible photo (I don’t want to lay this down outside right now – everything is covered with dew).  This is how it looks without the neckline (which I already tore out):It fits over his head fine like this.  The stitches around the neckline stretch and it goes over.  But after I pick up stitches, which is something you usually want to do in order to stabilize a notoriously stretchy and potentially saggy area, it doesn’t fit anymore.  It’s not about the 2x1 ribbed band (which was stretchy in its own right).  It was definitely the picked-up stitches that caused the problem.

I’m bummed.  The neck is the CAST-ON EDGE.  To redo it would require ripping out the entire sweater.  I used the formula in the this pattern and it resulted in a 36 stitch neckline.  I thought that sounded too small and upped it to 40.  I guess I should have trusted my instincts and increased it even more.

Here’s a close-up of the unfinished neckline, which really requires something to make it look more attractive, I think: Again, sorry about the glare off the floor (that' was even taken with no flash!).  So, what should I do?

1. I could try a different edging.  Maybe an applied i-cord  or a crochet edging (like crab stitch?) would be stretchier?  I’m not sure.  Couldn’t hurt to try.
2. Could I steek this a little to make a johnny collar look?  I’ve never done a steek and I’m not sure if you can do one if you didn’t plan to do one and leave a steeking area to cut.
3. I hate to put this down as an option, but should I rip the whole thing out and start over?
4. Is there some other simple way of finishing the rough stitches at the neckline that will not result in tightening them up too much?

Help needed!!!!

A soft sweater for a sweet boy

My youngest caught a whiff of the yarn fumes at this spring’s Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival.  He picked out this very soft merino-angora 2-ply at Jamie Harmon’s booth: There’s a chill in the air, and it seems like a good time to whip this sweater out.I’m using the same top-down raglan pattern that I used for the Bada Bing sweater last fall.  It’s going quickly.  Here is where I was last weekend: This photo looks kind of strange since I plopped the ball of working yarn in the neckhole… but you get the idea.

I have the body done now:I’ve decided to rip that sleeve back and begin again, decreasing more quickly.  My little guy has skinny spaghetti arms, and this sleeve already seems too flappy for him.  Perhaps I shouldn’t have made the raglan seam quite as long, but (a) I was hoping this would fit him for two winters, and (b) I want him to be able to get this on and off on his own, or else he won’t wear it at all (like the last pair of socks I made him).  So I erred on the size of large.

The colors in the first photo are truer than the ones in the second photo.  I had to shoot the second one in the pre-work wan light of my front porch today.  Outdoor photo opps are harder to find this time of year!

Convertible Reversible Double Warm Mystery Hat

Yep, that's the official title of the pattern! This was a fun, quick, and easy knit. It calls for a full skein and a half skein of Jamie's 70% merino, 30% angora, 2-ply bulky worsted yarn. Here are the cakes:

Then you knit this thing that looks like a two-headed hat. Mine is about 19" long from tip to tip:

When you're done, you tuck one half into the other half, and you get two hats out of one thing. It's super thick and smooshy and warm. I got my favorite hat model to try it on this morning before school:I probably should have made it a tiny bit longer so that I would have more cuff. I thought it was longer, but I guess I was wrong. Still, this will do nicely for winter. I might not have to cuff it at all on me.

Now all the yarn I purchased at MDSW 2008 is knit up. Hooray! I feel pretty good about that.

Next hat: Habitat. Maybe I can swatch the handspun tonight to see if I have the right needles and can get an acceptable gauge. K is coming to visit in 9 days, and we plan to knit Habitat together, in person!

Mail Call

This is what came in the mail yesterday... I made an emergency needle order last week when I realized I didn't have the right needles (or anything close to them) to knit the Jamie Harmon inside-out hat. (Breaking news! Jamie has a website now!)

Jamie Harmon is a regular at MDSW, and we always stop by her booth. I don't think she spins her own fiber, but she plies it in interesting ways. And it's sooooo soft - I think it is a wool/angora blend (no skein labels, though). Every year I think about knitting the inside-out hat (oh, look! she calls it the reversible mystery hat), and this year I finally bought the yarn. I have a full skein of the many-colored stuff, and a half-skein of the blue mixture.

The hat is basically a tube that is closed like the crown of a hat at both ends. You fold one side inside the other, and you have a double thickness of knitted material and (if you use two different colorways) a constrasting brim. This should be a very quick knit on size 10.5 US needles.

And the handspinning book? Well.... Knit Picks was still having their 40% off summer book sale, and I succumbed. This book was recommended to me by several people. I will scan the chapter on plying tonight before playing another 2 bobbins of yarn. I hope to have it plied and set before my spinning lesson on Monday.