My First Ever Sweater Is Finished - I I Love It !

When I began knitting a couple of years ago I swore that I would never make a sweater. I'm not sure why I was so vehement about this - maybe because I used to be too warm most of the time to wear sweaters much. Maybe because I thought that they would be too hard or too boring. Maybe I felt inadequate and not up to the take of a WHOLE sweater. The too maybe stories of how many first sweaters some out unwearable affected me. I did not want to spend that much time, money and effort making something that I would never wear - or would have to take apart to salvage some of this beautiful wool. I used Noro Silk Garden Nbr. 255 and the three needle bind off was done with a Dream In Color all merino yarn called Spring Tickle. On another note, The Dream In Color Yarn is one of my new favorites. Soft, luxurious , several weights to choose from - and did I mention the lush, dreamy colors. Fabulous stuff ! This sweater became so delightful & super soft when I washed and blocked it too.. Much softer than I had thought it would be. I can even have it next to my skin - on my arms at least. The sleeves on this were a bit too long - and I was told that this was something with the pattern - most people who have made the pattern shorted the sleeves - but I wanted to see how it was knit straight from the pattern. I love the length ! It falls just at high hip- perfect!

I had thought I might use the glass buttons I made but they were all different sizes and the pattern called for quite small buttons - so I made some Dorset buttons (thanks, once again to Stephanie Pettingill!) and then beaded them. They ended up looking quite nice and were just the right finishing touch. This project took me only about three months from ordering the wool to completion - just knitting in the evenings . My next project will be an "Einstein Coat" from Sally Melville's book, "The Knitting Experience: The Knit Stitch". The yarn, from KnitPicks is on the way & is called "Firecracker Heather". Wish me luck !

Sweater - still in progress

I am making some good progress on the sweater now and got to wondering how it would look on a pseudo body - so I pinned what I have done so far onto my dress form to have a look. It sure looks funny at this point - but I can sort of get an idea of what it will eventually be like. I am still in love with the colors and, once blocked, I think it is going to be a " stylin' "sweater! I have the only a couple more panels for the other side to finish & then I will start on the arms. I will be pleased and happy when this is wearable - next Fall no doubt ! Have I mentioned how much I love Noro Silk Garden?!! I also have found that Dream In Color yarns are lovely to knit as well. The color I am using for the bind off if called "Spring Tickle". Appropriate!

Progress & Weekend List

I am making progress on the Silk Garden Sweater. My first large project. The sweater that I swore I would never do! Anything I make with Noro yarn makes me happy! This yarn is Noro Silk Garden #255. These strips are pretty straight forward and there is minimal shaping to do.I love the effect of the three needle bind of that you can see in the photo below. I am using a wonderful green yarn from Dream In Color yarn (100 series color called"Spring Tickle") for the binding.

My weekend projects include:
working on our aunt's quilt
getting my grab bag ready to ship for the grab bag challenge
doing my photo editing challenge for the week
trying the Illustration Friday topic for the week: "theory"
working on the February Take It Further Challenge. The idea is in my head . I am now just
trying to figure out how to make it work !

Hope everyone has a great weekend. We even seem to be getting some sunshine to enjoy!

On The Needles Now

I once swore that I would never make a sweater. I am generally warm enough without them - and most of them make me look like something that Omar The Tentmaker would be proud of! Of course, never say never. I am working on one now! As I have mentioned before, I am a Noro yarn addict - I use it so much - for so many things! The pattern I am working on is from Knitter's Magazine from the Fall 2004 issue. The sweater is called "Random Acts of Color". I would NEVER have thought twice about the pattern from looking at it in the magazine had I not seen it done by fabulous knitter Carol Harrington. I instantly knew that, in fact, there was a sweater in my future. Carol teaches this sweater in a class at Anacrosstitch in Anacortes, Washington called 'Scarf Sweater' & she has some wonderful twists to the magazine pattern. I like Carol's rendition better. The class is over four weekends - 2 hours at a time on a Saturday. That's a lot of money and travel time for me - so I thought I would try the pattern from the magazine on my own to see if I could do it myself. Thus far - I can! It's difficult to find this particular issue of the magazine which is out-of-print and very seldom available - so I was thrilled to be able to find one. It's actually a VERY simple pattern. Simple strips knit like small scarves (hence the name Scarf Sweater) are actually rather boring & simple knitting . Carol's three needle bind off method to connect the strips makes the pattern so much more interesting than the instructions from the magazine. Of course, I think anything made with Noro is a winner - and for this sweater I am using my favorite Noro yarn - Silk Garden. I think it's going to be a real treasured sweater !

The other Noro project that I have on needles is a pair of Noro socks - one sock is done ! I have found that I really like Skacel 12 inch Addi Turbo needles for making socks. It took me a bit of time to get used to the bent tip on them - but I think that the shorter length makes for faster, easier knitting. Another great new find for me! I have been thinking that the next pair I make will be done on size 0 needles though - these are being worked on size 1's. The socks feel better on than I had thought they would as the yarn feels rather stiff and waxy in the hand. I have also been reading on Ravelry that the yarn sofens with washing - which gives me hope of a drawer full of Noro socks ! I would love it if the came out with a sock yarn made from Silk Garden ! Okay - I am off to do some honest-to-gosh SEWING now - on a quilt for our Aunt !