This morning a FB knitting group had a “what’s on your needles” post which caused me to realize I haven’t been documenting what I’m working on. Prepare for a long post!
This is on hold for a partial frog. The neck is too tall (I’ll frog it from the top) and the intended recipient has gained quite a bit of weight which means the cable bottom will no longer work.
I will frog it back to 3″ below armscye, add increases and replace the cable bottom with a narrow twisted cable/rib hem. The sleeve is also too tight so I’m frogging back to armhole, knitting to the elbow without decreasing and knitting a cable hem to finish.
This project has been a complete knit from the hip project (the kind of project I love) and has had problems from the start.
In a single yarn order I got two very different dye lots, one a darker skein I didn’t notice until I had knit up the neck in one of the lighter skeins. The shade was so different I couldn’t helix knit and solve the problem. It literally looked striped. Frog. I put the dark skein at the start and ended it when the neck cables ended. This lets the color management look marginally deliberate. With all the test knitting and integrating increases and the dye lot mess I think I frogged the neck three or four times.
The yarn is Paintbox in Racing Green knitted up on US6 needles. I ordered it from LoveCrafts. In the future I will watch more carefully to ensure I’ve received all the same dye lot.
This one has been a bit of a long term project. I love the colors. This is Louisa Harding’s Girandola in Mondivo and Bamboo Pop in Denim knitted up on US3 needles. The skeins are 612 yards each and I started with two skeins of this color. The result at the left is one skein and a tiny bit of the second. I work on this project when I need a rest from all the others I’m juggling. It’s a pet and admire project. I knit for a while, stop and admire the colors and how well the Denim matches one of the blues in the Mondovino.
I would love to have another skein of Mondovino in a matching dye lot but so far, no joy. Ideally I would like the duster to be mid-calf length but I don’t think that’s going to happen. The one batch of Mondivo I’ve found has such a difference in dye lot it is the equivalent of taking a picture of the same item with light on and light off.
I’m going to knit up this last skein and make a nice wide seed stitch hem in Denim. I’m thinking that’s the best I’m going to be able to manage.
I’m on the homeward bound stretch on this one after a number of upsets. I got the body done and one sleeve complete and had Mindy test fit. It was not long enough and the sleeve had negative ease. Mindy’s like me and likes loose and comfortable.
At this point I had a bit of a panic as frogging the body to the armpits was going to be heart breaking. The pockets were done and they were beautiful! Ack! So I set it aside to ponder the fix.
I was really short on the orange yarn needed to lengthen the body and make the sleeves wider. I doubted I could get close enough to the original dye lot so ordering more of the Cascade Ultra Fine wasn’t really an option. Mindy really liked the little bit of Sinfonia in Azure I’d gotten from a friend’s destash, so I ordered a skein from Creative Yarn Source. I love Sinfonia (it doesn’t shed like the Cascade Ultra Fine and comes in a skein instead of a hank) and ordered yarn for two sweaters in addition to the Azure.
While waiting for my yarn order I had an epiphany. I don’t need to frog my pockets! I can cut and splice! I can Kitchener! What an easy solution!
Then I hit a bit of a slowdown. The one skein of yarn I needed was on back order, reportedly 3-4 weeks out from delivery. In the interim I frogged the sleeve and set the project aside.
When the back ordered yarn arrived surgery was performed and the sweater was in two pieces. The addition of the blue and using up the last of the yellow gave me the length I needed. I am likely to have left over orange as a result. Once the sleeves are finished I’ll Kitchener the bottom to the top.
I really love how this sweater is coming out. The colors are beautiful and all the additional touches add to the love. The conti-raglan shoulders fit beautifully. The double-sided neck band is a couture touch I just love. The pockets came out perfect!
I’ve got three or four more projects on needles. When I clear the deck of these three I’ll drag them out for review. One’s a navy to white gradient and navy bamboo fingering held together. One is very small start in Great Barrier Reef cotton in Wineglass Bay I may frog and reknit for a friend of Mindy’s. One is a 4-ply cotton dress that’s at the boring stage, miles and miles of stockinette. I pretty sure there’s at least one more lurking in my WIP box waiting for my attention. I also have an open vest request from a very close friend. She wants the cable neck in Paintbox Racing Green (yes, I got all the same dye lot this time) and the body of my short duster. It should be a fairly quick and fun knit. Reminder, I need to check with her about pockets.