I went out to lunch Friday with an old friend. We sat and caught up and chatted and knit all afternoon and it was so relaxing and such fun. I got started on these…
I don’t usually use a cable needle to work cables; I generally find it faster and easier to do without. However, partly because of the scale of the socks (smaller yarn, smaller needles) and partly because of the yarn itself (lightly twisted, very easy to split) I decided that even if it did slow me down a bit, a cable needle was going to be essential to keep the cables looking crisp and me from pulling my hair out :) And it’s not too bad! In the round, the cable pattern consists of 8 rounds and only two of those rounds are cabled. Anyway, it feels good to have more winter socks on the needle and to know that I am my best resource for warm feet.
I spent most of the weekend, however, working on this:
Mostly, I am astonished by the fact that the thing actually fits - and it’s going to look pretty good :) If I made this again, I would probably extend the armscye another row or two before joining as it is a bit closer than I’m used to. However, it isn’t tight and doesn’t bind so I’ll leave it as it is because I have the feeling there will be some stretching of the final garment as those ruffles carry a fair amount of weight. For that same reason, I’m extending the sleeve ruffles only to just above the wrist - bracelet length? They will look just fine and if they do stretch a bit, they still won’t get in my way. I do love the look of bell sleeves but for a clumsy ox like me, they’re an accident waiting to happen :)
I also think I’m going to attempt to contrive some sort of tie for the front of the jacket. THe pattern’s suggested double-button and loop closure would be attractive if it could be kept straight but my experience with this kind of thing is that it never does. So the front of the garment always looks cock-eyed.
Goodness, crochet goes fast, doesn’t it?
So how was your weekend?
No trackbacks yet.
i love, love, love the ruffled jacket- i’ve been looking at that pattern for a couple of weeks and seeing it being made has certainly whetted my appetite for it- i am wondering now though about the length issues- i’m long-waisted and i wonder if i might not need to adjust some for the back/sides before i begin the increasing that leads into the ruffles- i’ll be making the size small, but i’m wondering if i should maybe use the length measurements for size large to allow for my ‘extended torso’- you have definitely had a busy and productive weekend- some of us (pointing finger at self) have been utter sloths!
stay happy-
Barb - I’m somewhat long-waisted myself (wiht long arms and legs), something I utterly failed to take into consideration when I started this thing - which is why I extended the sleeve ruffle so far :) And why I’ll be extending the body ruffle as well.
It’s surprisingly simple to put together and I think you will enjoy the project. Goes pretty quickly!
Yeah, crochet does go fast, but you are a prolific stitcher anyway. I’m always amazed at how much you get done.
Sometimes I wish knitting was as fast as crochet or that crochet was a drapable as knitting. Oh well, I guess you can’t have everything.
I am enamored of the top-down way of making sweaters. There’s a funnel-neck top-down ribbed top pattern in the new magknits. I might add that to my list of to-do’s, although ribbing isn’t my favorite. First of all a 1 x 1 ribbing is a pain to knit. I like to do stitch patterns with lots of back and forth with the yarn in my left hand and doing the Norwegian purl to avoid taking the yarn back and forth, but I’m an English knitter 99.9 percent of the time, so it’s slow going for me (and feels funny). Plus, there’s the “clingy” aspect of ribbing, which I don’t mind where my boobs are concerned, but I do mind where my belly is concerned. Although 1 X 1 ribbing isn’t as clingy as 2 X 2 ribbing, so maybe it won’t be so bad.
I like the ruffled top. But it looks so complicated!
Marcy - I’m not fond of ribbed sweaters myself and doing a whole garmant in 1 x 1 rib would drive me batty, I’m sure :)
But this top-down construction thing - there’s really something to that, I think. As to the ruffled jacket looking complicated - that’s it exactly. It looks complicated but it’s actually fairly simple. Remember I have never attempted anything like this before and I’m not having any problems with it (she says, tempting the gods!).
Boy howdy, that was fast.
I was really glad to see what the patterning on the back looks like ... am definitely tempted to put this on the to do list… Can you take pity on an aussie and tell me what weight the recommneded yarn is pretty please?
Woohoo! Finally! A sweater! I’m so proud of you I could bust. :) Plus, loads of people have been having major problems with that pattern. I’m so happy you’ve breezed right along!
Catsmum - The yarn is worsted weight but I don’t think you use that reference in Oz. Hmmm… a little heavier than DK weight? Aran weight? I think aran weight or what you would call 12 ply yarn comes closest.
I like the back detailing too and it kind of took me by surprise because the pattern picture doesn’t show the back of the jacket at all!
Bron - (blushing furiously) Thanks :) I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later!
Major problems you say? I’m completely befuddled by that as the pattern seems fairly simple and straight-forward to me. Maybe it’s just that 35 years of crocheting lends some interpretive abilities that I’m not even conscious of…
I just love the jacket and yours socks look great you are such a talented knitter 
Shirley - Thanks for your kind words :)
thanks Robbyn Yes we don’t use the same yarn terms here but years of practice has made us good at translating :] now that I know it’s worsted I’ll be looking for [ as you so rightly guessed ] 12-ply or Aran. It doesn’t look like such a thick yarn in the photo does it?
...much appreciated
Catsmum - My pleasure :)
Oh, I like that sweater! Hmmm....may have to make one up for myself :-)
Kathy - It’s a wonderfully flattering style - even for those of us who are a little...um...zaftig?
I’m still a little stunned that it’s come out so well!
