Category Archives: Knitting

Drops Design Tunic 111-21

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Bet you didn’t know that 21 was my lucky number!

I’ve done some frogging lately … my brother’s birthday socks for the second time because despite the fact that they were on gauge, they were never, repeat, NEVER, going to fit over his big heels! … and also my Boxy Cardigan made from my wonderful Sea Colors Maine yarn because my Yankee ingenuity bit me in the behind. I will rip back a row from now on so that I don’t have to make a join in the middle of the piece. (Or I’ll make a different join. What was I thinking?)

One project that I have not had to frog is my DROPS design tunic. I bought the yarn, Berroco’s Pure Pima (color 2243/due lot 169, 115 yards, 100% Pima Cotton) online ages ago because it was such a good deal and cotton is a great fiber for Florida living. It was also a really pretty light blue that I loved.

One side is done and ready to be seamed to the second side which is on the needles and I’ve made it to the ribbing at the top. The tunic is mostly stockinette stitch and on rather small needles (US 6 and US 1) and then it’s 1×1 ribbing at the top on the smaller needles.

What changing from the 6 to the 1 needles does is make the Empire waistline gather beautifully. The top should be a somewhat close fit and the bottom will be loose and drapey. I can’t wait to have it done because this is the time that I can wear it!

One word of warning. The DROPS patterns are written differently and can be confusing to follow. I normally would say, “Don’t read ahead” but for these patterns (at least the ones that I have made up) I would recommend reading the pattern first and making sure that you have an idea of how the project goes together. I haven’t bought the DROPS yarn to go with their patters (YET!) but I think their prices are very fair and they’ve been around for awhile, too! I’m guessing their products are good, too.

Gone knitting!

Making the Big Decisions

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Last summer I bought the most beautiful yarn at the Maine Fiber Frolic.

Seacolors Yarn

Seacolors Yarn

 

And I also got a “free” pattern with the sweater. I really liked the idea of the boxy cardigan with this yarn using a random pattern with the three colors. Different sleeves. Not too matchy-matchy.

Over the summer and fall, I got all the pieces knitted and was ready to put them together. The shoulders and sleeves, though, didn’t fit. They were at least two inches off (the sleeves were too small for the space that they were supposed to fit into). Well, what to do?

I mulled it over and decided that I had to re-knit the sleeves. Frog them and re-knit them with more increases so that they’d fit into the space … and then as I prepared to frog the sleeves and re-knit them, I noticed that I had (for some unknown reason) joined two balls of yarn in the middle of the back right about exactly where it would be most noticeable. What was I thinking? So, I decided to frog the back to the join and re-knit that, too. And then when I got that far down and was ready to rejoin the yarn, I noticed that I did it not once, but twice and there was another join just about two inches below the first one.

A second join in the middle of the back ... what was I thinking?

A second join in the middle of the back … what was I thinking?

 

That did it. I frogged the whole sweater. It went from this …

All the pieces were finished and blocked

All the pieces were finished and blocked …

To this … in just a few minutes!IMG_1420

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh well, that’s one of the most wonderful things about knitting … you can start anything over if it isn’t pleasing you. This one wasn’t pleasing me at all. But I do love the yarn!

And if anyone is wondering why we may be allergic to wool? Well, check out what was left on my desk after I frogged and re-wound the wool!

Wool dust ... ahhhhh - choo!

Wool dust … ahhhhh – choo!

 

Gone knitting!

Sweater Design – CYC Certification, Knit Level 2

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My Primitive Drawing!

My Primitive Drawing!

The last step in the certification process (or at least the knitting part of the process) is to design and knit a simple sweater with sleeves for a beginning knitter.

Since I’m already “late” in the process, I decided to knit a tiny sweater for a baby niece who is four months old. She’s small and with the yarn I chose out of my stash, it should be a relatively quick knit and I’ve kept it really simple. All a new knitter would need to know to knit this sweater is cast on, join in the round, knit, increase, decrease and bind off.

I decided to start at the bottom of the body of the sweater and make it a rolled edge (no ribbing). And then to make the sleeves short since my yarn is cotton & could be worn in warmer weather or in cooler weather with a long-sleeve t-shirt underneath.

I’ll write the pattern (it’s required for the last step) and will post in on my Ravelry page (have you checked out Ravelry? I’m Lindar) for free when the certification is finalized and I can publish the pattern!

Here’s what I have knit so far …

Sleeve

Sleeve (one of two)
… like you hadn’t already figured that out!)

 

Body (bottom to top, knit in the round)

Body (bottom to top, knit in the round) with a rolled edge.
Simple enough for a beginning knitter!

The yarn is Araucania (hand dyed in Chile) Tolhuaca Solid in Color 1202. It’s 100% pima cotton, 120 yards per skein. I love the hand on this cotton yarn and it’s denim-y color is something that I thought would match everything my niece wears.

I love rolled necks and bottoms of sweaters but I didn’t want the sleeve to roll (it would feel funny on her little arms and against her little body) so I knit a row, purled a row a couple of times so the sleeves would lay flat against her arms.

Now it’s time to figure out how to get it to all go together. I’ve done one sweater before in this method and I’m trying to use my memory of that to get my pieces to attach to each other!

Gone knitting!