A Cardi for Grandma
Quick BookMate update: I was contacted again by the person who sells the BookMates. They are still available for purchase at this new website, and I think a few of the BookMate I cover designs are new. (No affiliation, just an interested reader.)
A year later than intended, I presented Grandma with the Cropped Cardigan (see previous post) for her birthday.
She was very pleased with the gift and said that no one had ever given her a handmade sweater before. We all thought it looked nice and fit quite well. Yay!
At long last!
Can you believe it? I finally finished the Cropped Cardigan; all the seams have been sewn, ends woven in, and buttons attached.
Yippee!!
Technically, this project took over a year to finish, but a lot of that time was spent in hibernation. If I had worked on this continuously, I estimate the actual time would be about 4-5 weeks.
I’m very happy to be finished with it, and overall, I’m pleased with the end result. I can see some places where my technique improved over time. For instance, the twisted cast-on I used for the ribbed hem is noticeably looser in the back, and it was the first piece I worked.
I had bought two bags of Bongo cotton for this sweater from Herrschners. One of the bags turned out to be faulty; each skein had one, two, or three KNOTS. Ugh! After a bit of pouting and grumping at these naughty skeins, I turned this negative into a positive. I used the opportunity to practice weaving in the yarn as I knit. It has pretty much become habit now.
I love the textured columns, but the bumpy yarn does contrast a bit too much with it. Overall, it’s fine, but if I ever knit this pattern again and with cotton, I would definitely seek out a smooth yarn. (And if you’ve knit the Charade socks, the textured columns are the same stitch pattern: herringbone rib aka vertical weave.)
I found these cute flower-shaped buttons at Wal-Mart, and love how they look. Plain round buttons would have been boring, and colored ones didn’t seem to work.
What a journey it has been; this cardigan was my team member for Amazing Lace last summer (fyi, in that post, some pictures don’t work), then waited patiently for me to finish the sleeves and final assembly. Tomorrow: her final destination!
Pattern: “Cropped Cardigan” by Deborah Newton, Beginner’s Guide–Knit Stitches and Easy Projects, Leisure Arts Little Books #75003 Size: Medium (43″) Yarn: Four Seasons Bongo, white Needles: Clover Bamboo US 7, Susan Bates Quicksilver US 6, circulars Started: May 12, 2006 Completed: August 11, 2007
Grand Shop Hop
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A couple weekends ago was the “Handcrafts on Grand Shop Hop.” The stores included The Yarnery, The Bead Monkey, and Treadle Yard Goods. Mom and I decided to go, because we hadn’t been to two of the participating stores yet. I’m glad we did, even if it was cold and rainy!
Limbo
I’ve been in a weird sort of knitting limbo or apathy. I knit and knit, but I don’t seem to accomplish anything. Gauge is way off, the fabric sucks, the yarn looks ugly, et cetera.
This has all been caused by several factors, the largest of which is I still haven’t finished seaming the Cropped Cardi. The shoulders have been attached, but that’s it. I won’t allow myself to start a new, large-scale project until this cardigan is 100% complete.
It’s a bit silly, I know. But on the other hand, I’ve been unable to decide which project I should start next. A shawl? A sweater? A blanket? Deadlock!
Still cursed, but…
Quick question! Is anyone doing a Stash Flash on April 1 again this year?
I’m still battling the sock curse. Meanwhile, I’ve got an almost FO and a FO to show you all!!
Perpetually Behind
That’s the story of my life in two words. I’m sure it happens to everyone now and then. I feel like this, oh, about 80% of the time.
During breaks from the Yarrow Ribbed socks, I resumed the Cropped Cardigan project. I feel so bad for neglecting it (and for far longer than I intended).
Slowly Catching Up
I uploaded these pictures but hadn’t gotten around to blogging about them, so here you go.
Diamond Lace Meets the Gang
Diamond Lace (aka Cropped Cardigan) is now past the halfway mark with the completion of the front panels. To celebrate, we went scouting around for unlikely models for the last Amazing Lace challenge.
Sock Progress
During the past week, I finished the toes and insteps on the Color Blox Sox for 6Sox. I haven’t taken a real progress picture yet because it’s all stockinette. I did finish the heels last night, and they look great and fit very well, yay! I enjoyed this type of toe-up heel-flap-gusset construction. It seemed to go faster than the traditional cuff-down heel-flap-gussets (which always seem to take me forever). The Potluck Jewels (from my SP8, thanks!) I’m using for these socks look great knitted up.
Lace Poetry
I will be honest. I cringed inwardly when I saw the topic for The Amazing Lace Challenge #3. I enjoy reading poetry now and then. But writing poetry? That’s definitely a challenge for me. I had to think about it for a while. I scribbled various English words. I read Catullus, Homer, and Ovid to my team members for inspiration. I consulted dictionaries and looked online for rhyming help. I even tried American Sign Language. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Meanwhile…
