Saturday, January 31, 2009

Salina

Oops, I guess I forgot to continue posting. I have 2 sweaters and a pair of socks to post about! I also have a sweater-in-progress that I'm knitting for someone else, and a new scarf that I've started. Work's gotten busy though, so I haven't actually picked up my knitting in a couple of weeks.

I remember buying the yarn for Salina from Rowan Vintage Style way back in 2004 (too lazy to look up the actual post), so I figured that I should probably get to knitting this thing already. I started it sometime in Spring 2008, and had all the pieces finished and blocked by July:

Salina pieces_03

I seamed it up and tried it on, and discovered to my dismay that the sleeves were actually too long. Well, too long to be 3/4 length sleeves, which is what I was going for, but also too short to be full-length sleeves. It looked pretty stupid.

Salina sleeve too long_01

I let the sweater languish for several months (August-November), then around mid-November I decided that I had to do something about the sleeve issue. So some surgery was called for.

Step 1: Determine optimal sleeve length. See how there's at least 3 inches of extra stockinette in there? Duh.

Salina sleeve fix_01

Step 2: Put stitches on dpns, unravel sleeve seam. It's a good thing I hadn't woven in any ends yet.

Salina sleeve fix_02

Step 3: Cut yarn (!!), unravel back to marked stitches. Fingers crossed that all the stitches on the dpns were actually from the same row of knitting.

Salina sleeve fix_03

Step 4: Join new yarn, reknit the cuff in the round. And voila, a sweater that I'd actually wear out in public!

Salina finished_04

There are 4 buttonholes, but I only used 3 buttons. When I wear it, I generally only have 2 buttons buttoned anyway.

Salina buttons_02

This was a fun and pretty successful knit overall, the only thing I don't love about it is the fact that the collar doesn't sit down properly in the back. It's not wide enough, so it keeps flipping up. I'll have to try to block it down, or something. Other than that, all is good.

The pattern is Salina from Rowan Vintage Style, the yarn is Rowan Felted Tweed in the Crush colourway (Rav link). I had to go down to US3 and US1 needles to get gauge (recommended needles are US5), which actually wasn't quite as painful as it sounds. I love this yarn, it's tweedy and soft and I haven't noticed any pilling yet. I will definitely be using it again.

Thursday, January 01, 2009

Fiddleheads!

Happy New Year! I have a bunch of things to post about. I'll start with my sister's Christmas present, these awesome Fiddlehead mittens (Rav link).

Fiddlehead Mittens_08

I bought the yarn for these (Reynolds Whiskey, it's a gorgeous yarn and I definitely want to use it again for a sweater someday) way back in the spring, during WEBS' big anniversary sale. I ended up knitting 4 mittens, because I wanted a pair for myself too!

Fiddlehead Mittens_03

The lining is knit out of Kidsilk Night/Spray, with two strands held together. The mohair in the Kidsilk plus the stranded wool means that these mittens should serve to keep our hands warm(ish) during the chilly Montreal/Chicago winters.

Fiddlehead Mittens_07

I'm not quite finished with my own pair yet, but my goal is to finish knitting the linings in the next week or two, because it sure is getting cold out there!