Tuesday, September 07, 2010

just made it...

I finished the Tappan Zee Cardigan, and was able to extend the sleeves to bracelet length instead of the short sleeves the pattern shows.
And see that little nifkin of yarn at the bottom? All 1 metre of it? That was what I had left over after casting off the bottom. I JUST made it...Can I say a few things about this? I love working with Elsbeth Lavold Silky Wool. Love it. Love. It. Is now definitely one of my favourites to work with.
I also loved this pattern. Top down (my favourite way to work), cardigan style, easy to modify by lengthening the sleeves. Instead of casting off when separating sleeves from body, I left the sleeve stitches live on waste yarn, and then knit down with the last ball of wool I had. (I split the yarn by weight - gotta love the digital scale!) I had a half ball of wool in reserve to ensure the sleeves were even, then used it to get as much length in the body as I could.
And, best of all, it fits, it looks great, and it's finished in time for me to wear it on Saturday to the KW Knitters Fair!

And the reason I"m happy that it fits and looks good is this:
Yup. There's the Rowan Wool Slinky Ribs sweater. Or what WAS the Rowan Wool Slinky Ribs sweater. It didn't look good, I didn't have enough wool to make the sleeves the length I wanted, and really, the wool was too rustic for the design. My mother in law almost had a stroke watching me unwind the whole thing on the weekend. She could not understand why I would do that. I asked her why I would keep an unattractive sweater that I would never wear. I didn't want to give it away because I loved the wool and wanted it for myself. She understood the logic, but still - it pained her to see "all that work" go away. Not me. It just freed up some beautiful wool for me to make something I will love and use.

9 comments:

TracyKM said...

The blue cardigan is really pretty...and I think it might match the new skirt I'm wearing, LOL. I've used Silky Wool once, and really liked it too, but I heard it was discontinued?
I agree with ripping out something if you don't love it. I'm ripping out a mohair shawl I worked on 5 years ago and never finished. Sure, you can't get back that time, but most of my knitting time is 'wasted' time anyway--while waiting places, or in the car, etc. so at least it kept me busy.

Anonymous said...

Great sweater (I look forward to seeing it Saturday) and good on ya for the ripping! You're right, save it for the pattern that calls out to it.

Acorn to Oak said...

Your new blue sweater looks great! Your such a fast knitter! I can understand why you pulled out the other sweater to re-use the yarn. Makes perfect sense. It's funny how people react when we pull out our own work. The gasps and look of shock always surprise me and crack me up! lol My family does that whenever they see me pull something out...even if it's something small like a swatch. Happy knitting!

Acorn to Oak said...

Ooops! I can't believe I just did that...I spelled "your" instead of "you're"! Ugh! lol I think I'm not fully awake yet!

MamaMidwife said...

Lovely sweater!

And I totally get the frogging. You just can't keep something you hate. What's the point? Better to unravel all the work and make something you'll LOVE!! (I just frogged a beautiful pair of socks that were a hair too small so I could knit them "just right"....and I was already to the heel!!)

Knit and Purl Mama said...

Love your Tappan Zee Cardigan!

Saren Johnson said...

Nice job on the sweaters!!

Anonymous said...

The blue sweater is lovely, and I had to lol at your squeaker of a bind-off. Whenever I have to rip back a lot (or even frog an entire WIP), DH says something to the effect of "Getting lots of knitting time from the same yarn again?".

CatBookMom

Needles said...

Definitely not discontinued yarn. There is a whole bunch of new colours for fall. Delicious, delicious colours.