Wednesday, February 01, 2012

The finished Sunday Sweater*

*name courtesy of Brenda...


Here's the sweater in our office loo. I wore it the other day with grey pinstriped pants and a sleeveless turtleneck. I got a ton of compliments on it, which leads me to believe that maybe I should wear pink more often. I probably won't because it's not among my favourite colours, but it worked well in this case.

I used a bunch of Knit Picks Shine Sport. The exacting measurement "bunch" is courtesy of the fact that there were some already wound balls, and some rewound cakes from a failed sweater attempt earlier. The cotton modal blend was great for running through the machine, and created a nice fabric - very drapey, but with some heft to it. It was weighty enough to hang nicely with just the one button closure. (I actually had one lone pink button in my button stash! This was meant to be.)
I knit the sweater on my LK-150, using schematics from a pattern created in Sweater Wizard. I input the size, the gauge, the style etc. into the software, and it spit out a pattern with schematics. Great for the machine, as it gives row counts as well as measurements. I kit the pieces as is, using waste yarn at the top and bottom. After sewing it together, I picked up the sleeve hems, and around the neckline, using the live stitches were available, or picking up along the side. I debated an attached i-cord edging, but after consultation with Susan, decided on a garter edging. I like it. I know I can knit edgings on the machine, but I hate rehanging stitches, and hand manipulating the needles. The only hand manipulation I do is increasing and decreasing.
It's funny - although this was knit on a machine, and I've got the pieces of another sweater waiting for sewing and edging, and I have many plans for more machine knit sweaters, I don't really think of myself as a machine knitter. Yes, I knit by machine, but I have to say, I get way more enjoyment from knitting by hand. I use the machine when it's a sweater that is in flat pieces, when it's a cotton or cotton blend yarn that hard on the hands to hand knit, or when I really want a sweater quickly. (Because the machine is in the basement, it's also handy for when I want to get away from the men in my family!)

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

You really did a fine job on this piece! Plus the yarn is perfect for this odd weather.

Brendaknits said...

Considering I also named your Red Green sweater - maybe we two should go into business. You knit, I name. :)
It looks great and I think your idea of knititng those fibres that are not fun to knit by hand are a great idea.
PS - Is this another office washroom shot? :)

Saren Johnson said...

It's awesome.

Sigrun said...

It's lovely. I think I should dust off the LK50 also.
The pink with the grey is so flattering.

Needles said...

It looks great! I should probably use my machine a little bit again. You'd think passing it everytime I want to watch tv would help, but no. I enjoy the hand knitting so much more even when it is slower.

Crazy Knitting Fool said...

The sweater is lovely.

Knit and Purl Mama said...

Very cute sweater! Can't believe that was machine knit. I love my knitpicks interchangeables and that I can link extra cords.