Wednesday, June 13, 2012

second chance

I was planning on frogging this sweater, but the governor called and gave it a second chance.

The back story:
I wanted to make a contiguous sleeve cardigan, using some delicious Tanis Fibre Arts Laceweight for a lightweight cardi. So I kind of worked with an existing pattern that is sort of the weight I'm working with, that uses the contiguous method, and changed it from a pullover to a cardigan. I did some math, so I thought it was going to work.
As I was continued, I wasn't sure it was going to work - it seemed to be pulling along the shoulder seam, and it just didn't seem to be the right size.
In order to photograph it before frogging, I lengthened the needle cable to be able to see it fully, rather than all bunched up.
Well. That sight gave me pause. Now that I could see the actual size (rather than bunched up on a smaller cable), i could see that it WAS the right size, and the shoulder "seam" although it still looks like it's pulling, is actually the right tautness that a shoulder seam needs to be.
the tonality of the yarn is beautiful - deep dark blues, with hints of lighter tones. The slight v-neck I have created is the perfect neckline depth (I did drape it over my shoulders to test fit).

The contiguous sleeve method is brilliant, and one I will use again. I love me a top down sweater, but sometimes, raglans get a little boring, or are too casual for the look I may be going for.
The colour is most true in the upper photo - the close up of the sleeve needed some lightening in order to sort of show how the sleeve grows from the shoulder "seam".
Since this is a rich, deep blue, I have thoughts of adding rows of beads to this sweater throughout the body, to really ramp it up and make it more of a dressy piece. It's so lightweight, that it will suit this kind of treatment (I hope!) The nice thing is, since I will be adding the beads as I go with a crochet hook, if I don't like the effect, I can remove them.

What this taught me was, don't give up on an project until you REALLY look at it. Take it off the needles, or at least put it on a needle that's big enough to show the ENTIRE make. Doing that saved this project from an untimely death, and I couldn't be happier to have this back in rotation.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Could you please describe how you'd remove a bead from a garment when it has been put on with a crochet hook? Thanks. Marlyce in Windsor

Needles said...

You really understand the bliss of this method, when you are below the sleeves and have joined the body and then try it on. How can such a good fit be had with so little effort! But is can and it does.

Saren Johnson said...

Which sweater is this one?

Knit and Purl Mama said...

Mmmmm!!! A sweater in Tanis! (that's what I am currently working on - a sweater in Aran weight Tanis!

Brendaknits said...

I am glad your Contiguous is working out for you. I have yet to have much success with it. Must keep trying.