WIP Wednesday – Sweater Surgery

On January 10, 2018January 10, 2018 By FogKnitsIn Sweater, WIP6 Comments

I happily cruised through the raglan increases on my sweater. The classic Stripe Acceleration Effect was definitely felt here. It went by in a flash. The sleeve divide was the same, barely a pause.

Until…

(dun dun dun)

I forgot about making buttonholes. This marker had one express purpose…to remind me about buttonholes.

What a bonehead move! A full inch too far. In a yarn that doesn’t really cooperate with being ripped out. UGH.

I let a lot of mistakes slide. This is not one of them. This type of mistake needs to be corrected, no ifs, ands or buts.

When faced with the choice to either drop down to fix a mistake or to rip back, I always choose dropping stitches, correcting the problem and laddering back up. Worst case scenario, I can’t fix it and maybe even make it worse. Ripping back is always there as Plan B.

This time, I got lucky.

Viola! Buttonhole Surgery Success! Woooo!

Assuming, I don’t forget anything else, it should be smooth sailing to the bottom hem from here!

My goal is to have this sweater ready to wear at Stitches in late February. Hopefully I can say this without jinxing myself…that deadline is a no brainer! Time to start thinking about buttons.

Work in Progress Wednesday!

On February 22, 2017February 22, 2017 By FogKnitsIn Sweater, WIP6 Comments

Now, with actual progress!!

Last you saw, I had hastily steeked my sweater, decided I didn’t like it and then cut it into even more pieces! This weekend I set about to replace the circular yoke that was the deal breaker.

The plan was to replace the bottom up circular yoke with a top down raglan and graft the pieces together in the middle. Sounded easy enough, yes?

As far as design choices, it took me a while but this is what I settled on. Ultimately, it’s for the best. I was throwing the kitchen sink at this sweater, at the risk of being too busy. At least now it’s got one cohesive idea. There’s still a lot going on with those stripes but less than before, and that’s a good thing!

Ta-DA! It looks like a sweater and I didn’t want to take it off once I put it on. That’s the true sweater test for me. It finally fits right!!

Now, about that button band…

WIP Wednesday — A Rhinebeck Sweater

On September 7, 2016September 7, 2016 By FogKnitsIn Sweater, WIP5 Comments

I didn’t expect to have a Rhinebeck Sweater this year because I didn’t expect to go to Rhinebeck again but…

I’ve already got a sweater on the needles, so might as well dub it a Rhinebeck Sweater and head east! :) No, actually, I just found a deal on airfare I couldn’t pass up…$317, non-stop, round trip on Virgin! I haven’t flown coast to coast that cheap in years! It was just too good to pass up, so Rhinebeck…here I come!

As for the sweater, I’m making progress on the raglan increases! The pattern is Sabine from CoCoKnits. A repeat of this sweater I made last year…

It’s got all sort of details I like…top down raglan with YO increases (we can pretend they’re decorative but mostly, I’m lazy when it comes to M1R & M1L), half sleeves, light as a feather. And I was happy with the mods I made, the original has a bell sleeve that I eliminated. Also left out some eyelet detailing on the back.

It should be an easy knit! I’m not usually one for repeating things but this is just the perfect little sweater! It was a natural match when I saw the yarn (Lace Lux from Lana Grossa). So now, just keep knitting, which is never a problem for me!

WIP Wednesday – Vivido Cardigan

On January 20, 2016January 20, 2016 By FogKnitsIn Sweater, WIP4 Comments

I can’t seem to FO on Friday but I’ve always got a WIP for Wednesday! I’m super excited about the progress on my Vivido Cardigan! I’ve gotten well beyond the sleeve divide and started my favorite little detail.

It’s a subtle slip stitch pattern, just enough that from a distance it’s a slight bit of visual interest, not fussy or distracting and super easy to execute…just K3, Sl1. Definitely one of the reasons I’m making this sweater a second time!

And the fit is perfect so far! Yay Math! Only a couple inches left until I bind off!! Just like last week at this time, I think I can get this done in a week! This time I might even be right!!

Owl-Sleeve-Owl

On September 17, 2015 By FogKnitsIn Sweater, WIP10 Comments

It’s been a productive 24 hours! I finished yesterday’s owl (unless you’re counting the thumb!). I left it’s creepy eyes. Turns out, gauge is useful information to check. I was way off gauge and so I’ve got mitts to fit a small adult hand, which kind of solves the creepy eye problem. I’m not concerned about traumatizing an adult like I was with a kid. I finished mitt #2 (unless you’re counting the thumb! again!)

Between owls, I even managed to finish Rhinebeck Sleeve #1! I do seem to be avoiding sleeve two though. I think pockets and the zipper come next! Heck…a couple thumbs even sound good right about now…

I’m still admiring sleeve one. It’s too soon to move on!

Rhinebeck Sweater: Sleeves

On September 15, 2015 By FogKnitsIn Sweater, WIP7 Comments

This happened over the weekend:

I bound off the bottom of my sweater! Yaaay! I then procrastinated on starting the sleeves for two days! This happened this morning:

Another 3 inches jumped off the needles between taking this picture and writing this post! I’m flying through the stockinette in the round! It’s pretty much knitting itself on a 16″ needle. For one millisecond, I contemplated doing the sleeves two-at-a-time. Then I came to my senses! My math worked out in beautiful whole numbers…there was no weird rounding! The numbers just fell into place, and so far, the sleeve is following suit!

31 days until Rhinebeck! I think I’ll definitely be ready!

Trusting the Process

On May 12, 2015May 12, 2015 By FogKnitsIn Casting On, Sweater4 Comments

The time finally came to start my cashmere cardigan! I whittled my WIPs down to a manageable number (currently only 7!) I finished my Mother’s day knitting. I cleared the project off the needles I wanted to use. I made a swatch – complete with washing and blocking! Only thing left to do was cast on!

The pattern is Sabine, a light, airy, top down raglan by Julie Weisenberger, aka Coco Knits. The yarn is Superior Cashmere, heaven in a ball of yarn! I got start and expected to breeze through the raglan shaping…it’s all yarn over increases! A sweater, literally, does not get easier than this! Except…

…I knit two inches and then checked my gauge. It was way off. Logically, I know it doesn’t matter. It’s not blocked, of course my gauge is off. I have to trust the process. I double checked my swatch, still dead on. I double checked my progress, still way off. This yarn is not froggable. If I don’t get it right, it’s a waste of time and cashmere. Wasting cashmere is worse than spilling a full beer! A minor panic set in. I had no choice but take if off the needles and do a test block. It’s the only thing that would assuage my fear of doing it wrong. There’s no trusting the process here, I can’t have this nagging at me through an entire sweater’s worth of knitting. It would set me back a couple days but I have plenty of other things to knit. A day or two would be worth it.

So off the needles it came. And suddenly my gauge was off again…this time in the opposite direction. There was more double checking. Okay, so maybe it’s not so bad, maybe I didn’t need to jump to instant doom and gloom. After careful consideration, I decided I do, in fact, trust the process. This is why we have processes. Trust the process. It’s not as though I’m re-inventing the wheel on the this one. Disaster averted. I’m pushing forward. For now!