DAY 31

Well, Ladies, March Sweater Madness is almost over for another year.  I'm thrilled that at least one of us finished her sweater.  Way to go, Dorothy!

March has a few scant hours remaining in it and I am just not inspired to finish my sweater. Hangs head in shame. Maybe I'll get back to it tomorrow when it's supposed to be rainy and cold and I will be wanting a wool sweater to warm me. Frankly, I don't know what happened. After the steek was cut, I simply lost steam. The bottom ribbing remains to be knit, and ends to be sewn in before the sweater gets a bath. I don't have any intention of sewing in the zipper before a good blocking. I have the cutest ribbon to use for the facing though, so I want to be sporting my latest sweater sooner rather than later!

This is what I did today instead of knitting:

 

Surely snuggling a new lamb is as good, if not better than, knitting!



DAY 27

Let there be slaughtering steeking of perfectly fine knitting.

 

 

Now I can get back to knitting the ribbing for the body.  Since it's worked back and forth I was of the mind that it would be simpler to steek now before continuing with the knitting. And after I complete the ribbing, a shopping excursion will be in order to purchase a zipper and ribbon for facing.  I'm getting there. 

 

How is your sweater coming along, Toni? 

WAY TO GO!

Congratulations to Dorothy for being the first to finish her sweater!
 

 

It looks super cozy!  Again, CONGRATULATIONS!  I have your address so your prize will be on its way to you soon!

It's done :)

And I wore it to work today. And I got hubby to take pictures of it for me. And now I have to fight with my computer to get the picture to post somewhere. There, click the link ... you can see the sweater .. and me. Not a great picture This is a big accomplishment for me. Yes, it's a simple sweater. But I don't knit sweaters. And I DON'T knit for me! I'll knit socks for me, but nothing else. I am quite proud of myself for finishing it. There were times when I just wanted to put it away.

DAY 25

 

This is what I've got so far.  I'm getting there.

Finished!!! ... and now not finished

Yesterday I finished my sweater. Had all the ends sewn in. Tried it on. Not happy with the front/collar piece. I don't like the way I picked up the stitches. Had an idea to re-do the lower sections; where it was really bugging me ... so cut off a piece and gave it a try. Didn't like that either. So ripped the whole piece off. And darn blogger still won't let me load a picture! Tried adding a picture again ... no go. Press the "add selected" button ... and poof ... there it is ... gone. most frustrating! Like paragraph breaks; they go away as well.

DAY 18

Let me tell you, knitting a big sweater on 3mm needles is slow going.  I'm getting there, but ever so slowly.  I got to approximately hip length before switching over to work on the first sleeve.  I need to make sure that I have enough yarn to finish, so the plan is to get both sleeves done and keep knitting on the body until I use up all the yarn.  That could mean that I end up at the indicated length or I could end up a bit short.  Hard to say, and I'm not take any more chances. Pictures tomorrow.

DAY 15

The sweater is finally on track.  I've been making some adjustments as I am knitting and things are working out.  I strung the stitches on some yarn and even tried it on and am quite happy with the progress and fit. Thrilled actually. The top down construction is my saving grace. 

How are the rest of you ladies getting on with your sweaters?  Toni, Dorothy?   

DAY 12

Can you say RIIIIIPPPPP?  It's not as bad as I thought it would be.  Only had to rip out 25 rounds. Only.  When I swatch, I usually don't bother with row gauge because I always adjust the pattern to fit my long torso.  I was expecting to do the same with this sweater.  What I didn't account for was the shortness of the yoke. Turns out I need more length up there too.  I love knitting from the top down just for this reason.   Once the yoke was finished I just held it up against myself, saw that it fell more or less where it was supposed to,  merrily divided for the arms and kept knitting the body.  I tried it on earlier this evening and noticed that although the width of the sweater was good (thank you knitting Karma), the arm holes felt tight.  Naturally I ignored this and knit another 11 rounds.  I had arrived at the spot in the pattern that calls for increases, presumably to adjust for the hips.  HA  I wasn't over my chest yet! And the folly of my actions sank in.  Almost a full ball of yarn ripped back and re-wound.  Picking up those 300+ stitches was a joy, let me tell you!  Thank goodness Lett Lopi is grippy.  That is so a real word. 

Before: 

 

After:

 

So apparently I like a bit of adventure with my sweaters.  I'm back on track.  Let's see how long that lasts. Feel free to smirk in my general direction.  

DAY 11

Only managed 10 rows of the body. Frankly I expected this to knit up considerably faster. Spend more time with it, you say?  Really....

In other news, I'm questioning the gauge again.  Thinking it might be a bit tight. Let us just pretend this does not perturb me in the least.  The lying, bloody....bleep bleep bleep.  Tomorrow I will string the body stitches and try the darned thing on.  Anyone within even remote vicinity of my house should walk away, quickly.  I shall not be responsible for shuttered eardrums if this blasted sweater in the making does not fit. 

Feel free to place your bets.  Someone is bound to get rich.

At the End of DAY 10

Wow!  We're a third of the way through the month.  Are you a third of the way through your sweaters?  Mine sure doesn't feel like it although I did conquer short rows and have gotten as far as dividing for the body and sleeves.  I had to fudge the numbers a tiny bit. I was out by 2 stitches on the right front, but I've already increased one stitch and will increase the second missing stitch in the next round.  I am not ripping back.  I suspect the little culprits disappeared in the short rows somewhere, most likely after the transition from short rows to full rounds.  The directions weren't super clear for my novice talents in that department, but I'm not about to complain. 

 

That's the back with the short rows, all divided up, with the sleeves on holding yarns. Doesn't appear like there are any glaring mistakes.  (Fingers crossed!)

DAY 9

I've finally finished the yoke.  From now on it will be all knitting with the main colour.  Next up are some short rows.  Yay, my favourite...NOT. 

 

How are the rest of you ladies coming along with your sweaters?  I can't wait to see some pictures!  

DAY 7

I finally cast on and got the neckband on the needle.  Now to start the yoke chart.  Progress is progress, no matter how minimal. 

 

I kept working on it and got as far as round 12 of the yoke chart.  I'm quitting for the night.  Don't want to go all crazy on the first day. LOL

thank you Rimowa

Barbara and I had corresponded prior to the start of this years March Sweater Madness. She had a commitment from me to play and I was all excited. Since I was headed from Germany to Florida via California on the 21-22 Feb (don't ask) I packed up everything on the 20th. And then it happened. Planning on adding one more thing to my 1/3 empty suitcase, I found the lock jammed. Of course all the clothes I wanted were in the suitcase along with the sweater I had planned on knitting this month. ARGH!!!!!!!! Not being able to get the lock unstuck, I took a different suitcase and yarn for hats and shawls but not for a sweater. So I am now in the cheering squad this year..... (sniff, sniff,,,,,

Day 4 - Toni

March Madness - Day 4

Okay--I really only joined the fun on the night of the first, but I was hoping to have used up the first ball of yarn by now.  I'm really, really, REALLY close,

but I am obviously working with magic yarn, because I've been almost at the end of the ball of yarn for an entire day.  Not that a never-ending supply of yarn is anything to sneer at, but I sort of already HAVE that.  It's called the stash.  If something were going to magically never be all used up, why couldn't it have been my bank account?  Sigh..........

Aside from being mired in the never-ending-ball-of-yarn, I love this sweater.  The pattern is interesting, but not so complicated that I have to be checking the chart on every row,

and I love the shaping.  The only concern is that while I am getting gauge, gauge is measured over a pattern involving cable and ribbing, so I think I could have gotten "gauge" with about 4 different needle sizes.  I suppose the good side to this is that it could also fit me in about 4 different sizes, but if I have THAT sort of weight fluctuations, a sweater is NOT going to be my greatest problem........ 

I need a photographer

I'm married to a photographer. My daughter is a photographer. You would think I'd be able to get pictures of things ... wouldn't you?? NO!! So, you need to use your imagination. See how my sweater is growing? I'm working on the shoulders, increasing from 40 stitches up to 200 sts. I've got 178 on there right now. I'm enjoying the texture of this so far. It's not too thick, not too holey. Going to be nice for spring and fall wearing. And cool summer evenings. Now, if the tendonitis (or whatever it is) that I have in my shoulder would only go away it would help a whole lot!!

Opinions Required

LOL  My gauge issues had me scrambling like mad around here and digging through stash as well as patterns.  Normally I'd be quite happy about that but I just want to get to the knitting already. 

So I'm looking for an opinion.  I came up with some different patterns that I have the exact yarn for. Lopi to the rescue.  The very first Lopi sweater I've ever finished was back at the very beginning of this Madness, or rather the come down from the Madness when we were working on UFOs I believe. I just realized that I never posted a picture of the finished sweater but I've been wearing it all these years and I believe it will need a replacement soon.  I had my mind set on a cardigan but a couple other patterns also caught my eye. I don't imagine they would be too difficult to convert to cardigans.

This one is from Knitty.

 

 

 

 

So what do you think?  That's the yarn I have available, in sufficient quantity any of the three patterns.

 

FYI:  looks like I will be knitting the first one.  I am happy to have that decision made, thanks to a dear friend.  Thanks so much Alison!

Oh My!

Literally dozens of swatches later, and I still haven't cast on because I am experiencing technical difficulties with gauge for Eileen.  I am starting to consider other patterns but that's just as time consuming. 

How are the rest of you ladies making out?

Good Grief!

Three swatches later and I still haven't got gauge!  Ack!  And if you could only understand my aversion to swatches.  I rarely knit them, and only when the size really matters.  I have decided to knit Eileen so size definitely matters.  If I'm going to spend any time with her, she better fit when I'm done with her.  So looks like I will be stash diving in the morning after my run. 

This is going to be fun.  I must have mentioned that, right?  :)

Here We Go!

Welcome to the 7th March Sweater Madness! 

I hope you are as excited as I am. 

If you haven't yet, post which pattern you will be using and a 'glamour' shot of your yarn.  Is there a knitter out there that doesn't like yarn pictures? 

So here we go! Remember that posting  your progress is a requirement for winning!

Happy March Sweater Madness!