Finished!

The zipper and all finishing was done back in September. Yay. And in October the sweater got a test drive while I picked apples.  Warm even when wet!  I love wool!

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!

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.

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

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!

Revving Up

March 1st, and therefore our start date for this year's March Sweater Madness, is only a few short days away.  Yay!

For those that have never participated, the deal is to knit an adult-sized sweater in the month of March, start to finish.  It's very exciting.  Not as stressful as the Knitting Olympics since there are 31 full days to work your magic with some yarn and needles. 

Here is a link to how it all started, way back when in 2007, by our fearless leader Michelle of The Sweet Sheep!  Can you believe it will be the 7th year for March Sweater Madness?  Although it all started with Michelle selecting a couple sweater patterns for participants to choose from, over the years we've made suggestions to point people in a unique direction and perhaps even provide a bit of a challenge.  Somewhere along the line this challenge evolved into a stash busting exercise and so we would start by selecting our yarns first, followed by a pattern search.  I would invite you to skim through our archives for the good, the bad, and the ugly of our combined efforts over the years. 

On March 1st we will all CAST ON and it will be a race to the finish! The Knitter who is first will win a pretty awesome prize provided by yours truly! So, go stash diving or visit your LYS now.

For my part I will do a pattern reveal over the next day or two, which you can choose to knit or pick one of your own.  Suggestions welcome.  Free patterns are always preferred. 

Please share on your blogs, Facebook, website... The more the better.