Friday, November 20, 2009

Sweaters!

Well, I've finished a couple sweaters over the last month, and I've delayed posting them because I haven't taken great photos of them yet. Well, I decided to post them anyway, since if I wait till I have decent photos then they may never get posted! So... here goes:

Pattern: Wicked
Yarn: Miss Babs Yummy in Obsidian
Needles: US7


Started October 7th.
Finished October 29th.

This is a lovely pattern. A top down raglan sweater design. I'm happy with how this turned out. I ended up frogging my first attempt (which was past the sleeves no less!) because I was unhappy with where the neckline was hitting me. I really can't stand a sweater that hits my neck above my collar-bone. I was quite upset about the frogging, but I'd rather have a sweater that I will wear than one that stays in a dresser drawer. I essentially went up a size (or two, I can't remember) to get the neckline a bit wider.


Modifications: I made a couple pretty major modifications. I used short rows to bring the front neckline down farther than the back neck. Maybe you can tell from the photo that it scoops down in front a little bit. The other major modification I made was to add bust darts. They go a long way to making the sweater have a more shapely fit. Overall, I'm very happy with it! I need a few more long sleeved boat neck t-shirts to wear under it, though!


Pattern: Inspired by Tomato
Yarn: Knit Picks City Tweed DK (in Tahitian Pearl, Enchanted, Splash and Poseidon)
Needles: US7



Started: October 30th
Finished: November 14th.

I say this in inspired by the Tomato sweater, because I really just worked off the basic shape and design of the sweater. I used DK weight yarn instead of worsted, so the stitch counts in the pattern were no good for me. I figured out my gauge and my desired neckline dimensions and worked from there. I didn't take many detailed notes of this, since I was kind of figuring it out as I went. I used a stripe sequence of 8 rows of the blue-green color and 2 rows of the Pearl. I also transitioned from the lighter blue-green to the darker blue-green. I added bust darts for shaping (since they turned out so well in my Wicked!) and I'm pleased with the result. I decreased for the waist as well, and added in a few increases for the hips. I used the Jogless Jog at the side of the sweater, but didn't bother with it under the sleeves.

(Jogless Jog)

(Bust Dart)

I also used a 2x2 tubular bind off on the cuffs.

(2x2 tubular bind off)

Overall, I'm very happy with it as well! The yarn is so soft and snuggly, too, so it makes a wonderful winter sweater, but with a bit less bulk than a worsted weight sweater would have.

Two sweaters in about a month and a week. That's not too shabby!

Happy Knitting everyone! And Happy Thanksgiving next week!

2 comments:

Jane Prater said...

I just wrote a blogpost about raglans and how the sleeves always bunch at the underarm. Now you show me two that fit perfectly.

Love your additions and how well both fit.

turtlegirl76 said...

Great mods! Both sweaters look fantastic on you!