Greetings and Dear Laura:
Oh my - things got really busy for a few weeks! Two family reunions, including road trips, a funeral, followed by the Fall 4-H Fair where my niece and nephew showed animals. (And speaking of the fair, I checked out the open class crafting exhibit and once again, I swear I am going to knit something for the fair next year! There were only about four crochet/knit entries, and nothing that really seemed at all intricate or complicated. I'm thinking I could run away with it all if I did, say, the Hemlock Ring blanket....)
This was followed by weekend houseguests, a Tastefully Simple party, and plenty of housecleaning in preparation, all of which resulted in my collapsing in my chair all weekend.....well, just didn't have much time for posting! (And I've fallen into the old trap of trying to catch up 3 weeks in a single post. Silly me.)
Anyway. I did work on the Must Have Cardigan for my mom, and yes, it is a dangerous pattern! I struggled with the first sleeve - I think I did the first repeat of the pattern 6 times! After I ripped the second or third time, I copied the pertinent pattern information a bit smaller and taped it to index cards.
That did help, but after I got to the end of the first repeat again, I noticed that the first purl stitch after some of the cable sections was really loose. I frogged and tried again, and I was able to snug that up so that I was finally happy with the fabric and pattern. At this point I measured the width of the sleeve and instead of 9 1/2", I had 8".
I had gauge in stockinette! I already felt this fabric was as loose as I wanted it to be, especially since this is Cotton Fleece yarn, and so isn't as elastic as I might like. A bigger needle was out of the question. I threw up my hands and decided that this yarn/pattern combination was not going to work. However, I'm hooked on the pattern, so...
I made a trip to Knitting Today, and found a WONDERFUL new worsted wool. It's called "Shepherd's Wool" and it is incredibly soft for 100% wool. I can't imagine my mom would find it in any way "scratchy." So I've ordered this yarn - they only had 4 of the 6 balls that I needed, and some lady ahead of me had her hands on them, so I'm trying to wait patiently. Meanwhile, I have my Kiri Shawl to keep me busy, and lots of inspiration working.....
That's all for now!
Keep knitting!
Cynthia (aka Designated Knitter)
Oh my - things got really busy for a few weeks! Two family reunions, including road trips, a funeral, followed by the Fall 4-H Fair where my niece and nephew showed animals. (And speaking of the fair, I checked out the open class crafting exhibit and once again, I swear I am going to knit something for the fair next year! There were only about four crochet/knit entries, and nothing that really seemed at all intricate or complicated. I'm thinking I could run away with it all if I did, say, the Hemlock Ring blanket....)
This was followed by weekend houseguests, a Tastefully Simple party, and plenty of housecleaning in preparation, all of which resulted in my collapsing in my chair all weekend.....well, just didn't have much time for posting! (And I've fallen into the old trap of trying to catch up 3 weeks in a single post. Silly me.)
Anyway. I did work on the Must Have Cardigan for my mom, and yes, it is a dangerous pattern! I struggled with the first sleeve - I think I did the first repeat of the pattern 6 times! After I ripped the second or third time, I copied the pertinent pattern information a bit smaller and taped it to index cards.
That did help, but after I got to the end of the first repeat again, I noticed that the first purl stitch after some of the cable sections was really loose. I frogged and tried again, and I was able to snug that up so that I was finally happy with the fabric and pattern. At this point I measured the width of the sleeve and instead of 9 1/2", I had 8".
I had gauge in stockinette! I already felt this fabric was as loose as I wanted it to be, especially since this is Cotton Fleece yarn, and so isn't as elastic as I might like. A bigger needle was out of the question. I threw up my hands and decided that this yarn/pattern combination was not going to work. However, I'm hooked on the pattern, so...I made a trip to Knitting Today, and found a WONDERFUL new worsted wool. It's called "Shepherd's Wool" and it is incredibly soft for 100% wool. I can't imagine my mom would find it in any way "scratchy." So I've ordered this yarn - they only had 4 of the 6 balls that I needed, and some lady ahead of me had her hands on them, so I'm trying to wait patiently. Meanwhile, I have my Kiri Shawl to keep me busy, and lots of inspiration working.....
That's all for now!
Keep knitting!
Cynthia (aka Designated Knitter)
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