Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Best One Yet

I finished it! A couple of months ago I started knitting this sweater for Lauren because a) I thought it was cute, and b) I really wanted to try knitting a sweater using circular needles (no seams!), and c) I wanted to learn how to do Fair Isle knitting (the two-color pattern around the yoke). Also, as an added bonus, I got to try my hand at "grafting" (aka kitcheners stitch). All very worthy skills to have. I had to take a brief break in the action to do the paying job mentioned below. The result of my experiment is a Big Fat Success for I couldn't be more pleased with how this turned out! Even Mr. Chick is impressed, calling this my "most professional piece ever." High praise indeed!

I think I like knitting in-the-round on circular needles the best. My purl stitch leaves a lot to be desired, in my opinion, and with circular you only need to do the knit stitch. MUCH more consistent that way. Tension, appearance - everything. And the added bonus of no seams is gravy. I need a little more practicing with the Fair Isle aspects as I found it a challenge to keep the yarn I was carrying behind stitches from pulling too tight. There is a bit more of a "puckering" effect than I'd like as a result. Thankfully, the hint of pucker just sort of blends in with the texture of the sweater when it's worn better than when it's laying flat.

Next challenge for me? (after I crank out a few new-baby gift items - it's a baby boom in my world right now!): STEEKS. You need to be very brave to do this, but it's a cool technique that I want to try, given how I prefer knitting circular vs. straight. With steeks you knit in-the-round, allowing a few more stitches than you would normally for the steek. Then, when you're finished/ready, you sew a vertical line on either side of the steek to secure the stitches, and then cut (CUT!) the steek within the sewed lines, thereby turning a pullover, for example, into a cardigan. At least, that's my understanding of steeks after reading about them and talking with an expert about it. The Norwegians, who are/were well-known for their rapid-fast knitting of sweaters similar to the one I made Lauren, use the steek method because it's just that: faster. If anyone has done them, let me know if I'm on the right path here.

Ok, I'm off to weave in a few ends and clean up my mess before the kids get into it. Nothing good ever happens if/when they mess with my knitting/crocheting stuff. Then I'll be sifting through various patterns to decide what to make for the first of the babies soon to be coming into this world.

Comments:
Beautiful job. You are quite wonderful with some needles. :)
 
That is a beautiful sweater. And of course the your little model is adorable!

You are very talented. I tried to knit while I was on bedrest (with both of my kids) but just couldn't get the hang of it.
 
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