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I’m knitting another sweater: back to where I was

the sweater: Ribby Cardi
the yarn: Cotton Ease in Stone
the previous entries: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Last time I wrote about the sweater I had ripped out the neck, detachted the sleeves and unravelled the body down below the armhole shaping, all so I could add a bit of length to the body and not undo my carefully mapped out 3×1, 2×2, 3×1, 2×2, 3×1 ribbing tubular (aka. grafted, invisible, sewn, kitchener) cast on. Since then I’ve made slow progress which can be squarely blamed on a little holiday detour into the land of Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance. Turns out two-player cooperative games are wicked fun, and as I was researching which to buy I found a lot of stories about relationships that started playing this game together and are still going strong, awww.

Anyhow, I’ve added length, redid all the armhole shaping, reconnected the sleeves and knit the collar again. Undoing all the work was worth it because I also got to fix a few errors, including seaming the sleeves using embroidery thread which I bought ages ago and forgot I had the first time around (see above). It takes away just a bit of the bulk in the seams, and I found it easier to use since the yarn would untwist horribly about half way through the seaming.

I took pictures of my as-of-yet unstretched tubular (aka. grafted, invisible, sewn, kitchener) bind off for the top of the collar, it looks wonky, especially on the right side, but once it’s stretched it’ll settle into something far more normal looking. This is a cotton/acrylic yarn, I’m almost certain this bind off in a nice springy wool would look better and stay stretchier. That said, I’m still desperately in love with this technique.

Next steps:
– attach i-cord along center fronts
– weave in ends
– wash and shrink
– dye twill tape orange to match ziper
– insert zipper

Looks like a very short list but it will likely take me until April to complete.

· comments [6] · 01-9-2008 · categories:knitting ·

6 responses so far ↓

  • 1 Cinnamon // Jan 9, 2008 at 10:28 am

    I don’t know why I’ve never thought of using embroidery floss for seaming! That’s a brilliant idea! Brilliant! So many sweaters I wish I’d done that way. Thanks, Megan.

  • 2 Justin // Jan 9, 2008 at 10:31 am

    Megan I too am in love with BG:DA. I’ve played both and love them dearly. If you have a playstation I’ve heard that champions of norrath uses the same game engine that DA does, so you may want to check out those titles as well (I think there are two of those).

  • 3 megan // Jan 9, 2008 at 10:37 am

    I got the tip from Streets and YOs, she used it instead of seaming with mohair yarn. I suspect embroidery floss has a lot less give than wool, so it might not be ideal for a wool sweater. Here, with cotton, I’m hoping it will keep the arms from stretching too much over time. then again, I don’t find my first Ribby Cardi made in this yarn to show signs of stretching lengthwise even though everybody says it will.

  • 4 megan // Jan 9, 2008 at 10:38 am

    Justin – Thanks! We have it in mind for our next cold holiday break.

  • 5 mel // Jan 17, 2008 at 4:46 pm

    Why did you end up using Cotton Ease instead of the yarn listed on the pattern? I only ask because I used the Highlands Peruvian Wool to make a sweater for my husband, and I wondered what other people thought about that yarn. I’m currently working on a sweater using 10 1/2 needles and a thick wool yarn. I like using bigger needles, but the gauge of a smaller needle looks really good on a sweater. Ah, the pros and cons…:) Your sweater looks good!!

  • 6 megan // Jan 17, 2008 at 5:08 pm

    Mel – Simply because I cannot wear wool, I find even the softest wool itchy.

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