I finished the Tailored Sweater

I tried an I-chord trim all around the neck & front edge on this sweater and it was just a no-go even with adjustments I made. I had tried increases at the beginning of the V-neck and decreases at the back of the neck & it was just a disappointing failure.

So I took the edging off again & just did a garter stitch border. I did 2 increases on different rows at the V-neck on both sides & 3 decreases on the first row of real knitting in the back of the neck. This seems to have worked.

All that remains to be done is blocking. I don't think I can skip this step because it looks a bit 'bunchy' on each side of the front near the shoulders.

This will be a nice cozy sweater to throw on during the long Canadian winter coming soon.

The yarn is Patons SWS, a soy/wool mix. It is a feltable wool, so handwash & lay flat to dry only. I knit this with Knitpicks.com 'Zephr' interchangeable needles, size 5.5mm using Tuulia Salmela's 'Tailored Sweater Method'. It is available at: http://tuulia.blogspot.com/2009/03/tailored-sweater.html . The pattern on the sweater is a basket weave done in three separate bands & feels very squishy.

My Hubby's Blue Sweater

I recently had some time out for redecorating a bedroom which really took quite a bit of time away from gardening & knitting, but the room is done & looks wonderful & fresh.

At this point in the life of my husband's sweater, I am about to attach the third ball of yarn. Each one is 113 grams. I am now working my way down the body. 

One of the things I seem to be doing wrong is picking up an extra stitch between 2 stitches & then discovering it later when I spot a hole in the work.

This is a 'Cabin Fever' method with long sleeves & a V neck. I am not using buttons, but sewing in a zipper.

Last Installment on Blue Sweater

Okay the sleeves are done. The zipper has been sewn in by hand & I have done a line of special treatment on the back of the neckline that should prevent it from being stretched out.

I just have to remember this is strictly a hand wash & air dry sweater.

I wanted something very warm for our cold, drafty wintertime house. This should do the trick. Although I could use an ivory coloured one.

Blue Sweater yet again

Here it is ready to get on with the sleeves. I forget exactly when I got to this point, maybe last weekend... but between a terrible head cold & working last weekend, I did fit in a little bit of knitting.

Sweater Progress

Here is the progress on my cardigan. It is about 8 1/2" from the top of the neck ribbing & I am into my second skein of wool. My swatch did not work out to my hopes & since I did not want to go down another size in the needles so I decided to use the smallest size in the pattern. (My stitch count on the swatch did not have enough stitches in the 4" measurement.) Hopefully the size difference should compensate. 

I am not doing buttonholes, but instead a zipper. I am using a 4mm circular needle from my Denise set.