Lesson of the week

I learned something very important this weekend.

WASH YOUR SWATCHES.

After a gentle soak in hot water with wool wash, my Tangled Yoke Cardigan is now gigantically huge. Machine washing and drying are in its future to help it regain its slightly fitted shape, but I'm wearing it right now, and it's ginormous. It's not even baggy-sweater comfy. If machine washing and drying it doesn't fix it, it'll be taking a trip to the frog pond, I fear.

About the Hourglass Sweater - it's done, it's comfy, it's been worn once, and it's been washed, and it's still the same size. I like it quite a bit.

More writing and pictures later when I'm not tired and crabby about amazing growing sweaters.

Can I call it done yet?

So, I've been knitting a sweater. It's almost done.Pattern: Hourglass Pullover from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts
Size: I used the numbers from the 37" size, but my gauge was a bit smaller and I liked the resulting fabric, so according to my math, it should be 35" at the bust.
Yarn: Araucania Nature Wool
Color: Apricot (That's the official colorway name, and it sounds better than what I've been calling it - Harvest Gold.)
Needles: US 6
Cast on: 2-4-08
Modifications: longer sleeves, short rows in bust (see below) and back of neck. If I were to knit it again (a distinct possibility!), I'd provisionally cast on and knit the hem facings in a contrasting color, then knit the hem together before continuing on. Now I have to go back and sew them all up.
It has sloppy bust darts. (Hopefully blocking will fix this.)

And this is where I stopped on Monday - ONE ROW LEFT when I ran out of that ball of yarn. Seriously. But I do have two more balls, so it's okay. I just wound up one, so I may have a finished sweater by the end of the night! I really hated to break into a ball for a few yards of yarn. I almost just scrounged up the little ties that held the skeins together, but that would mean more ends to weave in. Silly, I know.

I also started a shawl from this recycled cashmere. Originally, I used the "Handsome Triangle" from Victorian Lace Today, but the pattern just wasn't a good fit with the yarn. Tonight, I'll try it with the Shetland Triangle from Wrap Style. Orange has never been one of my favorites, but somehow the tangerine color just looks so refreshing after all the brown grass, brown trees, and grey skies we've seen lately.

Yellow

Button, button, who's got the button?

I've got the button! Nine of them, actually.

Pattern: Tangled Yoke Cardigan, from Fall 2007 Interweave Knits
Yarn: Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool, color #41 (light yellow, although it looks straw-colored to me), 6.25 skeins
Needles: US 3, 2, and 0
Cast on: 10-5-07
Cast off: 1-27-08
Buttons sewn on: 2-1-08

The sleeves are a little longer than they're supposed to be. This is because I modified (messed up on) the sleeve increases. I saw on Ravelry (hint hint Beverly!) that the sleeves tend to be rather large, so I didn't increase as fast as the pattern states. Okay, to be completely honest, I was being stupid and not reading the pattern thoroughly. But I like how they turned out. I prefer my sweaters to have slightly longer sleeves.

I also made the body of the sweater a bit longer than the pattern calls for. I could have made it quite a bit longer still, since I have 2.75 skeins left!

Also, I knit the buttonholes a row early. This made the buttonholes harder than they should have been. (They really weren't that hard, though.)

But this is definitely my favorite FO so far!