Sweater, revisited

Like I said in my last post, fall is here to stay. (I hope. Now that I've typed that, watch us have an Indian Summer at Thanksgiving.)

Anyways, that meant that last weekend was spent hauling out all the cold-weather clothes, including this one, which you may remember:
It's the Cable-Down Raglan that I knit last year out of Patons Classic Wool. I wore it to work yesterday, and as you can see (maybe), it's held up pretty well. But there's something I didn't like about it. Somehow, it sags in the armpits. I couldn't figure out what the problem was - did I do too many raglan increases for the arms? According to the pattern, I did the right thing. My gauge swatch was right on. It wasn't my favorite thing I'd ever knitted, but I wore it like a mother wears the paper crown her kid made for her, even if it looks a bit like a cross between a brontosaurus and a platter of wilting lettuce. It may be an imperfect sweater, but it's MY imperfect sweater.

Well, when I was pulling it on yesterday, I had an epiphany.

The sweater is TOO BIG.

As in four inches too big.

So I have a sweater that's a size or two too big. Oh well. I'll keep wearing it, because it is MINE, yes preciousssss...but I may re-knit it in a smaller size.

And yes, I know - I should have washed my gauge swatch. I'm horrible about not washing my gauge swatches.

We had a very special visitor to our deer feeder yesterday morning.

It's the White Stag! We haven't been able to tell if this is an albino or a white deer. Whatever he is, he's pretty gorgeous! He practically glows when he's out at the deer feeder, and that's saying something when you think about the red Oklahoma dirt he lives in. We didn't try to catch him to see if he would grant us wishes, though!

It's done!!!!

Look what I finished tonight!

I love it! The only thing I would change is to separate the sleeves a bit earlier - it's kind of baggy around the shoulders. (I could probably have gone down a size.) Oh, and I'd modify the sleeve increases. But anyways, my first sweater is done! Now I need to start swatching for Green Gable. That should go more quickly.

Here's the rundown:
Pattern: Cable Down Raglan by Stephanie Japel for Interweave Knits, Spring 2007
Yarn: Patons Classic Merino in Leaf Green, about 4 2/3 skeins.
Needles: US 4
Cast on: May 26, 2007
Cast off: August 27, 2007

Still not done with the CDR.

But I'm making progress! I only have a little over one diamond repeat left on the right sleeve. One thing I've figured out, though - next time I do a top-down sweater, I'll do the sleeves before the body. These sleeves are taking so long!

I've got two Mmmmmalabrigo projects on the needles at the moment - a Mistake Rib scarf in worsted Azul Bolito...













...and a Swallowtail Shawl - my first "real" lace project! - in laceweight Tuareg.









Oh, and I got an email from WEBS about my (first!) order. They ran out of the chocolate brown Silky Wool, so I got some Araucania Nature Wool in a buttery yellow instead. I've been craving a soft yellow sweater.

I used my last two Amazon.com gift cards to get two books I've been eying - Victorian Lace Today and Fitted Knits. They should be arriving next week! So should my other major book purchase...*gulp* Not sure what I was thinking when I signed up for this class.

Harry Potter and the Hagrid-Sized Knitting Bag

At 5:45 PM on Friday, I had this:


At 1:00 AM on Saturday, I had this!


I finished Deathly Hallows in 4 hours. I need to re-read it to let it sink in more. The reason I plowed through it so fast is that I just wanted to read it before I got spoiled, like I did on almost all the other books. Some parts were great, some parts weren't, some parts I totally saw coming, and some parts I totally didn't. I won't say much more so as not to spoil anything, but if you're considering reading Harry Potter to your young 'uns, stick with the first three books. Deathly Hallows is most certainly not a children's book. It's got a terribly high body count.

After I finished Deathly Hallows, I went to SWAK in Guthrie, where they were having their store-wide 25% off sale. I picked up 9 skeins of Silky Wool in a really pretty dark cobalt blue for $4.81 a skein! This is such lovely soft yarn. The color is blue without being the denim-y blue that I'm so sick of. I can't decide what it wants to be, though. It would look great in cables.


Last Christmas, my grandmother ordered me a knitting bag from Land's End. She didn't give it to me at Christmas because she thought it was too big. But it works great for toting around the knitting guild library!(I wear a size 8 shoe, by the way, and yes, it does come up to my knee.)


I finished the bottom of the CDR! And wonder of wonders, IT FITS! And there was much rejoicing. Go gauge swatches! (The stuff hanging out of my armpit is waste yarn, by the way. Seriously.) I've knitting about three inches on one sleeve.

Less than five hours now!

I'm in the second group of 150 to get my very own copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows!!! So excited!

Oh, it's been almost a month since I last posted. Bad me. I'm feeling a little embarrassed.

Since there's so little time left before I read DH, here's my last shot at playing Professor Trelawney with some predictions:
1. Snape killed Dumbledore on Dumbledore's orders.
2. Snape had a thing for Lily Evans-Potter.
3. Pettigrew will fulfill his life-debt to Harry.
4. RAB is Regulus Black.
5. The final battle will take place during a full moon, and werewolves will be involved somehow.
6. Who dies: Lord Moldyshorts, Snape, Pettigrew, and Bellatrix; Hagrid, Percy Weasley, and somebody else major (I wouldn't be surprised if it's Neville or Luna; please not Lupin or Tonks!).

Knitting-wise, I've been plugging away on the cable-down raglan and a Ravenclaw house scarf. I'm on the bottom edging for the CDR! Somehow, I kept getting distracted at work and knit some purls and purled some knits. With any luck, I'll finish the bottom and at least part of a sleeve at the DH release party at Borders tonight.

I got my first Addi Turbo circular needle! At the Knit-In at the Gourmet Yarn Company, I won 2nd prize for the kiwi lime gelato I brought, so I got a gift certificate. Thank you Margaret! I got a size 1 47" lace Turbo that I can use for Magic Loop or the lace shawl that I WILL make someday. I've signed up to make the Mystery Shawl, but I'm not letting myself cast on until I finish the CDR.

I've decided that I LOVE knitting from charts! I tried knitting from an old Vogue stitch dictionary from the guild library, but it's one of those tall, narrow books that will not stay open. This means that the instructions for just one row can wind up taking several lines in the book, and it's really hard to read.

Well, I'm off to Borders! See you on the other side of DH!

CDR progress and YARN SWAP GOODIES!

I've started the waist cables on the CDR. It certainly is coming along quickly! So far, I've used two of five balls of Patons Classic Wool. This stuff is pretty nice, but in the second ball, I came across several knots in one of the three plies.

And here's what a lovely swap partner sent me!
That's a hank of Cherry Tree Hill in Turquoise, a hank of Schaefer Anne in Minty, and a skein of Opal Silk Wool in a yellow, brown, purple, pink, and light blue. So far, I'm thinking Bayerische for the CTH, Monkey or Pomatomus for the Schaefer Anne, and Jaywalker for the Opal. I've also got that Nancy Bush book, as well as Sensational Knitted Socks...I'm overwhelming myself. Must stop now.

Sleeves are separated!

I've separated out the sleeves for the CDR. Honestly, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to fit any more stitches on the needle. It got really crowded toward the end of the sleeve shaping.

This is a very addicting sweater. Now that the only cable segment is the diamond cable on the front, it goes SO fast!

I can't believe I cast on for this sweater on Saturday morning! I hope my energy keeps up so this gets finished soon. Even though I swatched repeatedly, I still have a fear that this won't fit...which would be a shame, since it's such a beautiful pattern.

CDR is 20% done (I hope!)

I've finished one ball of Patons Classic Wool on my Cable-Down Raglan. Four more balls to go! I'm halfway through the second diamond center cable. So far, I'm enjoying the pattern. The sleeve increases are off, but I think I fixed them. They still look a bit odd, but it's not enough to justify frogging a whole 223 yards of wool. I've also joined a KAL for this sweater!

Look how crowded the stitches are on my 24" circular.



Oh, and here's a bag that a friend of mine picked up for me at a scientific conference. It's fashionable on the front and geeky on the back (ads for a biological supply company). My former Clapotis fit in it perfectly...rest in peace. It's headed for the frog pond tonight, probably.

A finished object and two WIP's

Well, I had a ball of white dishcloth cotton, so I made this:



I like it, but it's not a "must repeat." I may get another ball, knit to the same point, and graft them together so the wavy edge works out. The pattern is from the first Barbara Walker stitch dictionary.

And say farewell to the Clapotis:
I measured it, and it's only 15 inches across. It's headed for the frog pond. I wanted a wrap, not a big scarf. How disappointing...

But I did start this!


I'm definitely liking the pattern so far, although the sleeve increases are wonky. (Side note:
ALWAYS check errata before starting a pattern.) I'm using Patons Classic Wool in Leaf Green, with size 4 needles. (I couldn't believe how small I had to go to get gauge!) This is the wool I bought back in February, when my sister asked why I was buying yarn when I had a whole wall full.

In unrelated news, some simple-minded gherkin decided to knock down our brick mailbox this morning...