One By One

The cardigan is growing quickly now.

One sleeve done, one more to go.

Sleeveless

The cardigan is now behaving itself, it's growing quickly and there are no more glitches.

It seems a lot quicker to knit as the bottom is all one piece.  Now, time for two sleeves.

I can do it

After the false starts, I am pleased to say the rest was plain sailing.

This is the pattern section for the back and fronts all done, the rest is stocking stitch, so no more problems are anticipated.

 

It has grown since this photo was taken.  The fronts and backs have now been divided, and I'm about to work on the first front.

False Starts

Evenings, when you're tired, are not the best time for starting a new cardigan that has a lace pattern.  You make mistakes, and have to start again.

 

Using a fluffy yarn when starting a new lace pattern, when you're tired means you have to start again.

 

Having children that talk to you while counting stitches, in a fluffy yarn, on a new lace pattern is a disaster, you have to start again.

Three attempts and two days, I finally get past the third row.  The boys have now had their gags removed, and normal communication has resumed.

Done It!

I did get to the end of the border, eventually, and then there was the small matter of sewing it on.

Surprisingly, it didn't seem half so long when I was sewing it on, that part seemed to go really quickly.

 

The border definitely gives all the bits their shape, and finally, it looks like a proper cardigan.  Being black, and wool, over the months it's been in the making, it's managed to pick up a lot of threads, so now it's been washed.  I shall block it, and it's ready to go, no buttons are needed for this one, so no delays.

 

There is a version of this with three quarter sleeves, which I may do, but it won't be in black.

Are We Nearly There Yet?

It feels like one of those journeys that never seem to end.  I knit, I measure and knit some more, and I still haven't got to the end.

Like all journeys, it will end, and hopefully, today will be the day.

Is it for me?

 

No, Hamlet, it's not!

 

I thought I'd ease myself gently into the week and work on my cardigan.

The sleeve was finished, and all the pieces sewn together.  Now it looks more like it should, but it will need blocking once the border is on.

 

That's my next job, a very long moss stitch border.  It has to go all around the cardigan, so it could take some time.  After spending a day on it, I've still got to reach the halfway mark.  All being well, it will be finished this week.

Tis the season to....

knit!

I think the cooler weather is triggering the desire to knit.  I've had this cardigan in slow progress all summer, but now, I'm putting in a concerted effort to get it finished.

 

I've never done one like this before, the borders and welts are added last, that's why each piece is curling up.  The cuffs on the sleeves are moss stitch, which makes a lovely change to rib.  If I can get rid of this cold, I'm hoping I can make good progress with it over the weekend.  I have lots of new things I'd like to do.

All Bar the Buttons

Old films on television are perfect for knitting by.  Just as well, as 300 stitches makes for long rows that take a long time to knit.

The sewing up is all done, all we need is some pretty buttons.

One of these days, I think I'll make the long sleeve version.

To recap, this was knit using Red Cedar Wendy Skye DK, 35% polyester, 12% mohair, 53% acrylic.

The Interesting Part

Another sleeve is finished,

and the fun part begins.  All the body is now on one needle to do the collar and front bands.

It's going to be interesting, as each row is different.  I think I might need a quiet time to do this, so I don't lose count.

A sleeve

I love the shape of the sleeves especially the gathering near the rib.

One more to do, although time working on it is reduced.  Daniel is back to his lessons, and I can work on his owls.

Two Fronts

Despite the heat, it's been fairly comfortable knitting.  I've had the doors and windows open, and have been enjoying a lovely through draft.

Having learnt from the first front to keep a careful count on the decreasing on the neck and armhole side, I only had to do it once.  Makes for much quicker progress.

The sleeves are next, and as they're going to be short, they shouldn't take long at all.

A front

Once I got my head around the front and armhole shapings, the front knitted up fairly quickly.

Hopefully, the front right will only need to be done once, and I can get to the top first time!

The Back

From baby knits to adult now, and one back is done.  I love this yarn.

This is Wendy Skye which is manmade fibres with mohair.  The photo doesn't pick up the richness of the colour, but it's a joy to knit with and I love the colours.  Having short sleeves, this cardigan should be pretty quick to knit up.

Needles of a Different Kind

As I'm waiting for the outlining thread to continue with the sampler, I've exchanged the tapestry needle for knitting needles.  Jonathan put in  a request for some gloves and mittens for the cold mornings on his paper round.  Before I started, I finally got buttons put onto a cardigan I finished a couple of weeks ago.

 It's knitted in 100% organic cotton, which was very reasonably priced.  It has a shaped body, three quarter length sleeves and uses different stitches to create texture.

 This made for a very interesting time whilst knitting, there was never any time to get bored with one stitch before moving onto another.

Now, back to the boys favourite colour, black!