Ravelry

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Done On Time!

I finished Blood Oranje last night. I just need to block it. The last couple of days has been a bit of a knitting marathon. I would rush through all the other work I had to do then sit down and knit.

The sweater was knit from the top down and when I reached the end of the skein after the sleeves were joined I decided to knit the sleeves before completing the rest of the body. Once the sleeves were done, the body worked up fast. Yesterday was taken up with knitting the button bands, stitching the collar and hem to the sweater, sewing grograin ribbon to cover the steek edges and sewing on the buttons. I chose some irridecent glass bottons and black grograin ribbon.

The day before that I took my courage in hand, set scissors to knitting and cut the steek. I then picked up stitches along the sides for the button band. I marked the places for the button band as you can see in the next picture.

The result of all this work was the best fitting cardigan I have ever made and also the most polished. I think that this is one cardigan that reflects the care and thought I took in making it. It truly looks like a well-crafted cardigan.

Aside from all the new techniques I learned with this sweater, I also learned that the finishing touches that go into making a sweater truly pay off.

Keep on knitting and learning.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Half Done

The Blood Oranje sweater is coming along. I have 11 days to get the sweater done if I am to stay on schedule. I have turned the sweater upside down and left off the last stripes on the yoke. So far so good. I have really enjoyed working on this sweater not only because of the patter but also because of the yarn. I am using Happy Baby, a cashmere blend yarn. It is so soft and cushy!

I learned how to do the Latvian braid and how to strand with three strands. It is not as hard as I thought it would be, but I hate the way the braid tangles up the yarn. Oh well, that is life.

Keep on knitting and learning.