AtomicKnits

Diminishing Rib Cardigan

So, my NaKniSweMo project for this year is kind of late, but I stuck with it and got it done!  I'm glad I did, because this is one is definitely one of my favorite sweaters ever!  The knitting went by pretty fast, because it was done on a size 8.  The back and forth knitting of the cardigan was tedious at times, and all of the ribbing at the end made it more so, but it looks really lovely, and I think it was worth it.

I'm really happy that this sweater turned out so well, because I felt like the yarn was tainted with bad vibes.  Remember when I was knitting all of those swatches for J. Knits?  Well, I was compensated in J. Knits yarn, but it took a lot for me to actually receive the yarn.  The woman who was my contact there mysteriously left, and my new contact was not responsive via Ravelry or email. It took a LOT of emails, message board posts (that were not received well at all), and waiting for me to actually get this yarn.  I feel that knitting such a nice sweater out of this yarn was a good way to erase the bad vibes associated with it.

Diminishing Rib Cardigan
Pattern Source: Interweave Knits, Spring 2009
Yarn: J. Knits Stunning Worsted, colorway Nebraska
Needles: US 8

Gathered Pullover is a little late, but done!

Another NaKniSweMo came and went, and, again, I was a little late.  I actually finished the knitting on the very last day of the month, but it took several days and a cross-country plane ride for this sweater to dry after blocking.  I LOVE how this sweater turned out.  It fits SO WELL and the fabric isn't took thick or warm to wear.  I only made a couple of modifications to the pattern as I was knitting.  I made the torso three or four inches longer than the pattern called for and I had to make each sleeve several inches longer after the increases.  The smaller sizes are definitely designed for short people with short arms.  Other than that, the fit is great!

I love the cable panel on the chest even though it is right in the middle of my boobs.  It does help make the sweater more form fitting.  I messed up the seaming a little bit on the back of one of the shoulder joins, but blocking helped a lot to straigten that out.  I really enjoyed knitting this sweater, and I hope I don't wait as long to start my next one!

Gathered Pullover
Pattern Source: Interweave Knits Fall 2007
Yarn: Brown Sheep Top of the Lamb Sport, colorway 200 Russett
Needles: US 7

Holiday/NaKniSweMo Conundrum

I was so happy with my quick progress on the body of my Gathered Pullover, that I think I got kind of cocky.  I've also planned on knitting several holiday gifts before Christmas.  I figured I could take a break from the sweater to bang out a few of the gifts...and now it's the 25th. Gah! As you can see I only have the body and most of one sleeve done.  I am torn between trying to finish at least the knitting and seaming by the end of the month OR just chalking it up as a learning experience and try to get more holiday knitting done sooner.  I also was a little annoyed, because I had to knit my sleeve a good 40 or so rounds longer than the pattern says to fit my arm.  The sleeves look short in the picture with the pattern, but they were VERY short on me.  Today I am choosing to work on the sweater, so we'll see what happens.  The good part is that I think I am learning to feel better about failing goals.  I remember last year I worked like CRAZY to finish my BPT Hoodie and felt kind of blech about getting it done a few days late.  I've been so productive lately, that a setback like this is ok.  I am so pleased with my knitting and crafting this year, and I can't wait to do a year round-up post next month.

Gathered Pullover: Body is complete!

This sweater is going so fast.  I mean, I know that's one of the reasons why I picked it for NaKniSweMo this year, so I definitely will finish it, but even so I am surprised at the progress!  The entire body is done.  I just have to knit the sleeves and do all of the finished.  I did order WAY too much of this yarn.  The next sweater you see just might be this exact same color.

I loved knitting the cable panel in the center of the front of the body.  I love how it looks, and it's really nice that it's the only decorative element.  I recently learned how to cable without a cable needle and that made this part go even faster!  I just started on a sleeve.  Sleeves always take way longer than I think...

NaKniSweMo 2008!

I have been very excited for NaKniSweMo this year since I haven't knit that many sweaters this year.  I decided to pick a simpler sweater this year in the hopes that I might have an easier time completing this and my holiday knitting.

This year I'm doing the Gathered Pullover in the yarn it calls for - Brown Sheep Top of the Lamb Sport.  I have about 5 inches on the body done so far.  I'm glad I'm behind on my podcast listening, so I'll have a lot of time to hopefully finish this before the end of the month!

Thank you, Cassandra!

Remember that post a little while back about Cassandra's NaKniSweMo contest over at GeeHowQuaint.com?  Well, I won one of the prizes and it just arrived at my house yesterday!  I picked out a brown shoe bag, and it arrived all nicely wrapped in tissue paper and a Gee How Quaint ribbon!  It came all the way from England, and I was so excited to get it!

This is an adorable tote bag that fits one pair of shoes.  I believe all of these are hand-made by Cassandra.  She has these in a lot of colors and prints.

What's really cool is that there is a divider inside to separate each shoe.  When I am not traveling, I can think of a great other use for this bag! (Can you guess?)  It would make a great small knitting project bag also!  Thank you, Cassandra, for being so generous and holding that contest, and also for this lovely gift!

BPT Finished: NaKniSweMo Complete!

I apologize for the poor photos, but I just finished the BPT a little while ago and it's dark out, and *sigh* it's just me (boo), AND I just want to get pictures of it on the Internet NOW.  I am SO PLEASED with the fit of this sweater.  I am finally over my "OMG IT MIGHT BE TOO SMALL" syndrome.  I knitted a small, and that is just what I needed.  I am still wearing it, and the yarn feels great!  This will be nice to wear when it is a little warmer out.  The bamboo is nice and cool.  I am going to wear it to work tomorrow to see how many people don't care, AND I am going to wear it when I go down to visit Justin in a couple of weeks, because he cares a lot (and it's really really awesome).

I kept ALL of the cables throughout the entire sweater.  The hood has 8 cables.  It is a little excessive, but I think it is really awesome how all of the cables connect into each other and all of that.  I had JUST enough yarn to finish the hood. It was meant to be.  I had just about 15 inches (which is what I was supposed to have according to the pattern) and I bound off leaving only a 10 inch tail.  Yikes!  I was also pretty proud of myself, because I had to pick up the stitches around the neck for the hood and I managed to line up all of the cables almost perfectly.

The only trouble I really ran into was the zipper.  Yesterday, I set out on a zipper quest and drove all the way to freaking Everett to go to AC Moore and Michaels.  Well, FYI, neither of these stores carries zippers of any kind. ANY KIND.  I was so disappointed.  I left with a few packages of hook and eye closures and sewed those in instead.  I don't know if I like them yet, but I'll wear it a few times, and I can always take them out and put in a zipper later.  (Oh man, "She's Got the Look by Roxette just came on Pandora, I need to thumbs up this NOW.)  One thing I did discover while at these stores in Vanna White now has her own line of "premium acrylic" yarn from Lion Brand.  I think it's cool that knitting is becoming so popular that celebrities are endorsing the yarns, but um OK THIS SOUNDS YARN SNOBBY BUT "premium acrylic" is an oxymoron.

To reflect on NaKniSweMo, I am really happy with my results.  I have never knit a sweater even close to this fast, and I think I will definitely take part in knit-a-longs like this again.  It really is amazing what you can do when you really put your mind to something.  I was a little discouraged that (now Animotion?! Pandora, you are on a roll!) I didn't finish November 30th, but I'm glad I stuck with it through the weekend, and now i am done only two days late!  That's still not bad!  Now, small projects like the slippers I am going to knit next, or the mittens I need to knit for myself (the fingerless mitts aren't cutting it anymore!) are going to take NO TIME AT ALL!

Almost

Well, it's the last day of NaKniSweMo, and I'm not done my sweater. :( I got so close!  I just started the hood tonight and I have a couple inches so far.  The hood has to be 15 inches (!!), and then I will be done knitting.  Tomorrow or Sunday I will shop for a zipper to sew in.  Even though I didn't make the deadline, I'm hoping to finish this sweater by the end of the weekend.  It will need a little steam blocking, but not much.  I am still very proud of my progress.  I have never knit a project of this size so fast, and I think I did a pretty good job despite traveling twice during the month. I've also tried it on and it is going to fit AWESOME. Maybe next year I will pick an even easier sweater so NaKniSweMo '08 will be in the bag.

BPT: Body Finishing up!

Today during my lunch break, I started binding off the body of the BPT sweater.  WOO HOO!  The body felt like it took FOREVER, and I am so glad to be binding off.  This pattern features and Applied I-Cord cast off, which is something I have never done before.  I used Theresa's Tutorial on Knitty to learn how to do this. It is not as hard as I thought it would be, but it is kind of tedious and it will take me a little while later to finish casting this off.  I really like how it looks, though.  It's a nice way to finish off the bottom of a sweater if you hate ribbing (like me) and don't feel like constantly trying to smooth out your roll-ey bottom.  I think it goes really well with the slipped stitch edges that will be next to the zipper opening.  Tonight I have a bunch of things I need to do to get ready to drive home on Wednesday afternoon, but I'm hoping I can at least get this done and the ends of the body woven in.  I may get a little time to knit over the weekend, but we'll see.

I am getting a little nervous that I won't be able to finish this sweater before the end of November, but I am really happy with my progress so far.  NaKniSweMo has really shown me what you can do if you really dedicate yourself to something.  I never thought I would knit a sweater so fast, and I got to learn this new cast off technique.  I have to say, I am really scared and intimidated by sewing that zipper in at the end.  But I will persevere.

BPT Update

The BPT is still coming along at a pretty good clip.  I am almost done the body.  I am just about done the waist increases, and I have about 4 more inches to go and then the body will be finished!  The body feels like it's been taking forever especially knitting it flat instead of in the round.  I'm pretty happy with it so far, though!  Because I have to look at this red/orange color so much I am starting to question whether or not I really like it.  I think I still like it.  The texture of the yarn is really nice, though and It won't be too warm to wear.

I keep trying it on, and I think it will turn out to fit pretty well.  The body is bunching up a little bit on the needles which makes me worry that I'm going to cast off and it's going to be EFFING HUGE.  But, hopefully it will be ok.  I pulled it tight around the ladies and it felt like it would be somewhat fitted, which is nice.  I'm REALLY hoping that I can get the body completed by the time I go home for Thanksgiving (which is next Wednesday), but we'll see.  This weekend is Fake Thanksgiving, and that will be WICKED fun, but I don't know how much knitting I will get done.  Maybe a little.  We'll see.

Also, I decided (TODAY) that I want to learn how to spin wool into yarn and all that.  The idea has always been in my head, but TODAY IS THE DAY that I decided that I actually want to try this.  Maybe this will lead to me also learning how to DYE my own yarn.  I REALLY WANT TO LEARN HOW TO DYE MY OWN YARN.  But, in order to do that, you need to use acid dyes and my house would turn into a muddled toxic wasteland.  I would really like to though.  I'd rather learn how to dye yarn first.  Maybe I should do that.  But I can't do that in my current living space.  But, SO YES, I want to learn how to spin.  I know this doesn't mesh with my Money Saving Plan, but Christmas is coming up.  Maybe I could ask for the basics first?  I don't know, but I am excited about this, and I am going to go read about it now.