Frogged again

happy frog
Originally uploaded by avmaier

That hoodie, sweater, pullover, WHATEVER that I'm working on has been frogged, yet again. Hence, the photo of the frog where the sweater ought to be.

Sigh.

I got through my first entire skein, realized I had made a dumb mistake, and I had to frog the whole thing. What was the beginning of a sweater is now a yarn cake again.

We're going out of town soon, so my goal is to get the sweater started, for real, before that. it's gong to make some great mindless knitting. I've been thinking of caling it the mindless sweater.

Pics will be forthcoming, as soon as there's something to take a photo of.

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Hoodie Pattern, doing it as I go

I'm got a new sweater on the needles, and this is one that I'm making up as I go along. Yeah, I know, daring!

I'm going to keep track of it here, along with pics, and if all goes well I'll use that to make a template that others can follow as well.

Yarn: KnitPicks CotLin in Island Coral (DK weight)
Needles: 2 mm circulars
Gauge: 5.5 stitches/inch
Size: 3X -- I'll post alterations for other sizes once I have the pattern figured out.

Basic Design

The sweater will be a pullover. I started knitting at the back neck, doing raglan increases. In this case, the initial neck opening is about 11 inches.

1. I cast on 60 stitches with a long-tail cast on. You'll want the back of the neck to stretch across the back of your neck where you want the sweater to fall, PLUS about an inch on either side. (RS)

2. Purl next row (WS)

3. K3, pm, k1, pm, k3, pm, k1, pm, knit until 8 stitches remain, pm, k1, pm, k3, pm, k1, pm, k3
purl row

4. K1, m1, knit to one stitch before marker. Increase by knitting into the front and back of the stitch. Slide stitch marker to right needle. Knit the single stitch bordered by your stitch markers. Slide the second marker over. Increase (again, by knitting into the front and back of the stitch). Continue in this manner, working the increases as described, until you're 1 stitch remains. Make 1, knit 1.

5. purl WS rows

6. Work all RS rows like #5

Note that this is pretty much a standard raglan shaping. See top down raglan cardi and February lady sweater.

The m1 stitches at the edges will form the "V" of the sweater neck. When the number of stitches across the back equals the number of stitches across both fronts, you're ready to stop working the "V" and join the sweater to work in the round.

When you've joined in the round, continue working row #5 every other row (with the exception of the m1 stitches of course). Alternate with plain knit rows.

I plan on knitting in stockinette until I get to the underarms and pull the sleeve stitches off. Continue until the stitch markers on either side will meet under your arms.

At that point I'll evaluate how much yarn I have. If I have enough, I plan on doing the sleeves in solid stockinette. The body from the bust down will be some sort of lace pattern (haven't picked one yet).

Then I want to grab those stitches at the back of the neck and knit a hood for the sweater. We're planning a trip to the beach this fall, so a nice lightweight hoodie will come in handy.

I'll continue to post updates on how it goes.

Suddenly very popular

Suddenly, I'm very popular with our two cats. Here they are, sleeping (or almost sleeping) at the foot of the bed.

They are not sleeping now.

They've been all over me tonight. I can't even go to the bathroom by myself. It's as if I've been using catnip lotion!

I'm still working on the shawl, and since I really want and need to finish it, the knitting is going so slowly it's almost torture. To make matters worse, I foolishly chose a dark yarn, so it's difficult to knit unless I'm in really good lighting.

My sweater is lying here next to the bed, mocking me, pleading with me to work on it instead. And I want to, believe me. I'm dying to get it finished and ready for the first chilly day. Well, I'll probably just wait for the first day when I can tolerate wool and not worry about if it's chilly yet or not.

I have that skein of Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn dying to be knit up too. I don't think I'll be doing another shawl for a while. They take too much time and attention. Give me a sweater any day, much more worth that much work!

Teasers

I just finished doing some patterns and other work for an online site. I'll provide the links when they're up and going. In the meantime, here's a pic to peak your interest.

This is a scarf pattern I did. It's got a rounded, scalloped edge that's a bit different but still easy to do. It's in garter stitch, so it's a super-easy knit.

I'll post more pictures later, and links to where you can find the patterns as soon as the site is up. I also did a hat, some wrist warmers, and a gift bag.

Right now I'm completely in love with this pattern. It's a top down raglan cardigan that, so far, is so easy and fun to knit I can hardly express how much I'm enjoying it! And since it's top-down, you can get the size right. Take a look at some of her other patterns as well, very nice.

I'm re-using the yarn that I had picked for the perfect sweater. If you remember, that one met its end this spring when I finally realized I'd missed gauge so profusely that my husband and I could probably wear the sweater at the same time. Talk about knitter's denial. What the heck was I thinking? I promise progress pics of that too.

My other big project is another shawl, this one for my mom's sister. It's in a dark blue yarn with flecks of green, and it's the same pattern I used for my mom's, the North Sea Shawl from Folk Knits.

And one final tease... I got my first SP12 package, and it's fantastic. We were out of town, so I actually got it a bit late, andI haven't had time to do pictures yet. She included a skein of cherry tree hill yarn. I love their yarns, and she picked out a very pretty colorway in a sock yarn. That is definitely becoming a pair of socks for yours truly.

Maybe I'm too ambitious?

Good news: I've made more progress on the Perfect Sweater.

Bad news: I'm still stuck in stockinette hell. I knit, knit, knit and still, I've got lots more stockinette to go.

Good news: My husband's socks I'm doing for my tutorial look great.

Bad news: They're a little too big. I measured like I always do, and for some reason, they're still too big. I'm not sure, but I think frogging is in their future.

Good news: I picked up a cool pattern book on crocheted rugs today. We have an old house, so they'd look great. I even have some yarn I'd like to try for them.

Bad news: If I'm having trouble finishing a sweater, how in the world will I finish a rug? My knitting time is limited usually, so that's a big undertaking. I might get one finished by next spring.

I'm also planning on starting a shawl as soon as I order some yarn for one. I'm holding off though till I finish that sweater. Anyone want to bet on whether I get to wear it before it gets warm weather?