In my previous post about this sweater, I mentioned some of the modifications I’ve made to the pattern. Another mod I made besides those already detailed is that I decreased the sleeves to 32 sts, instead of 28 as directed. Then I added that little loopy at the back of the neck with i-cord that you can see in the last two pictures. Don’t ask how I did it, because I don’t think I could replicate it if I tried.* Also, when I finished the pockets, I put the stitches from threads onto a needle, but didn’t bind off right away; I knit three more ridges then bound off. The pockets are nice and deep.

*Essentially what I did: I marked the center back stitch, and when I got that point in the i-cording I stopped attaching it and knit the i-cord for about 10 rounds. Then I flipped it around and attached it again (this is the part I cannot replicate) and continued i-cording as before. When I was weaving in my ends, I tacked the loopy down so that it would stay in place.

The sweater is big on Maggie. I hope it doesn’t look too big, my goal was that it would fit now and fit next year (and fingers crossed, the year after). Seeing as she has nearly outgrown the jeans that I bought her in August, I won’t hold my breath. This Tomten has room for growing, but please don’t grow too quickly, mkay?

Tomten project page on Ravelry

So that’s the Tomten! It was exactly the knitting project I needed after knitting all those socks a few weeks ago. But now I must face the music and get started on all those Christmas ideas I have. Balls anyone?

Pattern: LAUREL by Jared Flood, in his new pattern book Made in Brooklyn.
Yarn: Ultra Alpaca, color 6275, 1 skein.
My project on Ravelry.

My mother-in-law, upon seeing me model it yesterday, said it is the best hat that was ever on my head. I agree.

The fit is perfect. In the book, the hat is modeled as a beret. Since I have a big head I decided to not block it over a plate and keep the beanie shape. The only modification I made was to knit the ribbing at the beginning for about 1.75″ instead of 1″ as it says in the pattern.

Jared (no, we are not on a first name basis, I just pretend that we are) is probably my favorite designer out there. The thing I love about his new book is that all his patterns are so knittable and wearable. With the exception of the large square lace shawl (I love it but probably would never knit it) I think I want to knit all the projects  in the book. Everything I have always loved about brooklyntweed all gathered up in a beautiful collection. I hope we see more pattern books from him!

Next? Matching mittens!

It’s a miracle, but this hat is making me feel stylish! I’ll be a ragamuffin no more!

It all happened so quick I barely remember the details. I didn’t enter the project in Ravelry (until just now). I didn’t write down my color numbers. I think I used a size 3 needle but maybe it was a 4. It was as if I went away for a few days and came back with a little shawl but couldn’t remember how I got the little shawl.

Here’s what I know. Noro was on sale at the yarn shop and I have wanted to knit this little (but pricey) Silk Kerchief from Zeitgeist Yarns for a long time. So I got the yarn on sale, but I was in the middle of Jerry’s Stripey Sweater. Although I usually don’t give myself rules like “finish such-and-such before you start so-and-so;” I did this time. I made myself finish Jerry’s sweater and then very soon after (mere minutes) I cast on for this bitty shawl.

And then Lisa and I were knitting it as a 2-person knitalong but because I went on the bender I finished weeks ago and she’s just now getting to the bind off. The garter stitch messes with my head in the best way and I love it so much.

If I could only ever knit garter stitch, I think I might be okay with that. In fact, that’s definitely part of my manifesto. If all the other stitches in the world were outlawed and garter stitch were the only thing we could knit, I’d be pretty happy. I love the challenge of knitting, but sometimes the simplest things can be awfully rewarding. Even if you can’t quite remember how you got to the end.

Boy Sweater, August 2006

Pirate Sweater, January 2007

Wallasaurus, February-March 2007

Wallaby Meets Vest, June 2007

Skull Cable Vest (he never wore it), November 2007

And, the sixth:

Striped Kid Sweater, July 2009

I’m feeling a fair amount of nostalgia looking back over these pictures. Jerry has grown up so much and it has happened in the blink of an eye. The sweaters are getting bigger and they take longer to knit, and I really can’t believe I have a 7 year old boy getting ready for second grade.

The pattern: Seamless Shirt-Yoke Sweater by Elizabeth Zimmermann from Knitting Without Tears. Ravelry lists this pattern as being from Knitting Workshop, but I used KWT, where it briefly appears.

The yarn: Brown Sheep Nature Spun Sport. I have the urge to go buy tons and tons of this yarn. Knitting with it makes me want to only knit with it forever and ever (brief dalliances with yarns like Noro or Ultra Alpaca are expected, naturally). Unfortunately, due to low demand, my LYS has stopped stocking this yarn. I’m going to open a yarn store that stocks ONLY sport weight, woolen spun wool in a dizzying range of colors.

The gauge: 6 sts per inch. On a US 4 needle. The fabric is light – surprisingly light – for such a big sweater.

The pricetag: The whole sweater weighs 238 grams; less than 5 balls of yarn. At $3.50 per ball, you do the math. The cost of making this sweater is damn cheap, and the result is much nicer than anything you’d find in a store (the knitter says, humbly).

More pictures?

]]> http://www.myzigzagstitch.com/2009/07/26/my-boy/feed/ 10 http://www.myzigzagstitch.com/2009/04/30/everything-in-its-right-place/ http://www.myzigzagstitch.com/2009/04/30/everything-in-its-right-place/#comments Thu, 30 Apr 2009 20:41:44 +0000 Mandy http://www.myzigzagstitch.com/?p=552 I love this new sweater.

I’m calling it done even though it’s not quite. I have one underarm to graft and a few ends to weave in and then blocking. I made it lickety-split. I swatched then cast on on Sunday afternoon.

Kid sweaters usually come together lickety-split; that’s probably why I knit so many of them.

This sweater doesn’t belong to me. I made it for a class I’m teaching at my LYS (“Custom-sized Pullover for your Kid” is the name of the class). The striped raglan will live at Gate City Yarns for a while, but maybe if I make them another sample, they’ll give this one back to me after a while.

The yarn is O-Wool Balance (organic, how fancy) and it was really, really nice to work with. I am in spazzy love with it. The blend is 50 Merino/ 50 Cotton and it has all this lovely tweediness that I think gives the sweater such charachter.

Can you guess the pattern? Of course, it’s EZ, but I used a Spun-Out design called A Family of Raglans (SO45/WG69 on Rav). I have Zimmermann raglan patterns in the books, but this – a single page leaflet available for $1 from Schoolhouse Press – is a pattern chock full of new-to-me information. Worth $1? Damn straight.

baby got back

There are short rows hidden in there to make the back longer than the front. I’m terrible at knitting short rows, and if I showed you a better picture you might see how unsightly they are on the yoke. This bothers me only slightly, thank goodness, because what’s really important here is that it’s a highly serviceable sweater.

Cute, no?

Some basic notes on the design:

• I used a smaller needle on 100% of the stitches for the edges. It really doesn’t get any easier than that.
• The decreases at the raglan lines were suggested in the pattern: Dec rnd: K2tog, p1, ssk. Plain rnd: knit. I’d never used it before and I like it a lot.
• Um, that’s it. It was a really easy sweater.

Now all that’s left is that other underarm, and blocking! And then I say goodbye to this sweet striped raglan for a long, long time…