sweater

I'm so happy to finally be able to show you my Coraline cardigan, which I have been working on for a good while now, and which waited for a long time in my shelf before I got the right buttons for it (and actually sewed them on!). But here it is now - and I love it!

The pattern is Coraline by Ysolda. I did make quite a lot of modifications, read on for more.

I used Novita Julia, a Finnish wool/acrylic blend which is pretty much my "workhorse" yarn. I've previously used it for my Xylem sweater and a lot of mittens. My needle was a 3,5 mm Knitpics circular (is circular needle plurar or singular, by the way? It sounds weird to say just needle, not needles)

I always miss WIP Wednesdays, so here's my WIP Friday instead!

First my Coraline cardigan, which has actually progressed quite a lot since this photo. It just needs buttons now!

I'm making it with Novita Julia yarn, which is pretty much my staple yarn when it comes to bigger pieces of clothing - it's partly wool, partly acrylic and wears nicely.

I'm also working on another shawl. I'm hoping to make this design my own, but having some trouble with it... this is actually my second try with this yarn and this shawl. Wish me success!

The yarn is handdyed sock yarn (not by me). I don't especially like the colour (anymore), so this shawl -if it's ever finished- is bound to become a present or go to charity.

What are you working on at the moment?

The sad sweater you read about a while back is sad no more - it's done and gorgeous!

Now this is a truly modular sweater. Part top-down, part bottom-up, part both: one sleeve is top-down, one bottom-up and still I had to rip and reknit both cuffs as they were too short (like the hem, too). I'm so proud of myself not giving up on this project; I didn't even want to at any point!

Poor sweater, what have I done to you?

This is a sad story about a top-down raglan sweater, which had an "accident" and has now become a bottom-up raglan sweater. Let me start from the beginning...

A while back I finally started on my husband's sweater. I decided on bulky yarn and a top-down raglan recepie for calculating my own gauge. So I measured my tall and skinny husband, I measured my gauge swatch and started knittting. I made him try the sweater on again and again, and everything seemed just fine. Until the sweater body and one sleeve were finished. That's when I noticed I had made way too many raglan increases - the armpit of the sweater was at least two inches too low, giving the sweater a batwing-kind of sleeve look and loads of extra fabric at the armpit.

I did it! I've knit Owls! Not that that makes me so special - it is currently the most knit sweater pattern on Ravelry , but if you read my blog, you will know that I'm not the big sweater knitter. So every sweater feels like an accomplishment, like having climbed a mountain. In this case, rather small mountain, as this sweater was really quick to knit! And I love it!

Pattern: Owls
Needles: 5,5mm circular, must have been 80 cm long
Yarn: Marks & Kattens Eko Ull, 100% organic wool from New Zealand. I used 380 grams, that's a little less than 8 balls.

Here it is. Finally! I bought the yarn for it in March, and finally I have started knitting my Owls sweater.

Due to my loose hand and Marks&Kattens Eco Ull yarn (lovely organic 100% wool) I'm knitting on 5mm needles instead of 6,5. I'm still working the L size, hoping that my gauge will match the one given! If not I'll need to lose a few pounds!

Oh and the Irish knitters are having an Owls KAL at the moment, so I'm kind of secretly joining them :)

And it's gorgeous! I can't say how pleased I am with it. It was quick and fun knit, fits me great, is soft and light, and well - my first finished sweater! Feel free to congratulate me (hih hih!)

The last picture is the most reliable regarding colour - it's black.

Here's the stats:

Needles: 4mm circulars, 80 cm long. Yarn: Novita Julia, 30% wool, 70% acrylic. I got it on sale - the material costs of this sweater are around 7 euro! Size is Medium, I think. There were some mistakes in the pattern in the beginning, but I was able to figure them out. I then told the designer and she corrected them.

This seems to be a time for firsts. First design, and now an almost finished first sweater. I can't believe I   have not blogged the progress of this prior to this post! I started it some time back, and am using the Xylem pattern.

I will post more photos and the stats once I get it finished - it's still missing finishing around the neck, and serious blocking for the hem.

It's actually black, just looks purplish here!