Tuesday, January 10, 2006

sweater, take 4

I've embarked on yet another sweater project. This will be the fourth sweater that I'm knitting for myself, and perhaps I'll wear this one, although I'm not banking on it.

Sweater #1 I knit two winters ago. I bought the yarn in Chicago in December 2003, I think, and finished the sweater while it was still vaguely chilly out, maybe. It's a great tweed yarn, bulky (the sweater's knit on 11s) with dropped shoulders. I think I was kinda sorta using a pattern in Hip to Knit. My seams are awful and I never wear the sweater. If I fixed the seams, I might wear it. And maybe took an inch or two out of the width, which is a little more problematic.

Sweater #2 is an acrylic blend, bulky yarn with one black ply and one brown. My shaping was off, the seams, again, less than stellar, and the bottom rolls. I don't wear it. I plan to frog it one of these days.

Sweater #3 is Berella Polar, and I've written about it here. The raglan shaping at the top makes it look wonky, and I think I should've gone up a needle size and regauged, because the fabric just doesn't feel right, plus . Or perhaps I should stop trying to use acrylic blends. This one, too, will likely be ripped up and recycled into hats or some such.

So, this new sweater has some lessons learned behind it:

1. I'm using a worsted weight, 100% wool yarn (Cherry Tree Hill potluck yarn in blues, greens, and purples, kinda like this.
2. I made a real, live, 4" gauge swatch. In fact, I made 1 1/2, 'cause I started on 8s and bumped down to 7s.
3. I'm creating a pattern from the Ann Budd Book of Sweater Patterns, but I'm doing all of the measurements extra-carefully, and basing them off of pre-existing sweaters that I like and wear.
4. I'm knitting a cardigan, because I'm more likely to wear it, especially since it's a variegated yarn and I think it needs something solid to offset it.

I'm doing seed stitch bands on the edges, 1 1/2" on the bottom and it had better not roll; crew neck; raglan shaping, although I might change my mind by the time I get to the top part; simple sleeves without bells or any other madness; no body shaping. We'll see what happens.

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