Update on the 30 Day Sweater

Obviously I'm running a bit behind. I could give you a whole series of excuses, but that would be tedious and boring. I will only say that there was a wedding of sorts, and then a couple of holidays, and life just happened. When life gets chaotic, I crave stockinette, in-the-round, gauge-free, don't-make-me-think projects.  

So, I am nowhere close to finished with this sweater, but I've learned a lot and I'm not giving up. If you can remember all the way back to October, you will know that I decided to knit the Lollipop Cardigan by Vera Sanon using Milky Way in colorway Nimbus. 

I was pretty concerned about the shoulders, that was a completely new thing for me, but look how nicely they're coming out!

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Through some clever construction techniques, I get the look of set in shoulders without needing to do all that seaming. As an added bonus, once I get to the point where I can separate my sleeves from the body, I should be able to try it on. 

I've worked enough rows of the beading and lace to feel pretty comfortable with all the stitches. I still don't consider this a travel project, but once the beading is done I might be willing to reconsider. 

Do you have any projects  you're dying to finish, but just can't seem to find the time? 

17 Days In

The great thing about being on the road, and having a co-pilot that loves to drive, is that I have been getting lots of knit time in. The rough side is, a lot of the driving is after dark. The other night we were driving into Southern Pines, NC, and we were about an hour and a half away when my yarn came out in one of those infamous knots from the center of the ball.

I worked away on it for a bit, following all my rules about dealing with knots. When I got to what I thought was just one loop slipped through another and I would be free to knit again, I broke my rule of never pulling, because I was certain that was the solution. And boy, was I wrong. I turned what should have been an easy fix into a problem that would require a lot more light than what I could glean from the passing street lamps, and most likely some pins. Unless I wanted to break my yarn, which I really didn't, I would not be able to knit for the remainder of the drive. Believe me, I seriously thought about breaking my yarn.

The next morning, after we set up for the trunk show at Bella Filati and the first wave of knitters came through, I asked Holly if she had any pins or needles I could borrow for my knot. 

I believe I held my breath the whole time. 

Since then, we have had a lot more time on the road, and the body of my sweater is trekking along. I was starting to get excited that I might just finish this one time, especially with the long flight we have today. But then I remembered two sleeves are basically the same amount of knitting as the body, and when I finish the body I won't actually be done with it, since the collar is a large portion of the actual sweater. Fingers crossed, I learn how to bend the space time continuum...

Week Two: Jasper Diamond Hoodie

Like the sleeves of the Jasper Diamond Hoodie, the hood is worked flat. Kristen Rengren, the designer, recommends moving up a needle size to knit the hood. However, I am a very tight knitter and prefer my projects to look as though they were knit by a machine rather than a human being. Therefore, I stuck with the pair of U.S. Size 4 needles, and combined a third strand of yarn -- Anzula Breeze -- to ensure the hood would be the correct size and shape.

One skein of Breeze in the colorway Hyacinth wound into one center-pull ball. 

I am really pleased with the texture and subtle color changes of Breeze and Haiku knit together. 

Breeze is a blend of 65 percent silk and 35 percent linen, it will, more often than not, appear more muted in color after being dyed. Whereas, Haiku -- 70 percent Superwash Merino, 20 percent Bamboo, 10 percent Nylon -- will appear much more vivid in color.

Progress: Hood knit and grafted. 

The hood is shaped using short rows and grafted together using the Kitchener Stitch. If you are new to the Kitchener Stitch, as I was, you may want to check out the WEBS YouTube video tutorial 'How to Kitchener Stitch.'

Thanks for reading.

Sincerely,

The Girl Who Labels