Finished! - Carefree Blue

I'm proud to announce that I perservered and finished my Carefree Blue pullover.

It turned out pretty neat, so much so that now I'm not quite sure why I wanted to destroy it in the first place.  Must've been a case of almostdoneitis.

Let me explain.  Very often (about 95% of the time), when I'm about three quarters through a knit, I suddenly get a feeling that whatever I'm working on at the moment is awful, is not going to fit and generally sucks on all fronts.  It's a very strong feeling too, a source of genuine frustration and unhappiness.  I always knit on, if only because it would be a shame to just rip all this work and in the end everything turns out to be just fine.  The garment fits and is just what I had planned it to be, frustration becomes satisfaction.

Do you ever get that, or is it just me?

Anyway, Carefree Blue survived almostdoneitis intact.  What do you think?

It's very warm (not necessarily an advantage now in June but I'll sure as hell appreciate it in November) and comfy, with really nice balance between attractive waist shaping and diplomatic positive ease.  I can already tell that it's gonna be one of my favourites for a while :)

It's almost all twisted stockinette, with matching accents in garter stitch on sleeves and hem.  I prefer continental knitting and my favourite technique automatically twists stitches when working in the round.  I can correct this if I want to, but in the case of Carefree Blue I kind of liked the effect, so twisted the stitches remained.

PATTERN:

My own improvisation :)

Bonus:  one of my chickens, Hades, watching the photo shoot.  Despite masculine name, it's a girl and it is a special day in her life:  today she laid her first egg ever!

More finished objects coming soon.

To rip or not to rip - that is the question

As you can see from the picture below, my blue raglan pullover is coming along nicely.

I'm improvising all the way, discovering things in the process.  For example:  NOT taking notes when making up a pattern can feel extra liberating.  With my last couple of knits, I had been meticulously charting up each stitch and it's cool to go with the flow for a change.

Another thing I discovered is not so joyful, because it endangers the very existence of my Carefree Blue*.  I should've used larger needles.  3.5 mm is too skinny for DK yarn, goddamnit.  At the beginning of work I couldn't make my mind up whether the emerging fabric is too stiff or not and now, when I'm sure that it is, I'm almost done.

To rip or not to rip?  Early findings suggest that body of the pullover will probably pass muster, but fit around the chest is little funny.  Can I live with little funny?  More important:  can I live with ripping up almost three weeks' worth of work?  Actually, spread out on grass, Carefree Blue looks rather nice.  Maybe the photo shoot saved the knit...

Destiny of Carefree Blue remains to be decided, in the meantime let me show you a neat trick I also discovered recently:

Weed whacker line is a great stitch holder!

* I'm probably not great in making up romantic/funky/cool-sounding pattern names.  Oops.

What's in the works? Wednesday update

I've been showering you with finished objects for a while, it's time to report on what's cooking right now.  I still have a shelf full of old creations, but they will have to wait their turn.

I hate having more than one WIP.  If something is hanging on my needles, I simply won't start another piece because I know that enthusiasm for new knit will turn working on the old one into a chore.  Having said that, I currently have two projects going on *:)*:  one not quite finished, one not yet begun.

Negativium is my own design.  It's a warm weather top, knitted with pure cotton yarn and I only hope that Irish summer this year will let me wear it once in a while.  If, that is, it fits - strange things can happen if you are careless when calculating your gauge.  Initial observations seem to point in the 'too tight' direction, but cotton is very forgiving on that score.  Keep your fingers crossed with me.

Negativium is stretched out for blocking now (who needs a blocking mat if you have carpet?) and it's drying sooooo slowly.  It needs a few more finishing touches before being officially declared complete, but as I can't progress with it right now, I started plotting a new design.

Top down raglan sweaters seem to be all the rage these days, but I haven't tried this technique before.  I had been reluctant to join the crowd - following fashions is NOT my thing - but I've seen too many smashing projects knitted this way to just let it go.  Plus, I feel like learning a new trick.

I have my yarn (isn't this the most glorious shade of blue?  It is, but you can't really tell from the picture, because my camera is a damn liar.  Sigh...) and I'm swatching for gauge now.  I expect to start knitting pullover  proper this evening, designing my own pattern with this and this tutorial for guidelines.  I plan for a very simple yoke and perhaps a few frills lower down, but we'll see how it goes.  Wish me luck!

What's happening in your workshop these days?