I've been productive

Although I have been silent, I have been productive. Very productive. In fact, I have two sweaters to show you!
The first is from Cecily Glowick and labeled in Cast On Magazine in the Nov 2007-Jan 2008 issue as the Irresistable Sweater, but on Ravelry is listed as Cable and Lace Pullover. No matter what it is called, the sweater is fantastic. It was a super quick knit, too! I worked this one up in 15 days. 15! I used a yarn, Jo Sharp Silk Road Ultra (mmmm...merino silky goodness. I am obsessed with this combo), that knit up to a larger gauge and didn't want to drop needle sizes and sacrifice the fabric quality, so I did a little math (yes, me and math -- who woulda thunk it?) and knit the smallest size in the round, eliminating the stitches allowed by the pattern for seaming. As I always do, I also added a few inches in the body for length. The only other alteration I made was to drop to an even lower needle size for the final few rows of the neckline to bring it in more, as I am still contemplating the addition of buttons. Without, I can still wear the sweater very comfortably (with a top underneath, which is a given anyway, considering the openness of the lace in the body. I'm not that daring, nor would anyone want me to be! I do wish I had made the body a tad less fitting, but am going to block it a bit more aggressively with the next washing. Or do some sit-ups.


The other sweater, also knit in an insanely short amount of time (for me, anyway) being done in just 20 days, was the ever popular Drops Jacket #103-1. I have worn this non-stop since I have knit it as my fall jacket, as it has been cool, but not cold, here in the northeast thus far this fall. I pushed this up in the queue, even tho I have swatched (and shopped) for a few other sweaters, as I really, really wanted to get to wear it for the fall. Taking the lead from my lovely friend Jackie, I worked this one up in a lovely red Lopi purchased at the JCA Warehouse sale (I got the Silkroad here, too) for pennies on the skein. I think the whole sweater cost me about $12, before buttons. This sweater had no business fitting me at all, frankly, as I was a very naughty knitter and didn't swatch a bit with a yarn I knew would not get gauge. I knew Jackie had come in between the worsted gauge and the bulky gauge for her jacket, and blocked pretty aggressively, so I went up a needle size and knit a bigger size in the pattern (Jackie and I have somewhat similar size requirements up top, although I'm sure my butt would eclipse hers!), figureing if it was too big, I could felt it down a bit -- not a bad thing for a jacket. Well, no need. The darn thing fits me freakishly well. The pictures are terrible, but I did once again add length and stuck with the 3/4 length sleeves, as that is part of the styling I fell for in the original. I picked up buttons for the sweater from Jenny the Potter while at Rhinebeck and they are just perfect. (She was a doll, too!) I finally got the hang of seaming, I do believe, and I was glad to try it out on this project (although I did knit the sleeves in the round, to make them go along quicker) and I am glad for it. I have Jaali in my immediate queue and really want the seams on that one to look just right.


I think that is all for today, but i have so many more things to tell you! I may space them out over the next few days, but no promises. :)