Just in time for FO Friday, I have completed my gray Turtle Dove II sweater!
It’s lovely and warm and cozy, though the neck does itch me a little. I did learn several things that I will use if I make another one: make it longer! I had almost a full skein of yarn left, so I easily could have added a couple of inches to the body. I’d also make the arms longer. I tried it on before binding off and thought they were long enough but as I wore it today, the sleeves rode up. I had already added 1 1/2” to each sleeve; I’d like another inch. But I’m going to block it and see if I can stretch things out a bit. Still, it was a simple, quick pattern and made a very attractive sweater. I even got a compliment from my very style-conscious boss so I’m calling this a win!
The last two weeks have been all about the Australian Open, at least during my non-working hours. Tennis needs simple knitting so first I finished the garter stitch sections for my Scottish Highlands shawl (designer’s website), then I focused on my Turtle Dove II (free on Rav).
The shawl is ready for an intricate lace border now, in that pale cream color, and it’s charted and has multiple charts for each row, and that means I really need to focus when I work on that. But the Turtle Dove is ready for its split hem ribbing now!! I’ve even tried it on (which was an adventure because my needles weren’t quite long enough and stitches were falling off left and right) and confirmed the length is good. I have one more match left — the men’s final — and I’m hoping it lasts long enough that I at least get one side of ribbing completed. Must wind more yarn first, though!
As excited as I am for my sweater, I’m equally ready to get back to some of my other WIPs. Not just the lace for the shawl, but also my fun Curiosity Cowl (only found it on Rav). I’d made good progress before the tennis started, but I’m still not ready to join in the round. Once I do, it’s going to ZOOM. I also recently ordered a copy of 52 Weeks of Easy Knits and there are at least three patterns in there calling my name, but I’m resisting any and all cast-on urges until I complete another project or two.
I was quite proud of myself yesterday: the husband and I went out to a couple of bookstores and we were VERY CLOSE to my favorite LYS … and I DID NOT GO. I was very tempted, but not for any good reason — just because I knew there would be pretty yarn and I like pretty yarn. But I resisted, whew!
I’ve also decided I’m going to try a new strategy to control my yarn spending when we travel: like most knitters (I’m guessing), I have a queue of projects I would like to knit. I do not have the appropriate yarn for all of those projects. So I’m going to make a list of said projects that details the yarn requirements, and then when I’m out and about and happen to be in a yarn store where I want my arms to be full of yarn, I can at least buy intentionally for things I know I want to make. Yes, I will still buy yarn just because it’s pretty. But if I could end up with more yarn destined for projects and fewer single skeins of fancy fingering weight yarn, I think that would be a good thing. I think our first trip is in April, when we’ll go visit the girl, so I have time to get my list prepped.
No, the sweater’s not called Sunday, though I think there is a sweater pattern called the Sunday Sweater. I’m just working on it on Sunday. I decided yesterday I was ready to start my Turtle Dove II. As you remember, I was pondering whether to knit the gray first or the teal, and I went with gray since it will be such a nice backdrop for all my purple shawls. I wound the first skein, gathered up all the needles, and prepared to swatch.
That’s a good swatch, right? Yes, since it starts with the neck, and is designed to fit loosely, I threw caution to the wind and just cast on! The pattern says to go down two needle sizes for the turtleneck, but based on advice from a friend who’s made a couple I went down just one. This morning, I put it on waste yarn so I could check gauge of the stockinette section and, more importantly, check the fit of the neck. I don’t want it TOO snug.
Results were mixed: my gauge is good, but the neck was a tad more snug than I’d like. Because I want to love this sweater and wear it all the time, I’m going to frog and start over, going up one more needle size for the neck. And see, this worked out well, because a gauge swatch never would have told me how I felt about the neck size, so doing it this way killed two birds with one stone! And it’s Aran weight yarn that knits up quickly, so I’m not losing much in the way of time.
Disclaimer: I do normally swatch for sweaters! Swatching is good and important. Except when you get better data just by casting on.
I pulled out my mosaic knitting Mix Tape Cowl the other night, and I think I was rewatching the Great Pottery Throwdown while I was knitting. The pattern is cool in that it gives you like 16 different stitch patterns that you can choose from for each stripe. I’d chosen number 3 for the first, and 13 for the second. I got to the last mosaic row and realized it didn’t look like the picture. I checked my pattern, which I had displayed on my iPad, and it was showing the instructions for 3, not 13. Somewhere in there I’d gotten things moved around, so apparently I just invented my own stitch pattern.
I briefly — very briefly — thought about ripping back, but decided it definitely wasn’t worth the bother. Nobody but me would ever know, and it looks fine. Still, I do hope I can do the rest of the stripes correctly!
I also recently got yarn for another new project. I got a bit of money for Christmas and decided to get a sweater quantity to make a Turtle Dove II sweater (the pattern is free on Rav). I found a fantastic sale on Cascade Aereo that allowed me to get TWO sweater quantities and I can’t decide which to do first.
I’ll wear the heck out of the gray one, but the teal one will be more fun to knit. Which would you knit first?
bonnyknits 