Jezebel’s Blankie II - Finished!

I finished up Jezebel’s second blanket this past weekend.  Blocking was simple - a soak, a roll in a towel, and then I laid it out on the blocking mats, no pins, just smoothed it out.  It dried in a day, which was nice.  Jezebel approves, taking a long nap on it yesterday afternoon.

Pattern:  None, just a giant swatch

Yarn:  Ewe Ewe Yarns Fluffy Fingering and Magicland Yarn Marvelous Mohair

Needle:  US 6 (4.0 mm)

Jezebel’s Blankie II - About halfway done

I’ve been making pretty good progress on Jezebel’s second blankie, and am about half-way done (based on my usage of the mohair yarn).  This is a pretty mindless knit, even holding two yarns together, and it is an enjoyable knit as well.  Jezebel has already provided her stamp of approval, curling up on it last night.

Pattern:  None, basically a giant stockinette swatch

Yarn:  Ewe Ewe Yarns Fluffy Fingering & Magicland Yarn Marvelous Mohair

Needle:  US 6 (4.0 mm)

Jezebel’s Blankie II - Cast On!

I received the additional skeins of Fluffy Fingering (the purple merino) that I had ordered from Ewe Ewe Yarns last week, so after I finished my Slightly Sassy Rambouillet I cast on the blankie for Jezebel.  This will basically be a giant swatch.  I cast on 100 stitches, and started working in garter stitch.  I thought I might just knit the whole thing in garter stitch, but after knitting several rows I decided it wasn’t as squishy as stockinette, so I switched to working stockinette with a 5 stitch garter stitch border on each side.

Pattern:  None

Yarn:  Ewe Ewe Yarns Fluffy Fingering and Magicland Yarn Marvelous Mohair

Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Copenhagen Cardigan - Finished!

I finished up the knitting this past Saturday, May 2, gave it a good soak Sunday morning and laid it out on my blocking mats.

On Monday I switched it over to my elevated mesh sweater drying rack, which speeds things up, and by Tuesday it was dry.  I snipped the ends and went looking for buttons in my button stash.  I ended up picking vintage Lucite moonglow buttons, from the famous bead hoard that A Grain of Sand has.  I have bought quite a few things from them, they are a wonderful resource for vintage items, as well as semi-precious stones and pearls.  My selection was somewhat limited by the fact that I needed nine buttons!  I had lots of pretty options that were a few buttons shy of that number.  Finally, this morning, I got around to sewing the buttons on.  This task was complicated somewhat by the fuzziness of the sweater.  The button holes are invisible, and can only be found by feel.  The sweater itself is super soft and warm.  My cat Jezebel approves.

Pattern:  Copenhagen Cardigan by PetiteKnit

Yarn:  Ewe Ewe Yarns Fluffy Fingering and Magicland Yarn Marvelous Mohair

Needles:  US 6 (4.0 mm) and US 4 (3.5 mm)

Copenhagen Cardigan - One Sleeve Done!

One sleeve is complete!  I did make a couple of simple modifications to the pattern.  When you split for the sleeves, the pattern has you cast on six stitches for the underarm.  I did this, but when I picked up stitches for the sleeve, I actually picked up ten stitches.  This gives me a roomier sleeve, which I like, and need, given my fairly muscular arms and broad shoulders (for a woman), and also prevents any of those pesky little gaps in the underarm.  Some patterns will tell you to pick up an extra stitch on each side of the cast on stitches and then decrease them away, but this one did not.  So, instead of having 70 stitches for the sleeve, I have 74.  I also did not work any decreases until just before the ribbed cuff, at which point I decreased 20 stitches, so that I would end up with the 54 stitches for the cuff per the size that I was knitting.  I then switched to the US 4 (3.5 mm) needles to work the ribbing.  I worked six rounds of ribbing and then bound off in pattern.

I did order two more skeins of the Ewe Ewe Yarns Fluffy Fingering, and one more skein of the Magicland Yarns Marvelous Mohair, and I am very glad that I did.  I started on the fifth skein of the Fluffy Fingering on this sleeve, and based on the usage rate on my second skein of Marvelous Mohair I will definitely use at least some of the third skein that I bought when I work the second sleeve.  Fortunately the extra Fluffy Fingering that I bought is the same dye lot as the original four skeins.

Pattern:  Copenhagen Cardigan by PetiteKnit

Yarn:  Ewe Ewe Yarns Fluffy Fingering & Magicland Yarns Marvelous Mohair

Needles:  US 4 (3.5 mm) and US 6 (4.0 mm)

Copenhagen Cardigan - Body Done!

With my Saltwind finished, I’ve been focusing on finishing up my Copenhagen Cardigan, binding off the body this morning.  I did not work the Italian bind-off as the pattern called for as I really just didn’t want to do that with mohair.  I also did not go down a needle size for the body ribbing.  I just worked six rows of ribbing on the body needle and bound off in pattern.  I am very happy with how this is coming out.  I like the marled effect, although I have learned that if you carry mohair along with your regular yarn there is no such thing as mindless stockinette.  There are a few stitches where the mohair is not on the correct stitch, or was left off, but only a few.  If I noticed quickly (on the next row, for example) I was able to fix it, but there are a couple that I didn’t notice until way later and there was no way I was dropping stitches down and fixing them with mohair in the mix.  I’ve picked up the stitches for the first sleeve and have started working it.

Pattern:  Copenhagen Cardigan by PetiteKnit

Yarn:  Ewe Ewe Yarns Fluffy Fingering and Magicland Yarn Marvelous Mohair

Needles:  US 6 (4.0 mm) & US 4 (3.5 mm) but only for the collar ribbing

Copenhagen Cardigan - Progress Check

I have also been working on the body of my Copenhagen Cardigan.  I have about 4 inches more to knit before I work the ribbing and then I can work the sleeves.  I went back and double checked yardage requirements and compared that to what I have on hand and decided to go ahead and buy more yarn so I would have it when I need it and wouldn’t have to play yarn chicken.  The fabric is wonderfully soft and warm, and I love the marling effect with the lighter silk-mohair against the darker purple.

Pattern:  Copenhagen Cardigan by PetiteKnit

Yarn:  Ewe Ewe Yarns Fluffy Fingering and Magicland Yarn Marvelous Mohair

Needles:  US 6 (4.0 mm) and US 4 (3.5 mm)

Copenhagen Cardigan - Raglan Increases Done!

I finished up the raglan increases this morning and have set up for working the body.  When I finished the last row of the raglan portion I counted the stitches in each of my sections and was very pleased when there were all correct.  When I’m working so many rows of increases I always worry a little about forgetting one (or more) and ending up with the wrong stitch counts.  Last night I draped it around my shoulders just to see how it was fitting and it is so warm and soft.  It is going to be a very cozy cardigan.  I only have 4 balls of the purple yarn, and I’m already into my second ball, so I am a little worried about running out of yarn.  When I get to the end of this ball I’m going to work the sleeves, and then I can determine if I’m going to need another ball.  Given that I’m carrying the mohair along with the purple I’m not too concerned about possibly getting a different dye lot.  Marling can hid a multitude of sins.

Pattern:  Copenhagen Cardigan by PetiteKnit

Yarn:  Ewe Ewe Yarns Fluffy Fingering and Magicland Yarn Marvelous Mohair

Needles:  US 4 (3.5 mm) and US 6 (4.0 mm)

Copenhagen Cardigan - Making Progress!

Lest you think my Copenhagen Cardigan is being completely neglected, it hasn’t been, at least not completely.  I’ve been working through all the raglan increases, and I have a dozen more rows to go before I can split things and just work the body.  So, it is kind of slow going at this point as the rows are getting pretty long.  Once I get the ribbing done on the Lupine Saltwind and get in to the cabling, this project should see more love as it will be my TV knitting.

Pattern:  Copenhagen Cardigan by PetiteKnit

Yarn:  Ewe Ewe Yarns Fluffy Fingering & Magicland Yarn Marvelous Mohair

Needles:  US 4 (3.5 mm) and US 6 (4.0 mm)

Copenhagen Cardigan - Cast On!

Truthfully, I cast this on back on January 13, but I put it away in a plastic box while I finished up the Seascair Blanket and Pillows, and the Hedgerow Shawl, and started working on the Bunny Wishes Sweater.  This project came about because Ewe Ewe Yarns was having a knit along.  The pattern was the Love Note pullover by Tin Can Knits, and the yarn was Ewe Ewe Yarns Fluffy Fingering and Magicland Yarns Marvelous Mohair, held together, and the colors…well, they were my favorite colors.  So I leaped without looking too closely, only to realize once I started really looking at the pattern that it was one of those where you knit at a loose gauge, and I am not a fan.  But I loved the yarn, so I went looking for a pattern that would match my gauge, and found the Copenhagen Cardigan by PetiteKnit.  It is a basic cardigan, knit top down, and I thought it would be really nice as a fuzzy purple/pink confection.  I quickly knit the collar, and then set it aside when I got to the short row shaping for the neck.  I did set the pattern up in my knitCompanion, so I was all ready to pick it back up again when the opportunity arose, and the opportunity arose when I got to the patterned hem on the Bunny Wishes Sweater.  I wanted something that would not require quite as much attention - more TV watching knitting, as opposed to TV listening knitting.  Yesterday morning I pulled it back out and made it through the short row shaping for the neck.

I’m still in love with the colors and the yarn.  I was never a fan of mohair before, but I like holding it with another non-fuzzy yarn.  I even learned how to set up linked counters in knitCompanion (not hard, just never had done it before) to remind me when to work the button holes.

Pattern:  Copenhagen Cardigan by PetiteKnits

Yarn:  Ewe Ewe Yarns Fluffy Fingering and Magicland Yarns Marvelous Mohair

Needles:  US 4 (3.5 mm) and US 6 (4.0 mm)