Crimson Lake - Finished

I actually finished the second sleeve just after the New Year, but didn't bother posting about it.  I finally got around to sewing it in to the body today.  We took the day off because of the snow that was being called for so I decided it was high time I finished this one.  Besides, I picked up yarn for two more pullovers of this same pattern at the post office this morning.  Because I tend to knit in the round I set sleeves the same way I would for fabric tops.  Turn the body inside out, put the sleeve inside so that the right sides are together, pin around the edges and start sewing.  I try to leave a long enough tail on the sleeve to use for doing the sewing so I minimize the number of tails I have to weave in at the end.  I also did short row shaping on the shoulders and a three needle bind off.  In knitting, as in sewing, it is these finishing details that really help give the final product a more polished appearance.

Pattern:  Ladies Sweater - 1838 from Moments No. 005
Yarn:  SMC Select Extra Soft Merino Fino
Needles:  US 2.5 (3.0 mm) and US 3 (3.25 mm)

Crimson Lake - One Sleeve Done

There is one disadvantage in knitting sleeves in the round - blocking them.  Usually I block them flat, but I decided to try an experiment with this sleeve and block it around two rolls of paper towels, safely encased in plastic bags.  It certainly opens up the lace, hopefully not too much.  Of course, if this doesn't work out I can always re-block the sleeve flat.

I don't know why the first sleeve always takes me so long to complete.  I finished the body on November 29.  The same thing happened on Goldenrod, although I think it only took me two weeks to finish the first sleeve, instead of nearer a month.  I finally got to the upper sleeve shaping last night.  I took most of yesterday off from working on projects around the house, resuming today with cataloging my stash in Ravelry.  I had it all cataloged, but somehow it keeps growing and had started spreading around the house in clusters of yarny goodness.  Almost all of it is boxed up now in plastic boxes, safe from evil bugs, there are just a few stragglers that I will probably take care of tomorrow.


Pattern:  Ladies Sweater - 1838 from Moments No. 005
Yarn:  SMC Select Extra Soft Merino Fino
Needles:  US 2.5 (3.0 mm) and US 3 (3.25 mm)

Crimson Lake - Body Done!

I have been working pretty steadily on this sweater and finished up the armhole and shoulder shaping Wednesday night.  I blocked it prior to picking up stitches for the ribbing around the neck opening.  I have already started a sleeve.  Knitting this sweater a second time has allowed me to write my notes up a little more thoroughly.  I always make notes while I'm working a project, but I don't usually write them that clearly and they aren't always easy to interpret a second time around.  This time I actually took the time to put them on my Ravelry project page, usually they are only kept on Post-It note pad sheets and stuck on pattern pages or in pattern books.

Pattern:  Ladies Sweater - 1838 from Moments No. 005
Yarn:  SMC Select Extra Soft Merino Fino
Needles:  US 2.5 (3.0 mm) and US 3 (3.25 mm)

Crimson Lake - Cast On

The photo does not do justice to the rich red color of this yarn.  I was originally going to call this sweater Scarlet, but that color just didn't seem rich enough.  Years ago I had a red color pencil in my collection and the color name on the side of the pencil was Crimson Lake.  It was a wonderful red.  A college friend of mine even wrote a poem about that color, which she wrote out in beautiful calligraphy.  We were into calligraphy back then, and Dungeons and Dragons.  I know that this violates my monogamous knitting habit that I have been practicing, but I really needed some simple knitting to put in my work bag, which has not had any knitting in it since I finished the body of Goldenrod.  I knew that I would be doing some document reading this week, and I really find that document reading goes so much better if I have some mindless knitting in my hands.

This is the same design as Goldenrod.

Pattern:  Ladies Sweater - 1838 from Moments No. 005
Yarn:  SMC Select Extra Soft Merino Fino
Needles:  US 2.5 (3.0 mm) and US 3 (3.25 mm)