Burgundy Pullover - Finished!

I finished up the second sleeve yesterday afternoon.  I really liked working the sleeves from the top down.  I did make one slight modification to the lace pattern - I switch the s1k2psso to a Central Double Decrease or s2k1psso.  I figured that would help make the lace not quite so obviously directional and I think it worked.  I have enough yarn in a dark blue to make one more of these pullovers.  There are currently 5 projects for this pattern on Ravelry, and I've done 4 of them.

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)

Burgundy Pullover - One Sleeve Done

I finished up the first sleeve last night, which is good, because it is pretty boring knitting, but I can't read while I'm doing it.  I'm happy to say that the chart that I worked out for the short row shaping was perfect.  Now on to the second sleeve.  I'm really trying to finish up some projects so I can start some new ones.  There are so many things that I want to knit, but I don't want to have a whole bunch of works in progress.

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)

Burgundy Pullover - Body Done

I also took this project along to work on during the Match Ceremony.  It was a pretty cool ceremony.  They pulled the envelopes at random from a pillow case and at noon, once everyone had their envelopes, they all opened them at once.


I'm working the sleeves top down, so I picked up my stitches around the arm hole edge, figured out the stitch count, which worked out to 72 stitches or 9 repeats of the lace pattern, and charted up the lace for all of the short rows.

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)

Burgundy Pullover - Shaping Done

We ran a couple of errands this morning, including mailing off my two test knits to Laura so they could get their pictures taken, and then settled down after lunch to watch "Boyhood", which is almost 3 hours long, so I worked on my Burgundy Pullover.  It is perfect mindless knitting for watching a good movie or reading a good book.  I'm on my third ball of yarn and have finished up the side shaping and am only 27 rows away from splitting for the front and the back.  For this pattern I put the round marker in the middle of the back.  This makes the side shaping come out better because you don't have the jog.

I did find a project in my latest Bead & Button magazine that I want to make, but it uses a lot of different colors of beads and I need to figure out my color scheme.  I'm hoping that I can use stash beads - I like to do that when I can, it provides a fun challenge.  So far I have avoided the house work, well unless you count laundry, which I really don't because you just throw it in the machine and walk away.

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)

Burgundy Pullover

After finishing up my Primula Adiri I started working on modifying a bottom up raglan cardigan to a top-down raglan cardigan.  I also agreed to do two test knits.  I didn't really want to start knitting on the raglan while I was working on test knits so last Wednesday I cast on another of my pullovers.  This is the fourth copy that I have made of this pattern (Goldenrod, Crimson Lake and Lilac are the other three).  I wanted something that was dead simple and that I could pick up and put down without worries.  On this one I will knit the set in sleeves top down.  I'm really looking forward to that.

I am half way through one of the test knits that I am working on and agreed to another test knit, bringing my total to three, but I don't have the yarn for the other two yet.  Last Saturday morning I prepared all of the clues for Snow Queen, as well as the stitch key.  It was very satisfying.  I am really enjoying the test knitting and tech editing.

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)

Lilac Pullover - Finished!

This morning I sewed the sleeves to the body.  It is the only bit of finishing that I have to do on this pullover as everything is knit in the round.  Maybe on the next one I'll try knitting the sleeves from the top down.  I've been toying with the idea for the last two pullovers.  I've only done top down set in sleeves a few times, but I really like how they come out - when they are done correctly.  The only reason I haven't done that on this top is the lace patterning on the sleeve.

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)

Lilac Pullover - Second Sleeve Done

Look, it's a lace bolster!  Actually, of course, it is the second sleeve of my Lilac Pullover.  This set up works great to block lace sleeves knit in the round.  It is almost dry. It was just a little bit damp on the underside, so I rolled it over. 

I picked this up again on New Year's Eve to knit while we watched a couple of movies.  We started out with Galaxy Quest, which we both love and think is a great homage to the genre, and finished out the old year with This Island Earth.  This is an unusual film from 1955.  The aliens recruit scientists by sending them a catalog with all sorts of cool parts that enables them to build a communicator.  What a great recruitment technique.  Two scientists, one of whom is a woman, end up going to the alien planet, which is in the process of being destroyed in an interplanetary war.  There is the usual bit about the aliens wanting to come live on Earth, peacefully, if possible, but if not...well, there are ways of making us compliant.  There is also the requisite alien monster - called a mutant - genetically engineered to be a worker.  The aliens all die, but our intrepid scientists survive and return to Earth with the help of the last surviving alien, a fellow scientist who does not believe in conquest.  Not your typical 1950s sci fi movie plot line.

I'll get the sweater assembled this weekend.


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)

Lilac Pullover - Body and One Sleeve Done

Whenever I go on trips I agonize over what knitting projects to bring.  I can't bring everything so I have to choose carefully.  In the end I brought this project, and enough yarn to make another one, just in case.  I finished the body on the drive and one sleeve while I was there and started the second sleeve.  I'm about a third of the way done with the second sleeve.  I use a bolster made of paper towel rolls wrapped in plastic bags (from yarn shipments, of course) to block the sleeves.

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)

Lilac Pullover - Making Progress

I'm almost up to the underarm on my Lilac Pullover.  It goes quickly, even with the lighter weight yarn, and I can knit while reading (Book 4 of the Game of Thrones series), or while watching movies (Edge of Tomorrow and Maleficent).  The migraine lasted through last week as well, but was manageable with some Excedrin Migraine and avoiding fluorescent lights as much as possible.  At least I was able to work the whole week, and by Friday it seemed to finally be going away.

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)

Lilac Pullover

After a week of not knitting I was so desperate that I cast on a simple pullover.  This is the third one of this design that I have knitted (Crimson Lake and Goldenrod are the other two), and I have yarn for two more.  It is a classic, elegant design and is great to wear to work.  It is nice to have some simple mindless knitting right now.

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)

Twisted Rib Pullover II - Finished

I didn't get very much knitting done during my Bead & Button trip, but I did manage to finish this sweater, just in time for summer.  I only had 15 rows left to do on the second sleeve, and some ends to weave in, so it was pretty quick.  Now back to my Wind in the Willows shawl.  I've come up with an additional chart to use up more of my yarn, and I really need to finish it before I start anything else.

Pattern:  Design 1835 from Moments No. 005
Yarn:  SMC Select Extra Soft Merino Fino in Malachite
Needles:  US 3 (3.25 mm)

Twisted Rib Pullover II - One Sleeve Done

I have been working on my pullover when I haven't felt up to working on lace and I finished up one of the sleeves last night.  I'm doing top down set in sleeves.  I really like the technique, but I like any technique that cuts down on the amount of seaming that I have to do.  I also think it is a little bit of magic the way the sleeve appears.  I deliberately made the sleeve with some positive ease because I really don't like tight sleeves.  I also came up with a very slick way of picking up stitches for the sleeve evenly around the armhole.  I used an app on my iPad called Knit Evenly Calculator by JAKRO SOFT LLC.  I have been using it for evenly increasing and decreasing in patterns.  I love the way it will step you through each increase or decrease.  For picking up the stitches I used it as a decrease counter.  I knew how many rows I had knit for the armholes, and I knew how many stitches I needed to pick up in the armholes (not including the stitches of the underarm).  Wherever the app told me to k2tog I simply picked up a stitch and then skipped the next pick up spot.  It worked like a dream.  On to the second sleeve.

Pattern:  Design 1835 from Moments No. 005
Yarn:  SMC Select Extra Soft Merino Fino in Malachite
Needles:  US 3 (3.25 mm)

Twisted Rib Pullover II - Collar Done

Last night I finished up the collar.  The stitch pick up was pretty easy, although I always have issues getting the right number when I have to pick up so many (216).  I usually end up with more stitches than I need so I did some decreases (k2tog and p2tog) while I was working the first row.  The pattern calls for continuing in a twisted rib for another 6 rows after completing the diamond motif, but I thought it looked better without those extra rows so I cast off after finishing row 19 (on row 20).  I did not cast off in pattern, I just did a knitted cast off.  I find that it gives a cleaner edge for necklines.  Now I will pick stitches around the armholes and work the sleeves from the top down.

Pattern:  Design 1835 from Moments No. 005
Yarn:  SMC Select Extra Soft Merino Fino in Malachite
Needles:  US 3 (3.25 mm)

Twisted Rib Pullover II - Body Done

I ended up staying home from work today with a migraine.  They are not as bad or as frequent as they used to be, but ironically that just means that when I do get them I don't feel like I have to tough it out.  Plus the position I have now is demanding enough that it really isn't a good idea to go in when my brain is fuzzy.  So I stayed home with Turner Classic Movies and the cats.  TCM is running John Wayne movies today, he being the star of the month.  As fuzzy as my brain is today, lace is out, so I pulled this project out of the project bag.  I had knit up to the split for the front and back when I got distracted by a couple of lace projects.  Usually I would block the body at this point to make it easier to pick up the stitches for the collar, but the straps are so thin (just 3 stitches) that blocking really didn't make much of a difference, so I am just going to start the collar.  I am going to knit the sleeves from the top down.

Pattern:  Design 1835 from Moments No. 005
Yarn:  SMC Select Extra Soft Merino Fino in Malachite
Needles:  US 3 (3.25 mm)

Twisted Rib Pullover II

After I finished my first Twisted Rib Pullover, I cast on a second one.  This time I should have enough yarn to finish the neck band.  I got through the ribbing and then set it aside for a little while because I knew that I would need some mindless airport and airplane knitting.  I don't really like traveling, especially alone, but as long as I have my Kindle and my knitting I can get through anything.

So all of last weekend I worked on Mayan Garden and stressed about my upcoming trip, until it was time to do the on-line check in and I discovered that I could upgrade my ticket to First Class for a mere $225!  Apparently the price was deeply discounted because they didn't think they were going to sell those seats.  Unfortunately, it would have cost me $1000 to upgrade on the trip back.  Let me tell you, it was pretty cool to be sitting in first class knitting away on this pullover and reading on my Kindle.

Pattern:  Design 1835 from Moments No. 005
Yarn:  SMC Select Extra Soft Merino Fino in Malachite
Needles:  US 3 (3.25 mm)

Twisted Rib Pullover - Finished!

This one took knitting twice to get right.  It all started when, after knitting the sleeves, I decided that they were too tight and too short, so I decided to reknit them and make them larger, but then I was worried about running out of yarn.  As an experiment, when I started knitting the sleeves a second time I did the ribbing in the gold yarn that I had leftover from the Goldenrod Pullover.  That looked good, so I did the second sleeve the same way.  Then I faced the fact that I had not done contrast ribbing on the body.  I let that idea percolate a little while in my mind while I worked on other projects, and then decided to reknit the body with the contrast ribbing.  The only problem with doing that was then I ran the risk of running out when it came to doing the collar.  I decided to press on and see where I ended up, knowing that I could always do some modifications to the pattern when I got there.

As I started knitting the collar I knew that I would not have enough of the gold to finish the collar.  I searched on Ravelry and found a couple of people that had the same yarn in the same dyelot, but of the two people that I contacted, one wasn't willing to part with her ball, and the other one never replied.  Then yesterday I did another search on the internet and found a shop in the UK that was selling bags of 10 balls, and they had the gold color listed.  I almost ordered it, but stopped myself at the last minute.  Really?  Pay $80 for a bag of yarn when all I really needed was just one?  Obviously I needed to rethink things.  I tried the top on to see how the collar was looking and decided that it looked fine, so I finished knitting as much as I could with the yarn that I had, and raveled my swatches to get as much yarn as possible.  While that yarn was drying I sewed in the sleeves, and this morning I finished up the collar.

I did end up ordering more yarn from the shop in the UK (Claire's Yarns).  I tried to order the Eggplant, but they were out, so I got Malachite instead.  Turns out they were out of almost all of the colors, including the Mustard, so it wouldn't have worked out anyway.  What can I say?  I really like this yarn, and I love the top with the lace sleeves.  Now I can make three more.

Pattern:  Design 1835 from Moments No. 005
Yarn:  SMC Select Extra Soft Merino Fino in Petrol and Mustard
Needles:  US 3 (3.25 mm)

Twisted Rib Pullover - Body Done

Finished up this morning and now blocking before I pick up stitches for the collar.  I was thinking of making a second pullover, and even have the yarn, but I'm not so sure - those little strips of 3 stitches at the shoulders were a bit of a pain and don't really block well, they just curl up imitating i-cord.


Pattern:  Design 1835 from Moments No. 005
Yarn:  SMC Select Extra Soft Merino Fino
Needles:  US 3 (3.25 mm)

Twisted Rib Pullover - Body Almost Done

I have been focused on finishing my Twisted Rib Pullover.  Last weekend I restarted the body, knitting the ribbing in the yellow and began knitting the body by raveling the original work.  I made it almost to the underarm last weekend, knitting while reading the ninth Inspector Alleyn mystery (Death at the Bar by Ngaio Marsh).  Last weekend I also picked up a small spiral notebook to keep my pattern notes in.  I have been using those lined Post-It Pads, sticking the notes in magazines and pattern books, but they get creased and lose their stick and I really wanted something a bit more organized.

The notebook is 7 inches by 4 3/8 inches (17.7 cm by 11.1 cm), a really nice size and has 140 pages - lined.  I am always re-writing patterns, mostly changing them to knit them in the round.  I also have a larger notebook that I am using for the Tudor Roses adventure.

I bought this at Bead & Button several years ago when my sister and I went to the local office supply store for some booth supplies.  It has been sitting around waiting for a purpose ever since.  The patterns in Tudor Roses are fairly detailed, and so are my pattern notes, so I needed a larger format.  I have been re-writing the first pattern, and playing with gauge and once I get everything sorted I'll pick that project back up.

Pattern:  Design 1835 from Moments No. 005
Yarn:  SMC Select Extra Soft Merino Fino
Needles:  US 3 (3.25 mm), US 4 (3.5 mm)

Twisted Rib Pullover - Second Sleeve Done (for the second time)

As usual, the second sleeve went pretty quickly.  I had two partial balls of the yellow yarn left over from the Goldenrod pullover, so I used one of them to re-knit the bottom band of the body, just to see how much yarn it used and try to gauge if I had enough to do both the bottom edge and the top band.  I think I do, so I've started frogging the body and re-knitting it.  When I re-knit the sleeves I made them a bit longer.  The original pattern had them ending just below the elbow, but I prefer a three-quarter length, if I'm going for less than a full length sleeve.

Pattern:  Design 1835 from Moments No. 005
Yarn:  SMC Select Extra Soft Merino Fino
Needles:  US 3 (3.25 mm), US 4 (3.5 mm)

Twisted Rib Pullover - One Sleeve Done (Again)

I had actually completed both sleeves, but when I tried one on (pulling it up my arm), the fit was tighter than I like - it fit very closely - so I decided to knit them again a little bit bigger, but I am also worried about running out of yarn so I knit the cuff in leftover yarn from the Goldenrod pullover.  I like the fit of this sleeve better, so I've raveled the other sleeve.  I need to get back to the body and make sure that I like the fit of that as well.  At this point I am not planning on re-knitting the body with a contrast ribbing, but I will probably do the collar out of the yellow.


Pattern:  Design 1835 from Moments No. 005
Yarn:  SMC Select Extra Soft Merino Fino
Needles:  US 3 (3.25 mm), US 4 (3.5 mm)