Wrapped in Tart
Finished
May 1, 2012
August 27, 2012

Wrapped in Tart

Project info
Calligraphy Cardigan by Hannah Fettig
Knitting
SweaterCardigan
Me
42
Needles & yarn
US 5 - 3.75 mm
US 6 - 4.0 mm
madelinetosh Tosh DK
none left in stash
7 skeins = 1575.0 yards (1440.2 meters), 700 grams
Red
The Loopy Ewe
Notes

Here's something crazy: I'm going to knit a me-sized sweater in one month. I know, right?! This is my official entry to MadMay2012 General Sweater KAL. Well, that obviously didn’t happen!

30 Apr 2012: Wound all 7 skeins, one or two seem to have brighter red sections than the rest so I am going to be smart this time and alternate between two skeins for the entire sweater.

Swatched on 3.75mm and 4mm just in case. I got 22spi on 4’s but row gauge was spot on with 3.75s. Dilemma…I decided to use 4’s anyway even though I had 21.5spi on it. Knitting the actual size 42 would have a lot of positive ease for me (I like my sweaters big) so if I knit on a slightly tighter gauge it would be alright. Plus blocking would relax the fabric anyway. Let’s see.

1 May 2012: Since the boys were busy working on a school project, I stayed up watching White Collar and started this project. Jessica (Tantej) is right, alternating is so easy! Plus our cat loves watching the strands of yarn twirling at my feet. Called it a night after knitting maybe 4 inches of the collar.

Later that evening…
I did a total of 50 rows for the collar which is exactly 7 inches. Started the raglan increases.

3 May 2012: More knitting has occured. Managed to get 13 sets of raglan increase. And I think I missed one increase row early on, not going to frog it now, but trying to forget that I missed it so that it will stop nagging at me.

26 May 2012: Took a bit of a break on this sweater, but now started again. Finished with the first two skeins just as I was starting the shaping.

12 Jun 2012: Epic fail on the objective to finish this within the month of May. Oh well. Still knitting on. I’m on the 3rd and 4th skeins, doing the last two body increases before the bottom ribbing.

26 Jun 2012: Started ribbing on hem at 15inches. 222 sts is not divisible by 4 so the ribbing starts and ends with a k2 on the RS. The pattern does not say this but knitter’s intuition should kick in anyway. Using a new skein for the ribbing.

27 Jun 2012: Thanks to knit night, managed to finish 20 rows+bind off of the ribbed hem. Picked up one sleeve and knitted a few rows with just one skein but the colour is so different from the body where I alternated between two skeins. So starting over with the sleeves with alternating skeins.

28 Jun 2012: I still have one full skein plus the almost one and a half I am using for the first sleeve now, but I am worried about running out of yarn. I have the button band to do and might take up Jackie’s offer with her Tosh DK.

2 Jul 2012: A couple more rows and I start ribbing on the right sleeve. Ended with 60sts instead of 58. AND getting buttons custom-made by Tessa Ann, Woot!

3 Jul 2012: 58 is not divisible by 4, so cannot do a k2,p2 rib with this. I frogged to 4 rows after the last decrease and then decreased two more stitches to make 56 stitches which is divisible by 4. Still made 20 rows of ribbing before casting off loosely. With blocking it should stretch to just the right length. Picked up second sleeve and hope I have enough yarn to make the wide buttonbands. TessaAnn is making the buttons for me, yay!

21 Jul 2012: Staying in on the weekend is conducive to knitting. Finished second sleeve and now picking up stitches for the left band. Holding off the button band till my lovely buttons arrive. ETA: Looks like I may have enough yarn to finish both button bands.

29 July 2012: My beautiful buttons have arrived!

27 Aug 2012: Finished at last! Used up all of 7 skeins plus added a yard or so of tart in Vintage to finish the bind off. I did YOs for buttonholes as I’ve learned that they stretch too much with wear. Also used all 10 buttons.

Learned: How to join yarn by making a double knot by Jane Richmond. Thanks to Mel and Stephanie who introduced me to this method.

viewed 680 times | helped 4 people
Finished
May 1, 2012
August 27, 2012
 
About this pattern
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About this yarn
by madelinetosh
DK
100% Merino
225 yards

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  • Originally queued: May 28, 2011
  • Project created: April 30, 2012
  • Finished: August 27, 2012
  • Updated: November 15, 2012
  • Progress updates: 5 updates