03/15/11 — I machine washed the cardigan over the weekend. I used the handwash/gentle cycle, little bit of detergent, and then laid flat to dry it. It shrank ever-so-slightly but now it fits me much better! I guess I can’t machine wash it again or it’ll shrink too much ;) From now, it’s strictly handwashing! Or dry cleaning. I’ll see how I feel about it when the time comes to wash it again.

03/01/11 — Photos are up! Hopefully, they do justice to the sweater :)

02/22/11 — Wearing it at work today! Coworker asked if the cuffs are supposed to be so wide. D’oh! I cast on as many sts for the sleeves as was required to knit them flat… so I have extra width because of the unseamed selvage sts. In the future: cast on 32 (or 30) sts when knitting sleeves in the round!

02/20/11 — Marathon seaming session = 6 straight hours of seaming = finished sweater! All that’s left is weaving in some rogue loose ends and that’s it! I’ve got me a brand new sweater :D

Mods (some are specific to the 40”/M size):

• Trellis pattern on back knit overy-undery by changing row 1 so that FDKC (Front double knit cross) is executed as BDKC (back double knit cross), where the sts slipped to cn are held in back.
• To ensure that armholes were big enough: BO 4 sts at beg of 2 rows, BO 2 more sts at beg of next 2 rows on the back. This was then repeated in the armhole shaping of the two front pieces, as well as on the sleeves themselves.
• Sleeves knit in the round. CO 34, joined to knit in the rnd, and continued in pattern as stated, increasing to 54 sts before shaping cap. Final sleeve length (to underarm) is about 22”.

If I were to knit this sweater again, I would make it shorter. (My pieces blocked to exact measurements.) It’s an awkward length on me. I would also make the sleeves shorter but my long sleeves are my own creation. I was afraid the sleeves as written would be too short :P

Better photos next week :)

02/14/11 — Sleeve #2 finished tonight. I also unraveled sleeve #1 back a few inches and re-shaped the cap. Now the sleeves are blocking and I’ll seam later, maybe start tomorrow. I think I also want to knit a belt because I fear the body of the cardigan is more of a coat length on me. I’ll see after everything is seamed, I guess.

02/11/11 — Finished knitting sleeve #1 this morning, started on sleeve #2 this afternoon. I soaked and am now blocking all the finished pieces… and it looks like sleeve #1 is way too long. (I went well beyond the pattern’s suggested 18” length before shaping the cap. It’s at about 24”. I may need to unknit several inches once the piece is dry.) So I’ll have to tread carefully with sleeve #2.

02/10/11 — Sleeves are the bane of my existence! Still knitting the one sleeve. (But, I gotta admit, I’m not knitting as much/often as I’d like to be. Stupid life!) ETA: I’m so close to finishing it! I’m up to the decreases. (I decided to knit on the subway home tonight. So, during rush hour, I was knitting on 4 DPNs and busting out a cable needle every once in a while. Not an easy feat! But I made it and I didn’t lose any of my needles.)

02/04/11 — Started the sleeves. Knitting one at a time. Cast on 34sts and am knitting in the round on 4 DPNs.

01/29/11 — Finished knitting the left front piece! (Made sure to work the arm shaping as for the back.) I’ve started on the right front piece. If I keep up this marathon knitting, the body will be done by tomorrow. All I’ll have left is the sleeves (which I’m planning on doing in the round but we’ll see)! Score.

01/27/11 — Snow day! (City university system is closed so I spent the day indoors, knitting my heart out.) Finished the back. I modified the raglan armholes by BOing 4 sts at beg of 2 rows as instructed but then going ahead and BOing 2 more sts at beg of next 2 rows. Then I worked as written. Oh, and I didn’t BO the remaining 28 sts, just placed them on waste yarn. Started on the left front piece, about a third of the way through.

01/25/11 — Up to my third hank of yarn. Got 16” of the back complete (= 3 trellis repeats). Two more inches until I start shaping for the arms. Will have to take the tight sleeve issue into consideration (since my arms are Fatty McFatFats) and perhaps execute the mods suggested by saltwaterpurls.

01/23/11 — Bah! The trellis pattern isn’t written correctly. In the stitch glossary, FDKC (Front double knit cross) is written as such:

Sl 2 sts to cn and hold in FRONT, k2, then k2 from cn

However, for row 1 of the trellis pattern, you should execute it as “hold in BACK …” Then your trellis cables will come out all overy-undery like they should. (Alternatively, you may do the modified FDKC on row 13.)

01/22/11 — Finished the ribbing for the back and completed 24 rows of the pattern. The piece measures around 8” at this point.

01/20/11 — Swatching! (First time using yarn that pattern called for. The sweater looks that amazing!) ETA: Almost a perfect match so I’m going ahead with the 10½ needles (circular, 32”) and making the medium size. Cast on for the back and did the ribbing. Saving the rest for this snowy weekend.