I’m Knitting As Fast As I Can

Several projects have conspired to curtail my 2009 sweater knitting, but I managed to complete NaKniSweMoDo #7 last week.

Pattern: Climbing Vines Pullover (Interweave Knits, winter 2008)
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Donegal Luxury Tweed (7 skeins)
Ravelry Project Page (with links to pattern and yarn): Ravelry

This was a fast project and it only took 7 skeins of yarn even though I made longer sleeves. I’m not a big fan of Debbie Bliss yarns, but this Luxury Tweed is the best I’ve used from the line. It’s nice to knit with and the finished fabric is soft. I like the way the tweediness of the yarn softens the look of the leaf motif.

If you make this sweater, keep in mind that row gauge is more important than stitch gauge because you must complete a full repeat of the leaf chart or the last leaf won’t follow the line of the neck. This means the sweater will be about 15 inches from the cast-on edge to the beginning of the armhole shaping for all sizes. I chose a needle size that gave me the correct row gauge, which meant my stitch gauge was off. I knew the sweater would hit me below the hip (my widest part) so I cast on for the Small size and didn’t work any increases after the waist shaping. That gave me the numbers for the X-Small size. Oh, and it’s easier to work the front before the back so you can work out the armhole numbers for the leaf motif.

I made a few other minor adjustments, like lowering the back of the neck and lengthening the sleeves. I also used a very small needle to work the last 3 rows of the ribbing at the neckline and I bound off with the same small needle.

Even with my adjustments, it’s still just a little big and long on me. But it fits Cheryl nicely, don’t you think:

My sweater count rose to 7 at nearly the same time as the inhabitants of my house returned to 4. Yup, the son is back from his first year of college. Yikes, that was fast. And look, he was kind enough to bring home lots of shoes so I can spend my day constantly picking them up.

*sigh*

Slinky Ribs is done! Well, it just needs to be blocked.

And I had 4 grams of yarn left. *Phew*

After continuing to fiddle with the neckband, I decided to just keep it simple. I picked up stitches around the neckline and then immediately cast them off in purl. That’s it. Clearly, I was overthinking it.

I vowed that I wouldn’t become equally obsessed with the bind off for the sleeves. But one of the main reasons I dislike top-down sweaters like Slinky Ribs is that the bottom edge of the sleeves and the body is bound off, instead of cast on. And bound-off edges tend to be inflexible and less attractive than cast-on edges. This is especially true for ribbing. It’s difficult to get a flexible edge and no flare.

My first attempt at binding off the sleeve was a miserable failure. It flared and basically looked like crap. I needed a bind off that was flexible, but firm.

I settled on a tubular bind off for 2×2 rib. I first tried following the instructions in Principles of Knitting but, between you and me, I got completely lost. So I turned to the instructions in the Fall 2008 issue of Interweave Knits. Excellent instructions! It worked like a dream.

I went back over the stitches and pulled them fairly tight after the bind off was completed and the sleeves don’t flare at all.

Now I’m just hoping this Felted Tweed yarn softens up in the wash.

And, look. I celebrated by casting on a new sweater.

*Apparently, I have a reputation for being somewhat inflexible. Who knew.

I believe it’s beyond debate that I now hold the sad and pathetic record for the category: How many times can you reknit the neckband of a sweater and still not be satisfied.

Behold . . . my Slinky Ribs sweater with neckband #6:

I really like the look of the rolled collar but I’ve come to grips with the realization that it’s a poor design choice for my modified version of the sweater. The ribbing stretches across the chest when the sweater is worn, causing the otherwise lovely rolled edge to stretch too.

Hmmmm . . . not so much.

I tried a number of different fixes, including several variations of a short row technique but all for naught. Honestly, I think the yarn has been reknit so many times it’s close to shredding. I’m half inclined to leave it the way it is–stretching be damned–but I will most likely set it aside for a day or two before pulling it out and knitting an applied i-cord edging. Well, unless one of you talks me down first.

In the meantime, I’ll just sit back and admire the lovely skeins of Ball and Skein yarn that I received today from Judy.