Monday, November 19, 2007

"Fulmar" Finished




I have finished AS's "Fulmar". Started in October as an on-line KAL, it was addicting. It is a truly beautiful sweater and I enjoyed every part of it. The Frangipani was great to work with, I would not hesitate to use it again. I don't think this sweater will ever wear out, it is heavy and very warm. It was knitted as per the directions with just a few tweeks. I did make it shorter and just slightly narrower. The neckband is not as high, only 12 rows instead of 24 rows of pattern. I love the sweater and it is going to be well-worn!

Janet Saves The Day



I finished "Fulmar" and had it spread out for picture taking. Right in the middle of the front of the left sleeve - how could I have missed this - was a cable twisted in the wrong direction. OH NO! Janet Szabo' new book "Cables, Volume 1 has a great technique for fixing just this kind of thing. Held my breath and did it! Worst that could happen was that I would have to take the sleeve off, rip it back and re-knit it, so might as well give it a try. It worked like a charm, the fix does not show and it was not that hard to do.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Gansey Completed


Tina's gansey is done. The pattern is the "White Gansey" from Beth Brown-Reinsel's "Knitting Ganseys". I used Halcyon Casco Bay Sport, 100% cotton for this sweater as Tina lives in Florida and has no use for a wool sweater! In fact, she will probably not use the cotton one very often. It was an easy knit, the color - Spruce - will look great on her as she is an Irish red-head. I washed the sweater by hand though the fiber is machine washable. I wanted to see if it ran or shrank. There was some color loss in cool water so I rinsed it with white vinegar as I do with cotton fabrics that bleed. That seems to have taken care of that problem. There was no shrinkage, in fact a slight stretch. It's drying on the floor, thought I would throw it in the dryer when it's almost dry and measure again. I'm glad it is finished, the fabric is too wimpy for me. May make another one day with Frangipani which would give it more body.

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

One Sleeve Done


I've finished the first sleeve for "Fulmar". Shortened a little, only 42cm long instead of the 45cm the pattern called for. It's also 2 stitches short in width which shouldn't make any difference. I now have to put it aside in order to finish the Green Gansey for my friend Tina as she will be visiting for two weeks. I have eight days to finish - think I will make it?