knitabit

The Haul

I went to Showers of Flowers (www.showersofflowers.com) in Denver, and had a marvelous time. I was in there for more than two hours and my feet got tired from standing for so long. They really have just too much stuff to see in one visit.

Here's what I walked away with:

Clockwise starting at upper left:

Alice Starmore's "Celtic Collection" Gosh, one of these days I'll have the skills needed to do one of these.

Interweave Knits, Winter 2002/2003 issue for the "Saddles at Dusk" pattern (more about that in a minute.)

Denise's Interchangeable Needles So far, I just love 'em.

8 skeins of wool/alpaca yarn in camel For a sweater for me!

Oat Couture sweater pattern Maybe for the wool/alpaca yarn.

I've been waiting to get started on a sweater for my husband using the yarn I got from eBay - I thought "Saddles at Dusk" would be just perfect. After a couple of days of frustration, I might have to just sideline the whole project for a while. For one thing, I'm not so sure about the yarn. It seems very brittle and scratchy. This pattern hugs around the neck, and I know I wouldn't want this stuff actually touching my skin. And then the pattern...

I've never knit a sweater in the round before, but I can see that if you've knit socks on circular needles, you've got all the skills you need. However, this pattern is knit from the top down, so you do increases ("make stitches"), not decreases. And the pattern is silent on which type of increase you do - and it makes a difference, obviously, whether you slant left or slant right. Now I can figure this all out, but would it have killed anyone to at least give us a HINT in the pattern? Geesh.

The cast-on for the neckline was supposed to be a 'tubular cast-on' but it didn't make a very pretty edge with this rough and tweedy yarn, so after two tries on that I substituted my very favorite German Twisted Cast-on instead, and it looks very nice. The collar is supposed to stand 2 1/2" tall, but mine is probably twice that tall so I'm going to have to go back and see if I mis-read something.

Even though I knew the collar was goofed up, I kept going so I could see how the saddle shoulders worked. That's where I ran into the confusion on the increases. And I just don't like the way they look - I wonder if I would do my increases a stitch or two away from the stitch marker they might look better.

And stitch markers - I couldn't find them, so I am using an assortmnet of hoop earrings instead. Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do.

So I'm going to rip the whole thing out and start over - I'll try to figure out where I went wrong with the collar and I'll do some experimenting on making those increases look nicer. And I might just find a whole different yarn to do this with.

In the meantime, I might get out the wool/alpaca and get started on my own sweater.

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