Category Archives: sweater

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August 29, 2014

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Knits, sweater

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Fall Knits: Centripetal Sweater by Lauren Dahl

After knitting the cardigan for my mom, I wanted to knit a sweater for myself. I really like long, warm sweaters for the fall and winter that I can wear in the office kind of like a coat. I found the Centripetal Sweater by Lauren Dahl and fell in love with the simple design and beautiful detailing of the cables around the back and collar. It looked a little short for me, but found that by adding a stitch at the middle and end of each repeat of the circular body to the middle and then decreasing back up the other side, I was able to add length through the whole bottom section. I also decided to add a little color work to the innermost cables for a pop of color with a beautiful skein of Ella Rae Lace Merino Chunky I picked up on my trip to NYC (the body is Bernat Alpaca in Ebony, the better to hide kitty hair). Note that because the yarn I used was pretty fuzzy, the pattern isn’t as crisp as some of the examples knit by others on the project page. The cables are even more beautiful with a yarn that has better stitch definition.

I usually avoid knitting with chunky yarn, but it is perfect for the design and makes it a relatively quick project. I also found the directions to be pretty simple to follow and the description of the short row technique easy to pick up as I hadn’t done it before. I’d definitely recommend this design.

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August 18, 2014

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Knit Gift: Hitofude Cardigan

Its been a while since I’ve posted any knits because I’ve been working on a larger piece as a gift for my mom: the Hitofude Cardigan. She was looking for a unique lace cardigan that she could wear in the fall and spring, so we hit Ravelry and started looking through the boundless pattern library. After narrowing it down to a few options, we decided on the pattern by Hiroki Fukatsu for its timeless elegance and simple lines. The beautiful pictures made it an easy choice and the recommendation of Madelinetosh Merino Light gave us a huge selection of beautiful colors to choose from. (I recommend taking a look in the projects gallery on ravelry to be inspired by the beautiful variety of colors.)

I would highly recommend this pattern to anyone wanting to make a lace cardigan. The pattern is well written and so beautiful in its simplicity. It is knit all in one piece with seaming under the arms. The lace pattern is very easy to memorize but gives the knitting process enough variety for a longer project. It was so easy to make I am considering putting it on the list to make one for myself in the future.

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September 7, 2013

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Knits, socks, sweater

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Knit Progress: Short Socks & Sweater Jacket

Its been a while since I posted any knitting projects, part of the reason being that this summer has turned out to be busier than expected, and the other being that I took on my first full-fledged sweater project.

To back-track a bit, I finished up my summer sock diversion with the short Mermaid sock pattern by BarGie using some Austermann Murano Lace in the blacks/grays color way. I was able to get the color transitions to match on both socks, which was a pleasant surprise. I really enjoyed making these, so I decided to modify them with a different stitch pattern down the middle to use up the rest of the skein. After experimenting with several patterns, I ended up with this leaf motif. While I love the yarn, it isn’t the best choice to show off the stitch patterns. Lesson learned.

I wasn’t sure what to work on next, so with the encouragement of my friend and constant knitting companion Ashli, I decided it was time to tackle a garment that took more than one skein of yarn to make. Luckily it was also around my birthday, so I got the perfect book to get me started: Knit, Swirl! by Sandra McIver. I had admired the coat patterns and liked their relative simplicity.  I decided to go with Forest Fiesta because I liked the shape and the DK yarn weight which would let me use the Austermann Murano Lace to its best effect. I chose the red color way because it has a lot of beautiful variation when looked at in detail, but overall gives the impression of a solid color.

I was happy to find that it is an extremely easy pattern to knit – the only thing a bit challenging is moving the yarn around the large circular needle in the beginning. I also liked the fact that it knits up in one piece with just one large seam to sew together to finish the piece. The Murano Lace yarn created a light fabric that contrasts nicely with the voluminous nature of the sweater. There are some other beautiful variations in the book that I may try in the future.

My next few projects will be creating some new pieces to sell at our neighborhood arts festival in November. I’ll be glad to work on some quick pieces again.