theraineysisters knitting and so much more

November 2, 2010

From Susan — Sleeve Circling the Drain

Filed under: EZ Green Sweater,Updates — lv2knit @ 9:08 pm

One thing great about knitting is that you can usually rip it out and fix it.  The bad thing about knitting is ripping it out and fixing it. 

I made a few mods to the sleeve for fit and construction.  One thing I wanted was to finish the gusset decreases before I started the sleeve shaping — I did not want the increases and decreases to collide (been there, done that — did not like the look!).

I also did not want the sleeve to narrow quite as drastically.  In the first version, I did my sleeve decreases every 6 rounds — now I am starting with the every 8 round decreases.  This will mean that the sleeve stays wider where my arm is fat wider and get narrow where my arm tapers to the wrist.  Duh.

So, I spent most of my weekend knitting time reknitting and figuring.  That’s okay 🙁 .  I had nuthin’ better to do…

Eala Bhan is also progressing.  I have about 6 inches above the armhole split.  Yay!!

PS: How many Trick-or-Treaters did you have?  We had ONE.  Uno.  Singleton.  Not a duo.  I am now forced to eat all of the leftover Snickers before they go stale.

PS2: Today (Wednesday) I am wearing one of my “new” outfits, made a few weekends ago — made to go with my Sunrise Circle.  And it does!!

image

October 29, 2010

From Susan — My Knitting Peeps Made Me Do It!

Filed under: EZ Green Sweater,Wrapped in Care — lv2knit @ 2:51 pm

Beep…Beep…Beep!!  That’s the sound of my EZ Green Sweater backing up!  My peeps decided I needed to start my sleeve over, and when the peeps speak, I listen. 

I had a nagging doubt about my sleeve.  I did not cut in as drastically as the original design, so the shoulder extension on the upper edge of my sleeve had to start much sooner than the original — the red line below shows where my shoulder was compared to the original.  I was not terribly concerned, but concerned enough to ask my peeps about it at knitting last night.  I did a striptease (no music!) and tried on the EZ.   They said to rip it.  No questions.  Just rip it. 


Picture from Original Pattern

Okay.  So I got home last night and ripped it out, started over, moved the pick up line about 6 sts east.  Badda boom.  Badda bing.  I am certain that the sleeve will now be tres dolmany but I am okay with that.  Progress shots to follow.

On occasion, a few of the peeps and I decide to also get together informally at another watering hole…everywhere we go, we pretty much take over the place!

Lest you believe that we do nothing but knit for ourselves, here is proof that we also give, give, give in the form of knitting!

Winters can get awfully cold in Minnesota and everyone deserves a hat or scarf made with loving care.  We tried to use nice yarns hat we ourselves would wear and make a selection of many styles to fit a variety of ages.  I hope the recipients know that we were knitting especially for them!

October 26, 2010

From Susan — Green Sleeves

Filed under: EZ Green Sweater — lv2knit @ 10:02 pm

I am so glad I decided to re-embark on this project.  I really am enjoying it, though each stitch makes me feel a tad guilty about Eala Bhan 🙁 .  Oh, well, EB will get done, too.

The sleeves are the coolest feature of this sweater.  They are described as “dolmans.”  In my earlier post about this sweater, I said the following,

“The sleeves are described as dolmans, but I think a more accurate description is a modified drop shoulder with an underarm gusset.  The appearance is that of a dolman, but it really isn’t.  EZ was brilliant.  As you knit the sweater, you “cut out” a huge chunk at the armholes, but then add it back in (gray section in illustration below):

This is interesting.  There are many projects now listed on Ravelry and many of them have the appearance of a true dolman.   I tried on my sleeve and it fit perfectly — like a normal (non-dolman) sleeve, just as I predicted in my earlier description above.  I do not know why, but I do like it!!

My sleeve so far:


I could not get a good picture to save my life, so this is scanned…thus I could not get the whole sweater

It looks just like the original and fits beautifully.  I am happy so far.  I also am not shaping the sleeve as dramatically as was done in the original — it gets too skinny too fast for most people.  I followed the pattern’s shaping until all of the gusset sts were decreased away and then I started doing “regular” sleeve shaping.  That is why on my sleeve the bottom edge of my sleeve slants down — it would be straight across and be getting skinnier without the added sts.

“Regular” they are not.   Normally on a top down sleeve, you would decrease 2 sts every “x” rounds/rows to get the stitch count desired.  Because you decrease 2 sts at the top of the sleeve every other round, you must INCREASE along the [what would usually be] the underarm seam line in order NOT to decrease the stitch count.  So, for every 6 rounds, I increase every other row twice, and then do not increase on one of the rounds, thus resulting in 2 sts decreased every 6 rounds.  It’s all very backward and confusing!   My brain hurts.  After ten sets of these I will switch to every 8 row decreases (or “un-increases” as the case may be!).  At least that is the plan, though it could change if the numbers indicate.

PS from Susan: I tried this on again before I went to bed last night.  I thought, “What if I’m wrong?  What if it fits wonky and I am delusional?”  It fits.  Looks good!   I probably could have started my sleeves with the every 8 round decreases though.  EZ was decreasing 2 sts every other round, so I thought I was safe with every 6.  The sleeve fits and is about 3/4 of the way to my elbow.  I may keep going and possibly rip back a bit if it gets too small too soon.

October 24, 2010

From Susan — Bringin’ Another One Back

Filed under: EZ Green Sweater — lv2knit @ 11:03 am

Sometimes you toss a project onto the heap that deserves to be there and sometimes you are hasty.   I think  I tossed my EZ Green Cardigan a little too soon.  A couple of my knitting peeps are taking a class and making this sweater.  I stumbled upon mine yesterday and thought, “Hmmm.  It’s not so bad.”  Can this sweater be saved??

I started this project so motivated and excited to be knitting this vintage homage to Elizabeth Zimmermann.  All I have left to do are the sleeves and the final finishing.  I think I’ll give it a go.  The sleeves are stockinette in the round — mindless TV knitting.

My Eala Bhan  is not forsaken!  I am past the armhole shaping and speeding along on the back.  “Speeding along” of course is a relative term!!

To Connie:  I think Yvonne is teaching the class at Amazing Threads.  I’m not taking he class, though — just revisiting the project!

To Nancy:  The “basting” thread you see is actually there to mark the foldline of the center front and the pick up line for sts around the armhole.  The sweater is knit in the round with steeks even though it is one color, so there are extra sts at the edges — when you knit flat you would just pick up sts with a one-stitch selvedge so a thread would not be needed.

January 8, 2010

From Susan — A Living Tribute

Filed under: EZ Green Sweater,One Day Hat,Updates — lv2knit @ 9:42 am

When this article appeared in Twist Collective, I was thunderstruck.  I knew I had to make this wonderful sweater: a tribute to one of the greatest knitting legends of all time, Elizabeth Zimmermann.  So, I was thrilled to learn that the pattern was being deconstructed by Sunday Holm, AND that there was a stash of the original yarn still left in the Briggs and Little vault.  The sweater could be recreated as originally intended.  My own little piece of history!

Wrong, Optimistic One!  The original stash sold out faster than you can say computer meltdown!


Schoolhouse Press

The original yarn sold out within a couple of hours, leaving some of us desperately sad .  But then, because of the high demand, B&L decided to dye another batch.  Yay!    And happiness ensued.

So, many of us received a shipment of the new batch, which actually seems better to me than knitting with 60-year old yarn. 

I started the sweater last week and it is kind of going slower than I anticipated, considering that it is straight stockinette.  The yarn itself is very thin (430 yds/113 gms!) though the pattern gauge is 5 sts to the inch.  I am knitting mine at ~5.5 sts/inch. 

The construction of the sweater is really the interesting thing about it: mitered front facings, deep armhole with gusset, squarish neckline, mitered sleeves.   The folded facings and mitered corners are a little unusual and gave some knitters pause.  I had to draw it out to figure it out:

In the original pattern, Sunday accidentally included the width of the facings in her overall finished measurements, so they are shown as 2 inches bigger than they really are.  There is errata available that describes this and other minor corrections.

The sleeves are described as dolmans, but I think a more accurate description is a modified drop shoulder with an underarm gusset.  The appearance is that of a dolman, but it really isn’t.  EZ was brilliant.  As you knit the sweater, you “cut out” a huge chunk at the armholes, but then add it back in (gray section in illustration below):

Once the gray area is added back in, the armhole is fairly standard, but the look is dramatic.  The drama continues with the mitered sleeves and flared gauntlet at the wrist.

The sweater is very cropped.  I do not wear cropped.  I am too fat tall to wear cropped well.  I am adding about 6.5 – 7 inches to the overall length and doing some gentle waist shaping.

Here is a picture of my EZ in progress, though I am farther along than this:

I am enjoying this immensely!!

Back a few weeks ago, I shared a free hat pattern: the One Day Hat.  I knit one up for my DH and he LOVES it.  I mean he really loves it!  It fits his huge head perfectly and is very soft and rich looking:

More accurate color here:

The yarn is Geologee from Knit One Crochet Two Yarns (120 yards per 50 gms).  Because the yarn is smaller than the weight of the original pattern, I used the Size XL numbers, a US 7 needle and it ended up perfect.  In fact, the XL size was actually included for this purpose.

Now I am going to go knit on my EZ Green Sweater!!

PS: Jody writes, “I have several skeins of Briggs and Little that I picked up in New Brunswick 5 years ago and I can’t imagine ever using it. It’s just too scratchy.”

In response — the yarn IS scratchy, but softens when washed.  I happen to love wooly wool.  It wears like iron, hence the fact that the original sweater got so many years of active use.  I don’t know that I would have chosen this yarn if it was on a shelf, but I am really happy to be able to use it to recreate this particular sweater.

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