theraineysisters knitting and so much more

That sounds a bit kinky, doesn’t it?

I’m almost finished with Vivian, the sweater I am knitting for my daughter for Christmas. She’s home for Thanksgiving, and I’m a little nervous about the fit because I’ve made changes to the pattern and I am not using the called for yarn. A fitting would make me feel better, but I don’t want her to see the sweater. That’s where the blindfold comes in.

Here are some really poor photos of Vivian in progress. I took these yesterday without looking at them, and they’re just not great photos. Lucy, my model, has no arms and therefore the sleeves (which are narrow) look odd. I’ve slipped the sweater on and it looks much better on a real live body. (Hey — maybe I can take some pictures while my daughter is blindfolded! Hee.) Also, the hood doesn’t look like a hood yet. Instead, it looks like a collar on steroids. I’d retake the pictures, but because my daughter is home I don’t want to risk her walking in on me.

So here are some not great photos of a sweater that really is pretty in person.

That’s what Lucy is wondering. I’ve been working on Vivian, which is a Christmas gift for my very slim daughter. Lucy can barely squeeze into it and she’s a little miffed.

I’ve finished the body up to the armholes. Now it’s on a holder until I complete the sleeves. I had almost finished the first sleeve, but decided that it was a bit too tight. (I’m using a finer yarn than called for and monkeying around with the pattern to get the right fit.) So I ripped back and started my increases much earlier than the pattern calls for; I’ll probably end up with more stitches than I’m supposed to and I’ll need to devise some (I hope clever) way of getting rid of them as I work the yoke.

The color is not particularly true in these photos, but c’est la vie.

I’ve been suffering a bit from the knitting malaise mixed with indecision and confusion. Some days I can’t think of one thing I’d like to work on. Other days, I have so many projects I want to start that I can’t choose among them. So, I decided to work on some Christmas knitting. That gives me a deadline, but the deadline is so comfortably off in the distance that I won’t feel guilty putting it aside when true inspiration strikes.

First up? A sweater for my daughter (who has been temporarily banned from reading this blog so that I could have something to post about). Nora, if you are reading, stop. Now. Thank you.

The project I selected for Nora is Vivian designed by Ysolda Teague and available through the Twist Collective website. It’s a fitted, heavily cabled hoodie.

It looks like something she’d wear, although the sizing has been the big issue for me. She’s small and she likes her clothes to be fairly close fitting. Moreover, I was using a finer gauge yarn than the pattern called for. Therefore, I decreased the size of the peplum-type bottom by taking out a few strategic stitches and plan to knit the size 34 above the peplum. I want it to end up being closer to the size 32 (giving me some negative ease), and I think this will work with the gauge differential. Otherwise, blocking will be our friend.

Other than those size-related issues, the only changes I’m making is that I have reversed the twist on a few of the cables to make the knitting more mindless for me. I’ve seen a few Ravelry posts indicating that I might need to adjust the size of the hood, but that’s not something I am going to worry about yet. What I like about this design is that the waist shaping is integrated into the flow of the cables. I also like that the yoke is knit in one piece.

I am using Berocco’s Vintage Wool, which is a washable wool containing some acrylic. That is so atypical for me; I’m pretty much a natural fibers knitter. But this yarn is very soft against the skin and I loved the color. It knits like wool (except for the inability to splice the way I usually do), but she won’t have to be as careful with it in washing. I’m happy thus far with my choice. I haven’t made all that much progress, but then again — it’s only July.