theraineysisters knitting and so much more

Oregon is done.  It is done.  Finished.  Complete.  Nothing left to do.  No stitches on needles.  No zippers to sew.  No steeks to cut.  I am in shock and awe.  I never thought it would happen!  I started this “project” at the end of July, 2006 and finished it this evening at 10 pm central time. 

Honestly, it was the thing that would not die.  I worked on it tirelessly, endlessly and tediously.  I cannot express the relief that it is O-V-E-R.  I feel like I gave birth.

I will post a picture tomorrow — I’m too sick and tired to photograph it tonight.

The final score?  On a scale from 1-10, I would give it a 7.  Why the 3-point deduction?

Point 1 deducted for yarn: I really prefer Jamieson Shetland for fair isle.  It has a harder finish, smaller gauge and does not “loft out” when wet blocked.  Also, AS’s yarn is nubby/thick & thin.  It is hard to get nice even sts when the yarn itself is uneven.

Point 2 deducted for fit:  I should have made it one size bigger and 1-2 inches longer.  Can I wear it?  Yes, but it feels skimpy.  [Note to self: if you HAD made it bigger, you would still be knitting on it, so shut up! 😉 ].

Point 3 deducted for return on investment: For the time put into this project, it should be absolutely, drop-dead stunningly, jaw-droppingly gorgeous.  It is very nice, but not as nice as it should be for the time invested.

Anyway, I am now ready and able to move on to the next….BIG thing!  Woo hoo!

 

 

…to your questions. 

I did indeed change the look of Oregon from V-neck caridgan to a zippered jacket style.  Part of the decision was because of the weight and feel of the knitted fabric.  It just said “jacket” to me.  Can’t be helped; the sweater has spoken.  Also, when it said ‘jacket’ it also whispered “zipper” under its breath.  It did not take much calculating to make the changes, but it sure took a lot of knitting.  The neckband alone was 27 rows.

AuntieAnn asked about how I do the corrugated rib.  I do it the same as anyone else: k2 (color A), p2 (color B).  It is very slow and tedious, like regular ribbing, but you are also switching colors (every 2 sts) and changing colors (every few rows).  I did spend a lot of time trying to decide on the colors for the neck ribbing because there wasn’t anything that long in the pattern and I wanted it to match the front bands.  I ended up just mirroring the bottom ribbing and not matching the front bands at the point where they attach to the sweater.

The reason the fronts and neck are still on holders is because I am doing an i-cord bind off (2 or 3 st — haven’t decided yet) along the front edges, to frame the zipper and then binding off the neck in-between in one step. 

There you have it!

More answers to more questions:

The collar will stand up — not be folded up or down — so the right side of the ribbing will show (kind of a mock turtleneck).

The pattern came with the yarn from Virtual Yarns.  The original pattern is long out of print and virtually impossible to find.

Thanks to all for your congratulatory comments and best wishes AND for registering for the contest.  We will have another reminder next week, but have also provided a link in the upper right hand corner to sign up for the fabulous prize drawings.

Now, back to knitting!

A few days ago, Charm asked for some progress pics of my second sleeve.  I regret that I am unable to comply BECAUSE THE SECOND SLEEVE IS DONE!!!!  No more inch-by-inch pictures as it moves along at a glacial pace!  I worked on it the entire Snow Day (last Friday) and finished all but the ribbing, which I completed last Saturday morning.  I knitted until my arms and shoulders screamed!  Owie! 🙁

Here is Oregon with TWO SLEEVES!

Now what, you might ask?  I was thinking that I should just motor along and keep going, but I am so sick and tired of this project, I need to back off for a while.  I will return to it soon, but I just can’t make myself do it today!  I have a small, quick project in mind and if I can get the pattern today, I will start immediately!! 

Eris is going well, also.  I am a smidge away from starting the shirt-tail shaping.  I’ll talk more about our changes to the pattern once that is underway.

In answer to Alison — I am very embarrassed to admit this, but I do not do my two-color fair isle knitting with both hands.  I am a thrower (not a picker) and therefore carry my yarn in my right hand.  I drop the yarn and pick up the second color.  I can do two-handed knitting, but with fair isle I have found that I cannot spread out the just-knit sts as easily (to prevent puckering) AND hold the yarn in both hands at the same time — or chew gum for that matter! ;) 

…on my Oregon Sleeve excitement.  Some of you may have wondered why I needed to figure any of this out — doesn’t the pattern lay it all out for you?  It should and Alice does.  She will instruct you to start the armhole steek on Round #x and pick up the sleeve with a certain color to do the patterning.

The problem is if you need to adjust the pattern OR if you are even fussier than AS herself and have a particular way you want it to lay out.  I needed to add 3.5″ to the sleeve length (which I hope is enough, but will also rely on blocking).  Also, AS did not line up the sleeve stripes.  If you don’t start the sleeve at the same round as the body ended, the stripes will not line up.  This may not matter to everyone, but I thought, if I can do it the “right” way, why not? 

I did not get anything done last night — I went to bed before 10 pm and got up after 8 am.  I was so frickin’ tired!  Today I may do a bit more or start something new.  Sometimes the sheer effort of starting a new project will keep me plugging away at the old, boring and familiar.

This is the part of knitting that I find exciting when it works (“What a gripping life you must lead.”) and extremely frustrating when it doesn’t.  All the planets need to align when knitting fair isle stripes:

1) body length = 25-1/2 inches (determines where the armhole steek starts because the armhole depth must be reasonable)
2) sleeve length = 21-1/2 inches (AS has unnaturally short arms and mine are unnaturally long)
3) the start of the sleeve pattern is 100% determined by the armhole placement (last body round before armhole opening = first round of sleeve)
4) the END of the sleeve MUST match the pattern at the bottom of the sweater = the large leaf border plus ribbing.

In other words, the sleeve had to be one exact length AND start on one particular row AND end on one particular row — no substitutions and FEW opportunities for fudging.  And I wanted the sleeve to start at a good spot (the bold red/navy stripe).  About the only fudging I could do would be on the ribbing.  With a pattern repeat of 48 rounds, there is very little wiggle room — any change would add or subtract ~4″ to the sleeve length (though I could maybe stop in the middle of a main pattern repeat — still 2″).

Anyway, all the planets DID align — perfectly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As you can see, the sleeve matches up perfectly.  It is the exact length I wanted (21.5″).  All the stripes match, even though there is an additional repeat in the sleeve to attain length. 

I did adjust the placement of my steek to guarantee that the planets would align.  Thank goodness the shoulder placement did not matter or that could have screwed up the whole thing. 

This background planning is the kind of thing that people don’t “see” when they look at your knitting.  They don’t realize how much time is spent poring over row gauge and stripe placement and sleeve planning.  But it sure bugs ME when I don’t get it right.

Thanks for letting me share the back story.  Non-knitters (and probably 99% of you!) glaze over when I talk about this stuff!! 😉

 

No, I am not ripping out, I am ribbing the sleeve!  I can’t believe I’ll get this sleeve done today.  Picture to follow!