Cozy V-neck Pullover is ever so cozy!

I've always been a big fan of Stefanie Japel's designs so when I picked up my copy of Fitted Knits, I knew I wanted to make something out of it right away. I picked out the Cozy V-neck Pullover because although when I started it, it was very close to summer, I wasn't quite done knitting wool.

I had picked up some Classic Elite Beatrice (Hedgerow - 2372) in the 50% off rack at Lori's in Alpine a few months ago. Despite being a fundamentally busy yarn, I liked the nice combination of warms and cools. It is 100% merino, so it is super soft and I thought it would make a nice sweater for the office. Then when I started flipping though Fitting Knits, I felt that this yarn would make a nice Cozy V-neck.

All in all, the sweater gobbled all 12 balls of yarn in my stash as well as half of one to grow on. I knit the stockinette portion of the sweater on size 10 needles and the ribbing on size 9s. My swatch had told me that my gauge was off by enough that I could knit the next size up from my normal size to get something that would fit. Unfortunately, my swatch was a nasty little lier. This led for a rather interesting turn of events when it came to finishing.

However, I will start with the modifications that I intended. First up, the V. I really wanted a deeper V, not because I found issue with the original, but rather, I just really needed to scratch that particular itch. I deepened the V by knitting my neck increases every other right-side row and reducing the width of the neck band to one inch.

Unfortunately, what this did, was actually put the end of my V right at my bust line. It looks fine. But, I think the sweater would be much more attractive on me if it was a little higher up. As it stands, the V interferes with my own bust line and minimizes the difference between my waist and my bust...something I shouldn't be doing considering I'm only about 4" inches different between those measurements as it stands.


Knitting this sweater was also a learning experience for me. This was my second top-down sweater, the first being Green Gable that met with a very nasty fate last year. So, I hadn't yet figured out that I am someone who benefits from some shoulder shaping to add a bit of room for my swimmer's shoulders (not BIG, but square). While this isn't a problem big enough to make this sweater unwearable, it is a point well noted for my next top-down project.

The other lessen I learned was how to compensate for my own errors. Now, I could kick myself for not taking pictures of the problem before I fixed it (like a good blogger should). But I was so anxious to see IF I could fix the problem, that once I did, I sure as heck wasn't going to pull it out again to document what I did. Basically, by the time I realized that my gauge was off, I had already knit ALL of the increases and had taken the arms off the needles. I thought that if I could add some subtle decreases along the sides, I could take out the stitches that were turning what was supposed to be close to a 36 inch sweater into close to a 40 inch sweater on a 34 inch bust. It seemed to have worked as I tried on the sweater as I went, so I kept going. But not until I finished the knitting and seamed up the sleeves did the gigantic bulge I had created fully reveal itself. So the fix? I simply seamed up the increases I made. There was enough room in the underarm, that I was able to hide the difference there. And honestly? Not only can you not see what I did (there is a little pocket of extra fabric inside under my underarm), I'm not even aware of it when I have the sweater on!

Now, like most problems in knitting, I had to put this one down for awhile while I got the strength to do what I needed to do to make this a wearable sweater. However, what this also meant was that I kinda forgot which needles I had been using for the ribbing. This bring me to another 'design modification' that I made. Now, I could pretend that the fun bell sleeves were fully intentional and planned, but then that would make me as much of a lier as my swatch. I knew I wanted to lengthen the sleeves before I was finished, but by knitting the last 2 inches of each sleeve with the larger needles, I unintentionally created the bell shape at the cuff - a very fortunate mistake I think.

Overall, I am very happy with how the sweater turned out. It feels really great when I wear it and although it isn't perfect, I feel like it will get a lot of use come next fall.

Another Friday...More Random

It seems that I usually like to do my random posts on Thursdays, but I thought I'd mix it up a bit this week. I know, I'll try to be more consistent in the future.

1. I resurrected Cable 8 for my May 2007 UFO Resurrection Challenge. It took me almost a year to complete about 2 days worth of knitting.
2. I seamed it up last night and now I just need to make some satisfactory crochet sleeves and I will be done.
3. 'Satisfactory' being the operative word. I've ripped it out about three times now. I may try a bigger crochet hook because something is definitly NOT working.
4. I finished all the bits for my Ann Taylor top for the design class I am taking.
5. Our last class is tomorrow. We will set in the sleeves and work the finishing in class.
6. It took way more yarn than I ever thought...a recurring theme in my projects of late.
7. I am also close to finishing up the Cozy V-Neck Pullover. I've got a gameplan. Now, I just need to implement.
8. The sweater WILL work out. That has already been decided. The reality of what actually happens is moot at this point.
9. I wanted to share another Knitting In Action photo I received back in March. I knit up this wool hunting cap for my retiring boss. Although it did come out too small (it is supposed to be a fold-over brim), he says he loves it nontheless and has found a way to wear it regardless.

10. This makes me very happy.

Happy Friday everyone!

That's one messy bathroom...

I am currently in some major denial about my Cozy V-Neck Pullover. It is finished theoretically, but it needs some help to make it work. Turns out, although I've really gotten to know how to knit for my body in pieces, I haven't yet been able to make that transition to knitting top-down.

I have fairly square shoulders (swimmer's shoulders we decided this afternoon), so somehow I need to learn to allow for space for them, but at the same time not allow too much space for my "conservative" front. Basically, by the time I got my pullover big enough to fit comfortably under my arms, there was way too much width across the chest. Unfortunately, this was a difficult thing to spot while I worked because of the big gaping v-neck. I pretty much had to finish everything before I knew how it would fit. In fact, I couldn't even tell the extent of the damage until I seemed up the sleeves and closed the hole under my arm. I am hoping that I can do something to save me from having to rip out the neck band and re-knit the body. After some thorough discussion this afternoon, I think we've figured out what to do so wish me luck!

In the meantime, I will distract you with some other things. First, B and I recently joined a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) group here in San Diego called Be Wise Ranch. Every week, we get a box of local (at least as much as possible), organic veggies at a pick-up location close to our house. So far, we've been very pleased with the service. We opted for the small box since there is just the two of us, but there has still been so much food! For example, this week we got a head of lettuce, one bok choy, a large bunch of red chard, 2 onions, a bag of carrots, a bag of zuccini, two boxes of strawberries and an avocado.

The chard was one of the most beautiful veggies I've ever seen. The contrast between the deep red of the stalks and the large rich green of the leaves was striking. Pretty delicious too!

The other thing I wanted to share was an interesting class project B was working on for his art history class. I came home to a proclamation - I'll clean it up. What? - I asked. And then I saw this:

If you've ever been to our place, you may recognize this as our bathroom...which B turned into an art installation. All the objects were carefully chosen and arranged to tell the "history of B". He took a photo of the installation then took it into PhotoShop to add additional elements like superimposed photos and other images. Believe me there is not one thing in that bathroom that doesn't mean something whether literally, linearly or iconographically. I thought the finished piece was really cool and wanted to share it.

It looks really great printed and B is looking into getting a larger version printed for class. It's definitely one of those images that the more you look, the more you see. I think it's worth an 'A', don't you?

Lazy Sunday

Our planned lazy Sunday turned out not to be so lazy after all. My goal all week and into the weekend was to get all of our chores done so we could relax and play today...that didn't happen. It was fine though because we got so much done it is ridiculous! First, we ended up doing all those chores today in the midst of two major (mostly) non-knitting projects which will be blogged about this week as they are completed.

So to distract you, I've included a current status picture of my modified Cozy V-neck Pullover. You can see that the neck is doing what I was hoping it would...namely be deeper. I had some gauge issues that I think I have more or less worked out, so I think with a good blocking all the little wiggles and warps should *hopefully* work themselves out.

I would love to keep working on this sweater full steam except for my design class sweater is getting in the way. The front is supposed to be done for our class next Saturday. I have the back done and I am working away on the front but really it is just two of the exact same. I don't NEED to have the front done in order to plan out my sleeves in class but given my current level of distraction, I feel it is a really good idea to get the front done as soon as possible.

I had initially intended to repeat the lace panel along the bottom edges of the short sleeves, but the more I have thought about it, the more I think that would just take away from the lace at the bottom of the front and back. I'm thinking a little something needs to be at the sleeve edge, but more toned down. Knitzalot suggested a picot hem, so I'll be looking into that this week before class.

And as a final distraction, I thought I would share a few photos of the roses from the Balboa Park Rose Garden I took last weekend. I thought it would be a fun contrast to the beautiful desert scenery Nonnahs posted earlier in the week.

Choices, choices

I took longer to pick out this next project than I have in a long time. It wasn't because I had a hard time finding something I wanted to make. There was almost too much. And since I am making an effort to limit my projects on the needles, I knew that the decision was a careful one. I am aching to make spring and summer projects, but when it came time to "put away the wool for the summer," I just wasn't ready. I also figured the temperatures this time of year in San Diego fluctuates quite a bit from day to day and even from day to night, so I may even get a bit of wear time still this season. If nothing else, I can wear wool all year inside my office. (The thought of which makes me sad.)

I had three sweaters worth of wool that were fairly recently acquired (two of which at Stitches this year, Blue Moon Twisted and Brooksfarm Solana), and to be honest, they were still sitting in bags on my bedroom waiting to be put away properly. I figured might as well use one of those and save me having to actually find a home for it. What made this selection process a little more challenging is that for whatever reason, these recent acquisitions are fairly busy. All three are wools with various "stuff" going on. I LOVE simple colors and plain wool. BUT I also like fun colors and clearly color has been on my mind lately.

I decided that a simple pattern that shows off the yarn was in order. I narrowed the yarns down to two choices because I want to save my Brooksfarm yarn for an Hourglass and I'm afraid that won't get done in time before summer is really here and I lose all motivation for wool. I ended up picking the third yarn, Classic Elite Beatrice that I picked up at Lori's in Alpine for 1/2 off. The yarn in 100% merino in a fairly busy combination of three strands of 4-ply variegated yarn, plied together. Now, I don't think I normally would have liked this yarn or even payed much attention to it. But one of the two colors Lori had on sale really spoke to me. It is #3272 (WEBS calls is Hedgerow but it is a really bad picture of the colors) and in real life it has a really nice combination of cool and warm colors. At the time, I thought it would make a great cardigan or pull-over that would go with almost anything. So what to make?


You know how when you know you've seen something but when you go looking for it, you can't find it? That's what looking for this pattern was like. I wanted a simple v-neck pull over that was fitted. Almost everything I found (which must say something to my normal taste in patterns) would just get lost in this yarn. I wanted something that would look really nice but let the yarn speak for itself. I also knew that I could work up the pattern myself, but I wanted something that I didn't have to think much about since all of that energy is going into my design sweater at the moment. And then it clicked: The Cozy V-Neck Pullover from Stefanie Japel's Fitted Knits.

I have always loved Stefanie's patterns and have made more of her designs than from any other designer. I was anxious to knit something from the book (although there will be many because I think the book is great) and thought her simple v-neck would be a great choice for this project. The only thing is that I really want a deeper v in my v neck, so I'm making one! So far I've been working the v-neck increases over more rows that the pattern calls for and I am also going to put a thiner neck band on when I'm all done.

It's coming along very quickly and I'm almost to the point where I can take the arms off the needles. This has been great knit group knitting since the rows are so LONG right now! I'll be sure to share some better updates once I get to where I can try it on.

Finally, happy Saturday! I hope you all get a little time to yourself no matter how busy your week has been. I know Jenny is!