WIP Wednesday: Little Coffee Bean Cardigan

Posted on September 18, 2013 by atangledyarn84

How adorable is this already!? This sweater is turning out to be everything I hoped so far!

I have knit all the raglan increases and divided for the body. I am making the 6 month size and its going very quickly. I may or may not have babies on the brain 🙂

I am using Knit Picks Dishie cotton yarn. A fellow knitter remarked how odd my choice was for the project. But having three nephews I know how hard kids are on clothes, so what better than hard working dish cloth cotton for a hard wearing sweater? Plus I have a boatload of it in my stash and need to find ways to use it, lol.

This free pattern is quickly coming up my rank of quick and easy baby knits to crank out for last minute gifts.

What’s your favorite go-to baby project?

Stashbustin’ #30: Little Coffee Bean Sweater

Posted on September 12, 2013 by atangledyarn84

Earlier this year I made a Mud Season sweater designed by Elizabeth Smith (The Brown Stitch) and I LOVED it!!

Then I saw this….

(Photo from elizknits / Elizabeth Smith Rav page)

This is the Little Coffee Bean Sweater from The Brown Stitch. I already have so many things in my WIP pile but I just couldn’t help it!!! I have some amazing Knit Picks worsted Dishie Cotton in my stash. I have two skeins of Jay (blue) and one skein of Creme Brulee (yellow).

These are my old high school colors and so I am partial to this combination! I plan to stray from the pattern a bit. I am not going to work the alternating stripes as shown. I am going to do yellow button bands and collar with a solid blue body. Maybe a yellow stripe in the middle of the body? What do you guys think?

This is a top down raglan construction cardigan. This construction is the first sweater method I learned and it’s quickly becoming old hat. I love it!! I’m making the 6 month size. I can’t wait to finish this one 🙂

And so, this little amazing sweater is now my Stashbustin’ #30!!!

Cast-on-itis Day #2

Posted on September 3, 2013 by atangledyarn84

Look familiar? I introduce to you, Stashbustin’ #28 or Baby Sophisticate #2. You may remember my first attempt from last week!

This pattern was a joy to knit and beyond adorable. I honestly couldn’t wait to cast on another, way to go Linden Down!

(Apologies for the terrible picture! I was rocking knitting at Grandma’s kitchen table this weekend)

I am using Caron Simply Soft again, this time in Berry Blue. And this was a partial skein I had floating around in my stash. So to be safe I am going to make the smaller 0-3 month size. The 0-6 month size used slightly over 3/4 of a skein so I should be safe. I hope this a great way to turn a partial skein into a great project!

This one should be off the needles again in no time!! I highly recommend this pattern to everyone!!

FO Friday: Baby Sophisticate

Posted on August 30, 2013 by atangledyarn84

My Little Old Man Sweater is done!!! (Stashbustin’ #26)

I cannot get over how adorable this is!!! And SUCH a quick knit. This would be a great pattern to pull out for a last minute gift. I made this whole thing from start to finish in about 7-8 hours working time?

I used Caron Simply Soft in Grey to make the 6 month old pattern size. I used about 118 grams of yarn so just under a full skein. The pattern was very well written and organized. It helped me learn my very first wrap and turn!! I highly recommend this pattern for someone wanting to learn sweater construction. It’s top down raglan style and SOOO easy!

The mommy to be who specially requested this got to pick out the buttons. She went with off white (slightly pearl-ish) 1 inch buttons. Not what I would have picked, but I’m not about to argue with a pregnant lady, lol! But I do have say they do come off as very grumpy old man…

Only a few more weeks until we get to meet the little guy to fill this sweater! Well and maybe a couple more months before he is big enough to fill this, lol.

My only thought now is….how do upsize this pattern to make myself one?

The Beginning of Neon

Posted on July 1, 2013 by atangledyarn84

Due to some good advice this past week from another blogger, I decided not to wait to cast on my Stashbustin’ #21, my Neon cardigan!

Being a good knitter, I swatched!

Two things learned:

1) I need sharp metal needles, bamboo won’t do. This Berroco Pure Pima can be splitty and wood or acrylic exacerbated this.

2) I did not get gauge (need to try again when I get a new set of metal needles)

3) This pattern is incredibly easy to get off and even in my swatch I know I made mistakes

Sigh…I am not deterred. But I admit I might need a glass of wine before I re-swatch. I really love this garment and want something that will fit when I am done. Gauge will not defeat me!!

Happy Monday

FO: Shalom Cardigan

Posted on June 13, 2013 by atangledyarn84

Here she is! Stashbustin’ #18 aka Shalom Caridgan finished and thanks to the husband photographed!!

This is an awesome pattern! Just as an aside this is only written for a small/medium size or 32″ bust. My chest is a bit bigger than that so I followed the author’s suggestions and tweaked the pattern for my needs.

I used a 10 1/2 US or 6.5 mm needle.
I used a 7 stitch garter border by simply adding two stitches to beginning and end of each row. This added just enough to make the sweater close comfortably across the top my 37 1/2 inch bust.
I worked a three stitch button opening to accommodate my larger button.
I worked an extra decrease section (row 83 followed by rows 48 & 49 alternating for 7 rows) at the bottom after row 105
I knit 7 rows garter bottom border in order to match the length of the collar instead of the 9 rows in the pattern.

I did dork up the garter border a bit. See my 911 post here and my fix here. But all in all I’m very happy. This will look great over a tank (as pictured) or thrown over a long sleeve tee in the fall/winter. Not sure I would re-knit this particular pattern but it’s a great addition to my wardrobe.

Sweater 911: The Fix!

Posted on June 10, 2013 by atangledyarn84

Remember my sweater 911 from last week? I mistakenly knit part of my garter edge as a stockinette edge. It looked something like this….

After some hemming, hawing, and wine drinking I decided on a fix. I picked up my yarn and tapestry needle and went to work. I ended up with something like this..

I cut a length of my leftover yarn and threaded on my tapestry needle. With the right side facing me I simply stitched over and around each one of the 7 edge stitches with a whip-like stitch creating the top of a faux purl like bump. When I reached the stockinette section I turned the work around and stitched back across but this time staggered by half a stitch. This way I could create the bottom of the row to create the look of garter stitch. It didn’t turn out as perfectly as I wanted but it definitely looks better then when I started.

I think the corrections are hardly noticeable when looked at the garment as a whole. Stashbustin’ #18 is officially complete! I hope to snag the husband some night this week so I can get some shots of this garment in action!!

Happy Monday and Happy Knitting!!

WIP Wednesday: Shalom Cardigan

Posted on June 5, 2013 by atangledyarn84

Stashbustin’ #18 update!

Here is a shot from the front…

And the back….

I’m almost done with my Shalom Cardigan! This was an extremely quick knit (once I started knitting monogamously on it). I’m at the end of the pattern (sans garter border) as it’s written. It’s still a bit short on me and I have yarn enough to keep going. So I think I am going to add at least one more increase pattern repeat if not two to get the length past my hips. Then it’s just the garter border, a good wash, block, and dry then viola! I’m done! This might even make FO Friday….fingers crossed!

What’s on your WIP list this week? Anything exciting?

Happy Knitting!

Stashbustin’ #18: Shalom Cardigan

Posted on May 25, 2013 by atangledyarn84

When I was organizing my craft space vi found five hanks of some Berroco Vintage Chunky in purple. I made my last two sweaters, Mud Season #1 and Mud Season #2, from this yarn. I love this yarn! It’s wool blend that’s soft but yet easy care. It knits up beautifully and who doesn’t love chunky projects?

I have settled on my next stash buster: Shalom Cardigan by Meghan McFarlane!

(Photo from Meghan’s Ravelry page)

I’m terribly excited! And thanks to the tips on the pattern page I’m going to alter this a bit to fit my bust size by simply making the garter border a few stitches bigger. I’ve also been a good girl and swatches for gauge.

I had to go down to 10 1/2 US needles to get gauge on my unblocked swatch. I’m probably not going to wash or block this swatch as I didn’t get any difference in my last two Vintage Chunky swatches. And I’m out of Soak and need a trip to a yarn store, lol.

It’s a three day weekend for me thanks to Memorial Day. I’m hoping to give this sweater some attention this weekend. But I have several other WIPs and a test knit for a new pattern by a fellow blogger. I’m also excited about this test knit, it’s completely adorable!!! And the hubs and I have several projects in our new house. Not to mention I might need to make a trip to the yarn store…hehehe. I’m sure I can get it all done right?

Happy Knitting!!

WIP Wednesday: Sweet Cream Raglan Cardigan

Posted on April 10, 2013 by atangledyarn84

Stashbustin’ #12 progress!!!

This sweater stuff is addicting! The above snapshot is my progress on Tuesday. Below is where I’m at now!!

I’m using the same construction as my Stashbustin’ #11 cropped cardi. So the pattern is just flying off the needles! I won’t finish by Friday but maybe the weekend?

What’s on your needles?

My Tangled Yarn Knitting Adventures

Ramblings from an obsessed knitter

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