Tag Archives: garter

WIP Wednesday: Charlotte Winter

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I needed a little self care this week and so I set aside some quiet time to work on a project just for me. I haven’t touched this sweater in quite awhile, its my Charlotte Winter.

I had added a few inches right after I checked the fit way back right after Christmas. But I have been focusing on Jellybean’s Mackenzie 5-ply sweater since it was older than my sweater.  I was caught up in wool fever watching knitting podcasts in my craft room (aka the guest bedroom downstairs) and my sweater seemed a decent length. Or so Dex and I thought….

I slipped it on me while the needles were still in and it stretched to my butt. So I merrily cast off and finished my podcast. And I tried it back on….well without the weight of the needles it not surprisingly scrunched back up to a normal length. And it hit me mid butt cheek. Not the silhouette I was looking for. So I ripped back the cast off and got all my stitches back on the needles. I really need at least 3 more inches. I guess I’ll just need more podcast time!!

Happy Knitting!!

Two Matching Sleeves

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Finally after one false start and a lot floundering around on sleeve island. Jellybean’s Mackenzie 5-ply sweater has completed sleeves!

Thanks to my stitch markers and some row counting here and there I was able to knit the second sleeve with (roughly) the same amount of rows to match the first one. I was glad I chose to knit these before finishing the entire body. That’s a lot fabric to turn and turn and turn. Sleeves are definitely not my favorite but it was nice working on a nine inch circular and not DPNs. No ladders in these sleeves!!

I went ahead and knit the cuff according to the pattern. I toyed with the idea of knitting all ribbing but I think I’ll let Jellybean wear it like this. If need be I can always rip and re-knit the cuffs. I’m going to have more than enough yarn for this project!

Happy Knitting!!

(Re) Cast On: Mini Solutions Scarf

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Next up on my breast pumping/lunch project rotation is my Mini Solutions Scarf. You can remember here that I misread the pattern and had to rip out the whole Christmas Eve cast on progress. So this past week I decided to get back in the saddle.

This little wedge is one 45 minute lunch worth’s of progress. And its WAAAY better looking than my first attempt. And how cute is this subtlety tonal yarn?? Or is variegated? I really stink at deciphering….nonetheless its pretty!

Now I’m cruising through all soothing garter stitch until I run out the first mini ball of yarn. This super tired working momma sure loves her some garter stitch. It keeps my hands busy and my brain pleasantly calm.

Happy Knitting!!

That Niggling Feeling

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I’d like to think I’m a pretty good knitter. But mom brain and sleep deprivation on are real things. I cast on my Christmas Eve cast on and merrily knit along. Isn’t the yarn pretty?

I had this niggling feeling that this shawl was turning into a funny shape. It was getting very wide very fast. But I kept knitting anyway trying to see if I could finish the first mini. Well I stopped and actually re-read the pattern. I missed ONE SMALL TINY DIRECTION for the end of the right side row. One solitary K2tog that makes a HUGE difference.

So this whole tiny shawl is headed to the frog pond. The yarn is cashmere based so I don’t mind working again with it. And Jellybean really really likes helping me frog things. He thinks its soooo cool to watch the stitches come out. I just feel like a little silly for not being able to follow what is super simple directions. Oh well, at least I listened to my inner knitter before this go to much farther!

Happy Knitting!!

Checking Fit

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After three days of some pretty monogamous sweater knitting I have a good jump on my Charlotte Winter. I thought it would be a great idea to check the fit before I got too much farther.

I really think it’s not too bad! I mean the bottom is still bunched up on needles. But the yoke fits nicely and there is not too much ease in the armpits that I can tell so far. And it should button nicely.

Not to mention the color work turned out pretty spiffy! I think I may pause on the body and work the sleeves to maximize yarn usage. I don’t think I’m going to run out but I may want to lengthen the body if I have enough yarn. Plus turning the sleeves might be easier without a fully body of bulky sweater weighing me down.

I’m torn between working on this sweater and finishing PB’s sweater. Both are kind of ready for sleeve island. It’s kind of a toss up, lol.

Happy Knitting!!

Charlotte Winter Progress Day Three

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I managed to squeeze in a third day’s worth of knitting over my Christmas vacation. On Day three I managed to finish the raglan, separate for sleeves and start the body with A-line shaping.

Given my post baby #2 enhanced waste line I opted for an a-line shape to provide better coverage for the back 40. I think at this point I have used two full balls of the grey yarn and starting the third. I have six total. And I haven’t slipped this one to check fit either.

Here is a gratuitous shot of car knitting in my new favorite pajama leggings. It was a bright and cold trip home from Christmas with snoozing dogs and babies in the back. A pretty darn good trip except for the PB had a blow out in her car seat in the last 5 min of the drive. I think she just wanted to give me a belated Christmas present, lol.

Happy Knitting!

Charlotte Winter Sweater Progress Day Two

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My Charlotte Winter was my Christmas vacation progress. I seized the opportunity of grandparent and auntie baby sitting time to see how far I could knit on a bulky sweater project.

Here is my Day Two progress:

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I managed to complete all the garter ridge stripes and I’m finishing the raglan increases. It’s getting to be a lot of stitches on the needles at this point.  But man it was nice to have some soothing garter stitches to watch my kids play and catch up on some Christmas movies.

I did take some time here to bury some of the ends for the color changes in the yoke. I didn’t trim them because I want to block them first. But it really helped to make this project less messy and more manageable. I have one more day’s worth of progress to show you before I had to go back to real life.

Happy Knitting!!

Swatching Like A Responsible Knitter

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I really want to cast on some of my birthday yarn from my momma for a sweater for me.  I did some searching and had three finalists pulled. And in the end garter stitch won. I picked the Charlotte Winter by Carrie Bostick Hoge won out.

It’s a top down bulky sweater with raglan increases all knit in garter stitch. No purling!! (Well except for the sleeves). And I was a  GOOD knitter and started a swatch.

The bottom garter section was knit on the pattern US 15s while the top section was knit on US 13s. I found that not only was it easier to knit on the 13s but I also like the fabric better. I even washed and dried my swatch to be sure! Now I guess I get to do some sweater math….

Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: PB’s Sporty Cardigan #2

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Well, ladies and gentlemen….PB has a new sweater! The Second Sporty Cardigan is finished, washed, blocked, buttons added and ends trimmed off. Now I just need cute baby photos to put the icing on the cake.

I went with the round two tone buttons. As you can see I really worked a lot of buttons into this sweater. And the top two turned out really close together. But I kind of like it. Now I can fasten the top two buttons and let the rest of the sweater hang open to show a cute onesie underneath.

Note: Blocking didn’t completely correct my buttons bands but it greatly improved them. I’m marking this a win and moving on.

Pattern: Sporty Cardigan for Boys and Girls by Cecilie Clark

Yarn: Frabjous Fibers Messenger Kit and Knit Picks Comfy Sport. I used roughly 266 yards or 89 grams of yarn to make a 12 month sized sweater. This included every last drop of Frabjous Fibers so no pesky leftovers hanging out in my stash!

Needles: US 4s (I forgot to switch to 6s for the body so I just kinda rolled with it. My gauge is just a little tighter and my sweater a smidgen smaller than I wanted but it’s still lovely)

Mods: See above or check out my Rav notes.

Happy Knitting!!

Whoosh Went The Sleeves

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I have been binge watching old 90s and 2000s television cop shows after the kids go to bed. And thanks to Psych and Diagnosis Murder I managed to knit the crap out of some sleeves!

I weighed my remaining yarn after finishing the button bands on PB’s second sporty cardigan. And I KNEW I didn’t have enough to make decent sleeves. So I considered my options and I decided to extend the garter ridges from the yoke into the sleeves. Then I took the remainder of my two colors and split them into two even sets by weight. One for each sleeve.

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I was kinda tired and just winging it. After six garter ridges with associated decreases I thought it looked good (and I was tired of purling, to be honest). This was of course not having any idea how far my striped colors would get me. So I knit the two colors until I ran out of each color. What resulted….well, elbow length sleeves at best.

I thought about ripping back and adding more garter ridges to make full sleeves but I honestly didn’t want to think about burning precious knitting time redoing it. This sweater will look perfectly adorable over long sleeves peaking out or just as elbow length sleeves. Kids get sleeves really grubby anyway…I’m just saving myself laundry duty!

Happy Knitting!!