Bibliophile 2 In The Round

I made some slow and steady progress on the Bibliophile 2 sweater. I am through the back and forth process that has a ton of purls.

This construction is intriguing as the back and forth is what is what is making the ‘short rows’ that build up the back of the neck. Where I joined and the work is very skinny will be the front neck. I am not sure I have ever built one this way, so I’m interested to see how this works out

Next up for this project, I am in for inches and inches of raglan increases. But at least I will be in the round! Happy Knitting!!

SSK Try It On

A really cool feature of SSK is the Try It On Room. Knitters bring finished pieces in all sizes to share and try on. You can test drive finished garments before you knit. And those that bring garment get extra tickets for prizes!

I even got in on the action this year and put my Rainbow Radiate in the mix! It made my heart grow three sizes to hear other knitters compliment my sweater.

I also fell in love with a couple of patterns. I want to now knit Love Note by Tin Can Knits, Rock It Tee by Tanis Lavalee, and Beachcomber by Tif Neilan. I used that inspiration to guide my yarn purchases….

Wool fumes coming soon!

Cast On: Bibliophile 2

One of the tasks I accomplished at SSK was casting on the Bibliophile 2 that I was swatching. Swatch #1 was not succesful but I tried another size of needle.

My second swatch was more successful. I am within half of a stitch of the pattern gauge. My swatch was a little unconvential….but it works.

I didn’t realize the yoke of the sweater is worked flat for a minute. Not ideal, but I guess I can manage a few purl rows. In an SSK class I realized that I am a combination knitter and purl the English way. Hit me like a lightning bolt that is why my decreases lean opposite ways sometimes!

The more you know!! Happy Knitting!

Split For Autumn Gold Sleeves

The yoke eternity is over! I have officially split for sleeves on my Autumn Gold pullover!!

I have a wee bit of stockinette before I start the body patterning. I like my sweaters just a little but longer as my torso is long for my frame. So I am added some rows under the arms before the pattern. I am getting ready to finish the second ball of yarn so I don’t think yarn chicken will apply.

Therefore I think I will keep doing the body and save the sleeves for last. At least for now I may change my mind if I need a break from the body patterning and length.

Happy Knitting!!

Slow Porch Mornings

This week has been for slow porch mornings. I am still recovering from attending SSK this past week. My head and my draft posts are so full of memories that I am working on processing. Hopefully over the next couple of days I will send my drafts out 🙂

For now, I am drinking some coffee and working on my Autumn Gold pullover on the patio. I am in the interminable part where I am done with increases but working to get to full yoke depth. I am two skeins of yarn in and chugging along. And I cannot wait until I am divided for sleeves and the stitch count goes under 300….

Happy Knitting!!

Finished: Rainbow Radiate

Rainbow Radiate is done and photographed on the HOTTEST day thus far. I must really love knitting.

Pattern: Radiate by Joji Locatelli (Rav Link)

Needles: US 6s and US 4s

Yarn: Hue Loco Phyllis DK in Vivid Sampler Rainbow, 316 Dye Studio House DK in Graffiti, Wichita Woolery Tweed DK in Graffiti

Mods: I made my own custom sleeves and did NOT follow the body shaping.

I am really happy with the fit. I could have used some more positive ease in the body but it does make a nice line at neutral or negative ease. The total yards ended up at 1,351 yards and I used up all of the tweedy yarn. I have had this idea for this rainbow sweater for close to five years and I’m glad it’s finally in existence. Now to wait for fall to actually wear it!

Happy Knitting!!

Autumn Gold Yoking

I had some waiting room time this week and I really powered through several sections of my Autumn Gold sweater.

This pattern is pretty good thus far. Easy to follow and making a nice fabric. I am using a sunshine marker to help me keep track of each section when it asks me to knit for a certain length. I could measure from the increases but this feels more secure based on my previous knitting mistakes.

It’s also been nice to move to the bigger needles and not have so many stitches bunched up on the needle. I think I have two of five increases done so I have a lot of more stitches to add to this thing.

Happy Knitting!!

Swatching: Bibliophile Sweater

I decided to swatch for a second sweater after my Autumn Gold went so well. This time around I chose the Bibliophile 2 by Alicia Plummer.

I wound the yarn and used the recommended needles. And boy oh boy did that NOT work. My fabric is almost bullet proof tight and way off gauge.

I think I will I will try a second time with just one needle size up. I think that will give me stitch gauge but not row gauge. So there will be maths involved when I go to actually and knit the sweater.

Guess I can’t win them all? Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Autumn Gold Sweater

Thanks to my successful swatching, I was able to start my Autumn Gold Sweater!

I am making the size XL and have already made one modification. I did not want to work the ribbing on the pattern recommended needles so I chose other needles. They are smaller than I will work on the body so there will be a size difference, just not to the designers specs.

I am done with the 1×1 ribbing and can switch over to the main body in stockinette. I much prefer stockinette in the round to ribbing in the round! How about you?

Third Sleeve Attept

So these are the sleeves I am not happy with. They are extremely boxy and square. I used some stitch markers to mark where I want the sleeve taper to really get going.

I ripped back to the marker and added 8 more decreases before the ribbing then used one needle size down to work the ribbing. The new sleeve is on the left and the old version is on the left. The difference is night and day!

Stay tuned for final FO photos!!! Happy Knitting!