"Mystic" sweater: reknitting sleeves

"Mystic" sweater: reknitting sleeves, a photo by Asplund on Flickr.

To my immense surprise, the sleeves turned out to be too long - actually, having long arms was a main reason for me to start modifying patterns. (Small/medium chest, medium/large shoulders, large/xl arm length... What was a poor, disproportionate guy to do? Develop his knitting skills, of course!)

Knitting sleeves top-down is a major advantage in cases like this: I only had to rip back and reknit a few inches, and only the shortest rows too. I think the new, shorter version looks better: the net starts in the centre of the panel and blends with the ribbing. (I often write "blend with", don't I? Something of an obsession, I guess.)

Sewing the shoulder strap in place took some time, but wasn't as tricky as I expected. It helps having a nice patch of garden to sit in - and the neighbours came for a cackling visit.

good neighbours

I always block sweaters inside out as I think it makes it easier to get the seams straight. Many instructions tell you to do the seaming after blocking the pieces, but I prefer having the boring bits over and done with as soon as possible.

blocking

And here is what the finished sweater looks like. I just can't capture the colour (no 4009), but here is a good photo.

Diana asked about whether the shawl pattern "Leaves Dancing" is available in English. Not that I know, I'm afraid - but at least lace charts are international. 

Off the hook

Wedding shawl for Stina: corner & crocheted bind-off, a photo by Asplund on Flickr.

When I knitted the "Haruni" shawl recently I skipped the crocheted bind-off, but for this shawl ("Springtime" design by Marianne Kinzel) I kept it. I think it's a nice finishing touch, sort of turning the leaves into more flowerlike shapes. There seemed to be enough yarn left to add similar (but smaller) chains along the top edge to, and fortunately there was: when I had finished there was 5½ metre (6 yards) left. Three balls of Rowan kidsilk haze makes it weigh 75 grams.

A major advantage with all those crocheted chains is that it makes blocking a lot easier. As this shawls consists of three triangles I folded it in three to make the sections identical.

Regarding the sweater I wrote about in my previous post: Dan suggested a few rows of the darkest shade first and then a sleeve cap. I thought about that too, but there would be a disadvantage: the short-row wraps in the other shades would show rather clearly against the dark. (They don't show much wrapped around the stitches picked up around the armhole, but sort of get buried.) I appreciate your suggestion, though! :)

Till den här sjalen valde jag att behålla originalets virkade avmaskning: jag tycker att det är ett elegant sätt att förvandla bladen till mer blomlika former. Det var tillräckligt med garn kvar för att göra en liknande avslutning längs den övre kanten, men det var lite nervöst när jag hade kommit halvvägs. Det gick i alla fall vägen, och det med 5½ meters garnmarginal! Det gick åt tre nystan Rowan kidsilk haze, så den väger 75 gram.

En fördel med den här avslutningen är att det är lättare att sträcka sjalen när det finns en massa små öglor till nålarna, tycker jag. Eftersom den här sjalen består av tre trianglar vek jag den tredubbel för att få delarna identiska.

how to use an umbrella

"Haruni" shawl finished

"Haruni" shawl, a photo by Asplund on Flickr.

Instead of a crocheted cast-off I chose an ordinary one - not as pretty, perhaps, but I think it accentuates the shape of the edge.

This design by Emily Ross is really great, I think! The shape and patterns enhance each other, and the two patterns blend beautifully. It's fun to knit too, easy to learn, but with enough variation to keep it from getting monotonous.

I used about 2½ balls of Rowan kidsilk haze, which makes it weigh only some 60 grams even though it's about 150 cm wide and 60 cm deep.

blocking

When I blocked it I folded it in half to make sure the two halves were identical in shape and size, and then reblocked the centre to get rid of the crease.






Christine: I agree, you couldn't get a yarn more opposite! Actually, my hands were rather sore after knitting a sweater and a cardigan with Harris wool, especially since I had a deadline and spent most of last weekend knitting with it. Well worth it, though. (And maybe the shawl can be used as a beard too!)

Som avslutning bestämde jag mig för en enkel men väldigt lös avmaskning i stället för den (fina, ska jag tillägga) virkade kanten. Delvis av lättja, men mest för att framhäva formen på kanten. 

När jag sträckte sjalen vek jag den först på mitten för att få de två halvorna identiska i form och storlek, och sedan fuktade jag och sträckte om mitten för att bli av med "pressvecket". 

Det är ett mönster jag rekommenderar varmt, inte särskilt svårt och med lagom variation. Mönstren och formen går så fint ihop också. Det gick åt ungefär 2½ nystan Rowan kidsilk haze, så den väger inte mer än ca 60 gram, trots att den är nästan 150 cm vid och drygt 60 cm djup.

Blocking the Springtime shawl

Blocking the Springtime shawl
Originally uploaded by Asplund

I've folded the shawl in half to make it easier to block; not only out of a lack of space, but mainly to make sure the two halves become identical in size and shape.

It's a method I've tried before and I think it's far easier than measuring and rearranging the shawl and all the needles. When it's dry I'm going to dampen the middle of the back and reblock that part to avoid a crease.

Blocking has made it grow considerably in size, from each of the three triangles measuring 46x100 cm (18x39½ in) to 75x120 cm (29½x42 in). In this photo you can also see how much yarn I ended up not using - a close call!

Actually, I had to change my plans and skip the border along the top, realizing there wouldn't be enough yarn after all. Chart C (the big squares without leaves) was far more yarn-consuming than I expected. I had taken it into account how much many more repeats there would be, but hadn't studied the charts closely enough to discover how many more stitches there are in some rows. For example, a repeat consists of 24 stitches in one row, but 32 in another. That makes quite a difference when a row consists of 18 repeats!

This is my first attempt at a crocheted bind-off; I think it suits the pattern very well and it wasn't difficult, so I'm more than likely to do it again. After some experimenting I decided a chain of five stitches would be enough; the pattern has nine, but considering how little yarn I have left it was definitely a good decision to make them shorter.

The joy of blocking

Anna's shawl
Originally uploaded by Asplund

I love blocking shawls! This time the total width grew by some 38 cm (15 in).

Tomorrow I've got two knitting-related activities to celebrate the first day of my summer holidays: having lunch with Anna to give her this shawl and see how it looks on her, and in the evening meeting up with my knitting & sewing group from work.

I did manage to knit in public on Saturday, joining other members of group Uppmaskan at the train station in Uppsala.

Unfortunately, I could only stay for some 20 minutes, between the opening of an art show where a cousin of mine is represented, and a colleague's birthday party. Toil and moil...

Before and after

Before and after blocking
Originally uploaded by Asplund

Same miraculous transformation every time one blocks a shawl! I finished the knitted-on edge late last night, and decided to wash and block it before going to bed. It was dry in the morning, so now it's just waiting to be wrapped around my friend Annika's shoulders.

This is a project I will associate with many pleasant things; to name just two:

1. The memorable afternoon I met up with fellow Raveler Ian to go yarn hunting in Stockholm. This yarn was my prey.

2. The company of my greatcolleagues. We started a knitting and sewing group a couple of months ago, and last night Mimmi invited us and our projects to her beautiful house outside Uppsala. After a long and unusually cold winter, being able to spend a warm and light evening in a garden felt almost surreal. We were quite spoiled too: home-made rhubarb pie and elderflower juice. Delicious!

Hats and knitting events

"Carl" and "Otto" hats
Originally uploaded by Asplund

I'm knitting hats for an event later this month, Smaka på Tjust (Taste Tjust – a Swedish district). This is a kind of market that focuses on locally produced goods etc. Carl-Otto, a men's clothing store in Västervik, asked if I wanted to present some knitted items there. DoI?Yes!

I've made a vest specifically for this event; I bought yarn produced at Östergötlands ullspinneri not too far from Västervik, and there was enough left for some hats. I already called the vest Carl-Otto, so these hats are Carl and Otto; they are twins but not identical.

My knitted items (and their creator) will be there Sept. 18 and 19.

Before then there's another knitting activity to look forward to, Progglördag at Nordiska museet in Stockholm on 12 September. There will be a corner where visitors can try knitting graffitti and I've volunteered to help out. I haven't done anything like that before, so it's a fun challenge!

I thought of a new way to block hats. Well, new to me at least – many others probably have thought of the same thing. I never liked blocking hats flat and suddenly had the idea I could try using a balloon; that way it would also be possible to get exactly the right size. It worked. Next problem: how to keep it still until it's dry? Ah! That's what lamps are for!