All kinds of knitting

The Foxes Come Out

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:55:32 -0500

Wow! I’ve let a lot of time pass without posting a new entry to this here blog. I joined Facebook, and, boy oh boy, is that ever a time suck. But I’ve been a busy knitter in spite of FB. My Dale of Norway Foxes sweater is progressing quite quickly. The body is finished, and sleeve #1 is 2/3s completed. Looks pretty darned good, doncha’ think?

Aren’t the foxes adorable? Look at their cute pointy faces and their white-tipped tails. Make you go, “Awwwww!”

When I made the DoN Gjende, I ended up with sleeves that were way too long. I ripped back as far as I could without having to rip out the patterned section and shortened them as much as possible, but they are still about 1.5 inches too long. I could have shortened them more by picking up stitches an inch or so above the hem turn, cutting the bottom off, and reknitting the hem, but then I would have had to mess with the sleeve increases, so I left them as is.

I didn’t want to have the same problem with Foxes, so I used a provisional cast on and started with the patterned section.

I have a lot more of the sleeve done now, but I’m too lazy to take a picture of it. LOL

After the sweater is completed and washed and blocked, I’ll try it on and then knit the cuffs to fit. Foxes has a ribbed cuff instead of a hemmed one, so I could have gone ahead and started with the cuff. Had the sleeves been too long, the cuff could simply be folded up to adjust the length. But I don’t want a folded cuff on this sweater.

Foxes is a much easier knit than Gjende was. The main difference is that the chest pattern of Gjende is one big pattern. You knit it once for the front, then again for the back. I had to keep a very close eye on the chart when I was knitting it. The pattern goes to the center stitch, then is a mirror image.

Foxes is a repeating pattern that is very easy to memorize, and the knitting is easy to read, too, so I can use the row I just knitted as a landmark for placing the colors in the row I’m knitting. Does that make sense to you, dear reader? If you are a knitter, you’ll get it. If you aren’t, you probably aren’t reading this blog, unless you are my husband. (Hi, Sweetie!)

I really love knitting Dale of Norway sweaters and now have quite a few of them in my queue. I have yarn in my stash yarn for two Dale sweaters–the now discontinued Tiur, which I bought a couple of years ago when the rumor was rife that it was going to be discontinued. DoN at the time denied the rumor, but it was true–so there are at least two DoNs in my knitting future. No, make that three, because just this week I ordered Heilo to make St. Moritz. I’m hoping that once I complete this sweater and put it on, it will transform my appearance and I’ll look just like the model. LOL

The yarn should arrive to day. I know. I’m bad. Oh, well. Whatcha’ gonna do?☺

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WTF?

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 16:28:14 -0500

I hope that this doesn’t come as a shock to you, dear reader, but I sometimes swear like a proverbial sailor. You wouldn’t believe some of the words that come out of my mouth. Heck, I can even swear in Latin. But you don’t see a lot of bad language here on my blog because I know such language is offensive to many people, and I want my blog to be a place where I can share my thoughts on knitting with other knitters. That’s why I have included a picture of the progress I have made on my latest sweater, the Foxes sweater from Dale of Norway. Trust me, this sweater has made me swear more than once, but so far it has been a really easy knit. It’s just that I have a little difficulty sometimes with my reading comprehension, and I ended up “miscentering” Pattern II and had to make a few adjustments when it came time to start the pattern with the foxes. But after uttering a few choice words when I discovered my error, I quickly figure out the best way to correct it and, no, it didn’t involve any ripping out of stitches. I just made a small change to where the round begins and now all is right in the world. Or at least in my little world.

Although I cuss copiously in my daily life, I don’t do so in these pages because I don’t want to be unnecessarily discourteous. And, yes, I think there are times when being discourteous is necessary, but that’s a rant for another day. LOL It seems that there are more than a few people in this world who find swearing extremely offensive. I don’t get it; most so-called bad words don’t bother me. But I do understand that they bother some people, even if I don’t understand why they bother some people.

You may be thinking, whatever in the world has caused Pinko Knitter to write about cussing? What a strange topic for a blog that purports to be primarily about knitting! Well, not really. Here’s the story. (WARNING: There are two “bad words” used in this entry. One is used several times and is fairly innocuous, in my opinion. The other is used only once, in a rather academic context. If you are offended by seeing the so-call “f word” spelled out, read no further. You have been warned.)

As you may know, I belong to a number of Yahoo Groups devoted to various knitting topics ranging from lace to Aran to Fair Isle to the designs of just one particular designer. I belong to two lists in the latter category. Really. I do. Two lists. Each devoted entirely to the designs of one particular designer; one for the designs of MMario and one for Sharon Miller’s lovely designs. Three, if you count the EZasPi list as being devoted to the designs of Elizabeth Zimmermann. Anyway, I digress. Where was I? Oh, yeah. I have written before in these pages that sometimes knitting lists erupt into, if not all-out flame wars, flame skirmishes. There are a few topics that are almost guaranteed to raise hackles and spark flames–copyright, the best way to knit, whether lifelines are absolutely necessary, and, of course, anything of a religious or political nature. These dust-ups are all pretty predictable, repetitive, and b-o-r-i-n-g.

But a few days ago a kerfuffle erupted on one of my lists that was, um, interesting, to say the least. Here’s what started it. Some members of the group decided that they would like to have a KAL (knit-along) for a particular pattern. There was some discussion of how the KAL should be set up. There was some back-and-forth discussion about the various options which was pretty typical of the conversations sparked by the organizing of KALs.

Everything was pretty typical, that is, until, in the course of the discussion, Ravelry was suggested as an option and all hell, er, heck broke loose. When one list member responded to another’s complaint that Ravelry was rife with technical problems by saying that those technical problems were resolved long ago and that Ravelry’s owners wanted everyone to be happy with Ravelry, another list member wrote to say, “Nuh uh! The owners of Ravelry do not want everyone to be happy.” (She didn’t actually say “Nuh uh, but I’m pretty sure she was thinking it.)

Now, dear reader, I bet dollars to doughnuts you are wondering why this person is so goshdurned certain that the owners of Ravelry don’t want everyone to be happy with Ravelry. You are probably thinking to yourself, “I bet this has something to do with cuss words.” Bingo!Her evidence proving Ravlery’s indifference to their users’ satisfaction with Ravelry is that they allow content that she finds offensive and refused to remove it upon her demand.

The offending content involved a couple of patterns she had come across on Ravelry that included words she didn’t like–shit and fuck. Of course, she didn’t write out either of the words, but there’s no mistaking to what words “sh*t” and “f bomb” refer. I don’t quite understand how writing shit as sh*t makes it any less offensive, but that’s just me. For my money, shit is a perfectly good word and I don’t understand why it offends anyone. But then, my mother actually taught me to say shit rather than poop when I was very young because she really hated the word poop. In our household, shit was always, well, shit. ☺

Okay, back on topic. This person was also offended by Ravelry’s inclusion of a pattern for a crocheted penis in its archives. I’m not sure what sort of search terms she was using that led her to a pattern for a crocheted penis, but all this terribly offensive material appeared on her computer screen as she was navigating Ravelry in the presence of two of her nieces, and that made the offense even worse in her eyes. She seems to feel her nieces were terribly damaged by seeing a couple of cuss words and a crocheted penis.

So she did what any red-blooded ‘Merkin would do and complained to Ravelry. And Ravelry’s owners responded to her complaint. They explained that the patterns didn’t violate their terms of use and said they were considering making a mature section for such material. Sounds pretty reasonable, doesn’t it? But some people don’t know reasonable even when it kicks them in the head. Because Ravelry didn’t agree with the complainer that this material and any like it should and would be removed from Ravelry, that means that her opinion doesn’t count and wasn’t listened to. Um, it sure sounds to me as though Ravelry listened to her opinion, gave it careful consideration, and then gave a reasonable response. But it wasn’t the response she wanted. So she decried Ravelry’s desire to appeal to younger knitters with their “hip, edgy style.” Apparently she thinks that Ravelry should cater to the older, conservative, stereotypical knitting grandma and those youngsters be damned. Who do they think they are, anyway, with their bad words and crocheted penises?

We then were told by this self-appointed language policewoman that using the “f bomb” in a public forum is an indication of the breakdown of our society. Oh puh-leeze! Where have I heard that before? Oh, yeah, all my life, for as long as I can remember, any and every hint of social change was a sign of the breakdown of our society. When those uppity black folk wanted equal rights, it was the breakdown of our society. When those uppity females wanted equal rights, it was a breakdown of our society. Now those uppity gays and lesbians are demanding marriage equality. What is the world coming to? Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Blah, blah, blah. S.O.S. (Same old sh*t. LOL) Any challenge of the status quo is always seen by the defenders of the status quo as being a sign of the breakdown of society. If things were left in the hands of the status quo brigade, we’d still have slavery.

Dear reader, I know that you are very intelligent and perceptive. You are, after all, reading my blog. So you have probably surmised what happened next. That’s right. Someone else wrote in to say that people who use foul language do so because they lack a good moral background. Yep. People who cuss are immoral. Could it get any more ridiculous?

Well, yes, it could and it did. The woman who started it all by complaining that Ravelry didn’t cave to her wishes to purge itself of anything she found offensive then accused the list members who had written to disagree with her of slandering her. Yikes!

But you will be very proud of me. I didn’t inject myself into this situation. I actually kept my big mouth shut. Which is very difficult for me to do. I just sat back with my arms folded and watched the fireworks.

And this all just goes to show that in the world of knitting, there’s never a dull moment. Never. Ever. And with that, this moral degenerate will say, Th-Th-That’s all, folks!

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Favorite Gifts

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 13:25:45 -0500

I already told you, dear reader, about my favorite gift of this holiday season. Finding that perfect gift can be hit or miss. Some people are easier to buy for than others.

The boy, for example, is pretty easy to please. A few dozens homemade vegan chocolate-chip-and-oatmeal cookies; a dozen phony-pepperoni rolls; a bag of vegan caramels; a package of vegan chocolate footballs (made in England, so they are soccer balls); a Tom Robbins book; the annual football; a couple of pens (just like the ones I was given);

a handknitted sweater.

He’s pretty easy to please. But by far his favorite gift is the #11 Jordan Staal Pittsburgh Penguins double-blue hockey sweater. I only wish he had been willing to pose for a picture. Then I wouldn’t have had to snap one as he was moving. But even with half his head out of the frame, I think you can see the joy on his face.

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Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 10:16:28 -0500

Dear reader, if you are a knitter, or if you live with a knitter, or if you have ever watched a knitter ply her or his art, you know that ripping out is a big part of the process. Some might say it’s too big a part of the process. I dare say that no knitter enjoys ripping out all those stitches. But it goes with the territory. Sometimes mistakes are made; sometimes the fit isn’t right; sometimes it just plain looks like crap. In other words, sometimes you just have to visit the frog pond and “Rip it! Rip it! Rip it!.”

When I was knitting Gjende, I did a lot of unraveling of knitted fabric. Gjende was my first attempt at a stranded sweater. It was the first stranded colorwork project I undertook using the two-handed method, although I did practice the method before casting on Gjende. It took me a while to get the hang of tensioning the two yarns, especially in that big star section right across the center of the sweater. You know, the part that attracts the attention of anyone who comes within sight of the sweater.

My first attempt at knitting that section resulted in this:

Trust me, this is not acceptable, even for a novice strander.
So I ripped it all out and did it over again, with much better results, I must add. The up side is that I got a lot of practice doing two-handed stranding, and now I get an proper tension the first go round. This will come in handy when I start my next Dale of Norway “Foxes” sweater on January 1st. ☺

So why am I rehashing Gjende? Well, this leads me to my current stranded project, the “We Call Them Pirates” scarf that I am making for podcaster Joe Prova to match the “We Call Them Pirates” hat I made for him earlier this year. The scarf itself is my own design, if you can call it that, in which I incorporate the skull-and-crossbones design of Adrian Bizilia’s “We Call Them Pirates” hat available for free at Hello Yarn. After giving it a lot of thought, I went with a “seamen’s scarf” design where the part of the scarf that goes around the neck is knitted in 2 x 2 ribbing. (That’s knit 2, purl 2 for the uninitiated. Like the bottom and cuffs of your favorite sweater.) And I’m knitting it in the round so that it won’t have a “wrong” side and will look good no matter how Joe decides to wear it.

I decided to knit the scarf end-to-end, and when I got to the second patterned section, I just turned the chart upside-down so that the skulls would not be standing on their heads.

But after I had knitted a few rounds of the pattern, I realized I had made a grave error. Although the skulls would be properly oriented, the stitches would be going in a different direction and this difference was, um, glaringly obvious.

Here’s what I mean. These two pictures of the “fence” part of the pattern are identical, except that I flipped one of them. See what happens when I knit the pattern from the top down instead of from the bottom up? Yeah, the pictures are fuzzy, but you can still see the difference in the stitches.

The difference might not be noticeable from a distance, but up close, it stands out like a beat-up ’65 WV Beetle in a parking lot full of brand new shiny Cadillacs.

I had no choice. I had to rip it out. I put the live stitches on a holder. Then I cast on to knit the second pattern section separately, from the bottom up, just like the first pattern section. When I’m done with the pattern, I’ll simply graft the pattern section to the live stitches at the end of the scarf. Don’t gasp in horror, dear reader. I’ve grafted so many sock toes in my day that I can Kitchener in the dark. Hyperbole? Yes. But, seriously, I can Kitchener stocking stitch as easily as I can knit and purl. And I’m that one-in-a-million knitter who doesn’t hate grafting. So don’t cry for me. LOL Arrrrrgh, maties!
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Christmas Cookie

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:28:35 -0500

The holiday season is a time when our families are in our hearts, and my dad, who is always in my thoughts, is especially sorely missed this time of year. He loved Christmas more than anyone else I have ever known. This will be my fourth Christmas without him. I suppose this should make me feel sad, but instead I’m filled with joy. My dad gave me so much love and happiness, and we shared so many things–a love of reading; working crossword puzzles; the joy of learning. He’ll always be with me.

It was my dad who gave me my love of football. I already told you, dear reader, how my dad taught me about football and how I became a fan of the Buffalo Bills through him. And through Cookie Gilchrist. So imagine how thrilled I was, not to mention surprised and totally blown away, when I opened a present from my dearest husband on the Winter Solstice and found this:

Yes, dear reader, that’s Cookie Gilchrist’s 1964 Topps football card. Here’s the back of the card:

OMG! Best present ever!

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Pinko Knitter’s New Toy

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 15:51:43 -0500

Have I ever mentioned, dear reader, that I have the best husband in the world? Well, I do, and I can prove it. Yesterday was our 36th wedding anniversary and look what my DH got for me.

Yep, that’s right. That’s Apple’s new wireless mouse, the Magic Mouse. Here’s what the bottom looks like.

This mouse is beyond awesome. It’s too fabulous for words. The only way you can know just how wonderful and amazing it is is to try one for yourself. Seriously. Go to you nearest Apple retailer (Apple Store, Best Buy) and try one. I feel so high-tech, using a wireless mouse, Bluetooth and all that, with one-finger scrolling and two-finger swiping. It’s sooooooo cool. And it makes you cool by association. Remember that Windows commercial that has a young woman buying a Windows laptop, saying she not cool enough for a Mac? Hah! You don’t have to be cool to use a Mac. Using a Mac is what makes you cool. Or über-geeky. One or the other. I’m not sure which. LOL

All right, it’s time for some knitting content, boys and girls. Today’s featured photo is of the center of The Cat’s Day Shetland Shawl, which is the first Shetland-type shawl I ever made. I completed this shawl quite a few years ago, from a kit I bought from Blackberry Ridge, probably around 2003. But that was before I started to sort of keep a knitting journal, so I don’t remember exactly when I made it or how long it took. I do remember that the pattern had several errors in it and I did have sense enough to write corrections on the pattern itself.

Anyway, I got this shawl out the other evening because I was freezing cold, and since it was out, I decided I should take pictures of it. Here’s a shot of the corner of the edging.

Instead of turning the corner with extra points, this shawl turns the corner with short rows that make a rectangle. Doesn’t it look nice? There are three more like it. ☺

One of the best aspects of Hazel Carter’s designs is that each shawl has a story that goes with it. All the patterns in this shawl tell the story of a typical Shetland Island cat’s day. Here’s a picture of the border where the kitties get caught in the fishing nets that are spread on the beach to dry.

The project that is getting most of my attention right now is the scarf I am making based upon Hello Yarn’s “We Call Them Pirates” design. If you recall, I knitted a cap for a podcaster named Joe Prova, who is one of the hosts of the Chariots of Iron Podcast, of which I am a fan. Joe loves his “We Call Them Pirates” beanie and subtly hinted that he would love a matching scarf. By subtly hinted I mean that on the podcast he said that he loved his hat and thinks it would be effing cool if Pinko Knitter made him a scarf to match. You can see a picture of Joe wearing his beanie here. Page down to the entry for September 28, 2009, “I’m goin’ to California!” Isn’t his little boy adorable? Of course, I can’t just leave you hanging. Here’s a picture of the scarf in progress; it’s a little over half-way done. Whaddya’ think?

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Honoring A Fallen Comrade

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 12:23:15 -0500

Back in October, I wrote about a football player at the University of Connecticut, Jasper Howard. Jasper, aka Jazz, was the outstanding cornerback for the Huskies who was tragically murdered on campus. Arrests have been made in the case, and according to the news reports I’ve read, it was pretty much a case of Howard being in the the wrong place at the wrong time. The stabbing was the result of a fight that Howard had nothing to do with starting.

After Howard’s death, his teammates played hard whenever they took the field. They were determined to play their best in order to honor their fallen teammate and friend. After several tough last-minute losses to WVU, Rutgers, and Cincinnati, UConn rallied to defeat Notre Dame in double overtime, to crush Syracuse, and finally to beat South Florida with an exciting last second field goal as time ran out. And now the team is headed for the Papa John’s Bowl in Birmingham, Alabama. Congratulations, Huskies!

Today the Big East Conference, of which the University of Connecticut is a member, announced its All-Conference football team. The conference named #6 Jasper Howard of the UConn Huskies as its honorary team captain, immortalizing Howard in the annals of Big East football. I think this is a fitting memorial to a deserving member of the Big East family. Jazz may be gone, but he won’t be forgotten.

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St. Enda Update And Other Stuff

Wed, 9 Dec 2009 12:09:15 -0500

St. Enda is finished; at least I hope it’s finished. I haven’t woven in the tails on the cuffs yet because I want the boy to try it on first. If I need to adjust the length of the sleeves, I don’t want to have to pick out the tail. LOL After washing and blocking, the cables spread out nicely

and the width of the sweater grew several inches, just as my swatch predicted.

I did a folded neckband,

which is my favorite. It is a very neat finish, and I don’t have to worry that my cast-off will be too tight or that the opening won’t fit over the wearer’s head. Note that I did a purl round after picking up the neckband stitches and before starting the 2 x 2 ribbing.

I also included a “seam” stitch which was originally a knit stitch every round. But after I finished each section, I laddered the seam stitch down and used a crochet hook to make EZ’s “phony seam.” This technique involves alternating between drawing one thread, then two threads through the loop. The resulting “seam” is far more flexible than I was expecting and it looks very neat.

Now that St. Enda is done, I’ve been working on my Adult Surprise Jacket (No pix. Sorry.) And also on a scarf to match the We Call Them Pirates hat that I made for Joe of the Chariots of Iron podcast.

I’m planning to do a Norwegian KAL that starts January 1st. I’m making the Dale of Norway Foxes sweater.

I bought the pattern and yarn a couple of years ago when I was doing the North American DoN KAL. For that KAL I made Gjende. Needless to say, it took me a long while to finally finish Gjende. I think Foxes will be completed a lot more quickly. I’m no longer afraid to cut the armhole openings. LOL Anyway, before I start Foxes, I need to do a gauge swatch, so I’m going to make a hat in colors to match the sweater. The hat should take only a couple of days to complete, so I’ll probably wait until the end of December to start it. In the meantime, I’m going to try to finish the scarf and the ASJ, and maybe I’ll work on some socks.

With a new year approaching, I’ve been giving a lot of thought to what I wish to accomplish in the coming year in regard to my knitting. I hope to complete my first Fair Isle sweater in 2010, and to finish both the Melanie shawl and the Laughing Cat shawl. Otherwise, I’ll just knit whatever strikes my fancy. I know that cousin Vickie would love some more pink socks. A girl can never have enough pink socks.☺

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Seeing Red

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 11:09:05 -0500

Yes, I’m seeing red. Oh, I’m not angry about anything. It’s not that kind of “seeing red.” It’s red yarn I’m seeing. I’ve been working diligently on St. Enda in a beautiful red Tivoli Celtic Aran yarn.

The boy was here for the Thanksgiving holiday and tried it on, so I was able to get a good measurement for the sleeves. The sleeves have been giving me fits. This pattern is written for a specific row gauge, and my row gauge isn’t even close, and it is written for the sleeve to be knitted from the cuff up and I’m knitting it from the shoulder down, so I had to adjust my rate of decrease to my row gauge. After I got a good measurement and double-checked my row gauge, I ended up with a decrease rate of 2 stitches every 6th round. It worked very nicely for sleeve #1, which is finished.

Now I’m progressing with sleeve #2. One of the advantages of knitting the sleeve from the shoulder down is that the rounds get shorter as you progress because every time you decrease, you have fewer stitches to knit. Duh! Anyway, St. Enda ought to be completed by the end of this week. It’s going to be a beautiful sweater.

And the good news doesn’t end with St. Enda. On Friday night, my beloved WVU Mountaineers beat Pitt in the annual Backyard Brawl. It was a tight, hard-fought, back-and-forth game. Pitt has a good team this year and was coming off an impressive win over Notre Dame. ND is having a pretty bad season, but beating them is always impressive because they always have a very talented team.

The scenario went like this. With less than three minutes left in the game, Pitt’s quarterback threw a touchdown pass to tie the game. The Mountaineers got the ball with the ensuing kickoff, and drove the ball down the field. After converting a 4th-and-1 at the Pitt 36, they were able to advance the ball to the Pitt 26 yard line, eating time off the clock as they went. The Mountaineers then let the clock run down to 3 seconds at which time placekicker Tyler Bitancurt worked his magic.

His 43-yard game-winner was reminiscent of Bill McKenzie’s 38-yard game-winner in the 1975 Backyard Brawl. Hail to West Virginia!

And there’s more. Although nothing can top WVU beating Pitt, there’s icing on this football cake. On Sunday, much to my amazement and delight, the Buffalo Bills–yes, those Buffalo Bills–crushed their arch rival, the Miami Dolphins, in Rich Stadium by a score of 31 to 14. Under the leadership of interim head coach Perry Fewell, who took over for fired head coach Dick Jauron, the Bills have started playing pretty good football. Fewell’s shown that unlike his predecessor, he knows how to use the abundant talent that is on his team. I don’t know whether Fewell will get the job as the Bills’ head coach, but if the team continues to perform as they have under Fewell’s leadership, I think he has a very good shot at being named the new head coach. Time will tell. Go Bills!

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A Quick Knit?

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:13:46 -0500

How many times have I opened Alice Starmore’s Aran Knitting and gazed longingly at the picture of St. Enda,trying hard not to drool on the page? Too many to count. I dreamed of knitting this sweater, thought about what yarn I would use, what techniques for its construction, how the cables would feel, how beautiful the finished sweater would be. But never once did I think that St. Enda would be a pretty quick knit.

When I cast on for this sweater back on October 6th, I was hoping that I would be able to finish it in time to give it to my son for the Winter Solstice holiday, but I wasn’t optimistic that my time frame was realistic. In fact, I thought I was a first class fool to think that I could complete this sweater in only two-and-a-half months.

But since the sixth day of October when first I wrapped the luscious red Tivoli Celtic Aran around circular needles…

St. Enda has grown quite rapidly.

I now have both sleeves started…

and, although sleeves seem to always take longer than you expect, I’m confident that, barring any unforeseen calamity, I’ll have both sleeves done by the time December arrives on my doorstep.

Next week the boy, who is the intended recipient of the sweater, will be here for the Thanksgiving holiday. I want to have at least one sleeve near completion so that I can try the sweater on him and get the length of the sleeves correct. I’m feeling very gruntled at the moment, and that scares the bejeebers out of me. I hope I’m not tempting fate. LOL

Anyway, the knitting has gone very smoothly. The central cable looks complicated, and it does have a rather unusual increase that takes two rows to complete, but the directions are clear and the increase is simpler to do than it sounds.

Naturally, I’m not knitting the pattern as written. I toyed around with knitting it FLAK-style, all in one piece from the top down, starting with the saddles, but I was too intellectually lazy to do the math.☺ Instead, I started at the bottom, but I’m knitting in the round instead of flat so that I don’t have to seam pieces together. I hate seaming. I also changed the bottom rib. Instead of doing the lovely cabled rib, I did a 2 x 2 rib instead. I’ll do the same ribbing on the cuffs and the neckband when the time comes. The boy doesn’t like his sweaters to be too frou-frou.

I was going to attach the saddles (aka shoulder straps) to the live shoulder stitches as I knitted the saddles, but I was afraid the stitches wouldn’t be firm enough to hold the weight of the sweater without sagging or stretching out, so I ended up casting off the shoulder stitches and seaming them to the saddle.

This gives me a nice firm edge that will hold the weight of the sweater with no problem. The shoulder seams are the only seams in the entire sweater. Did I ever mention I hate seaming?

Converting this sweater to knitting in the round has been pretty simple, but there have been a few glitches. Starmore wrote the pattern to a specific row gauge and instructs the knitter to stop knitting after completing a certain number of rows of the main cable stitch rather than after the piece measures x cm or in. If my row gauge was the same as hers, this wouldn’t be a problem. But my row gauge is shorter than hers, meaning I’m getting more rows to the inch than she did and therefore I need to knit more rows to get the same length she did. Fortunately, her patterns include schematics that show the length of various parts of the sweater. (The chart with the measurements of the corresponding parts of the sweaters is out of view in the photograph.) And I have a record of the measurements of other sweaters I have made for the boy, so I have been able to cope with my wonky row gauge. I’m used to dealing with a row gauge that isn’t even close to the row gauge stated in the pattern.☺

This is the point at which I must once again state unequivocally that I would never have had the confidence to change the method of construction had I not participated in Janet Szabo’s Follow-the-Leader Aran Knit-Along (FLAK). Janet rules!

☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮
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