a tale of two sweaters
Well, it's taken me a while, but I've finished two sweaters! I have to admit, I finished the first one a couple of months ago but it's not quite a winner. But, as with most of my sweaters that I would never wear out of the house, it is so comfy!
Pattern - Zena by Skif
Yarn - 3 various laceweight yarns on size 7 needles
I first heard about Skif patterns when a customer called purl looking for yarn for the pattern. I was intrigued by the description so I found the pattern and cast on. The yarn is ended up using is a Knit Picks merino laceweight yarn, i think an alpaca laceweight yarn, and some Habu non twist cotton boucle. The resulting fabric is so soft and comfy. The problem with this sweater is that it's too big (I actually machine sewed the sleeves skinnier and cut the seams - yipes!) and I didn't knit the back long enough. The sweater is knitting from the front to the back in one piece, and then you pick up and knit the sleeves. The patterns are a little confusing, but I do like the idea of using various yarns to create a certain look.
My next sweater that I just finished was a take on one of the first sweaters I ever made!
Pattern - Hourglass sweater with seamless yoke from Last Minute Knitted Gifts
Yarn - Terra in Black Locust Bark, 9 skeins
I've been wanting to make a seamless yoke version of this sweater ever since I saw Diana's version over three years ago - wow! I just loved the way the neckline looked on her sweater. As she did, I used the seamless yoke calculations from The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns (which is a fantastic book!).
I bought this yarn when I first started working at purl, and I really, really loved knitting with Terra. It's soft, interesting, and there isn't too many thick/thin parts to it. What I'm not crazy about is the pooling that happened in the middle of the body. I chose a dark color hoping that the pooling would be minimized. When I wear the sweater, it doesn't show up as much, so that's nice. The part I'm most happy about this sweater is the fit. I feel I've learned so much since I made my first hourglass, about yarn, different fibers and how they behave, about construction and my own body shape. It's a winner!
I usually have some photos of Unki hanging around, but I thought Maggie deserved some blog love. She turns 13 years old next month! She loves just hanging around most of the day.
But I had to share a photo of her whiskers - she's definitely proud of them!
Mar 17, 2009
Reader Comments (8)
oh, maggie, you're so pretty! almost as pretty as the sweater! i love the hourglass one!
xo
I love how your yoked sweater turned out! I didn't notice any pooling until you mentioned it, for what it's worth.
I think there's some merit to the sweaters that are super comfy but that you wouldn't wear outside the house. We all have them, right? Might as well lounge around in something that feels good, and if we made it ourselves? So much the better.
love your sweaters hb. maggie looks fabu.
Love your yoked hourglass! The color is great.
I feel the same way about sweater knitting.. I've learned so much since those first few sweaters where I'd follow the directions word for word!
love both sweaters! and do you think Maggie knows how lovely she is?
The yoked hourglass sweater is gorgeous! As is pretty Maggie :)
They are both fantastic, Mari!!! I especially like the modified hourglass -- it looks wonderful on you!
love your hourglass such pretty colors. i brought the pattern-zena too...still haven't decide what kinda yarn i should use.