a forecast for spring!

Hi everybody -- I'm Carrie over at Every word's a purl. Despite my recent vow to take a break from top-down sweaters, I just couldn't resist the lure of Forecast. Basically, I'll knit anything Stef designs. So I picked up some Cascade 220 last weekend in a very springy shade of green:



Like many of you, I'm going with a three stitch bobble and altering the sleeves per Winnie's alterations. I'm really enjoying this pattern -- sure, I have to actually pay attention, but I get to just zone out on the purl rows.

Forecast newbie

Hi all! I'm Phoebe over at knithappened. Love all the progress shots...lots of motivation here! Decided to join up and try my hand at Forecast after seeing Winnie's and reading Jess' blog. Ordered my yarn...more Beaverslide in Mallard...hope it arrives before the weekend so I can cast on.
Best,
Phoebe

a-ribbing we go

'tis spring break. hence, almost done the body. i (unintentionally, but let's pretend i meant to do it) extended the cabled area to 6" below the armholes instead of 4.5". i've done 6 ribbing rows so far, so i estimate 12 more rows of the ribbing (i'm doing 12 repeats rather than 11) + corrugated edging.

full speed ahead! the peace fleece cannot be more awesome.

Making progress

After *finally* sorting out cables, I've begun to make some real progress on my Forecast.

It's not that cables are difficult, I think - it's that I was exceptionally obtuse. Also, rather than watching a video of cabling online, I figured it would be good to wing it and see what happened. It was also one of the first times I've used a chart rather than written instructions, so I was doomed to knit and undo and knit again until I got it right for some time.

But it's all been worth it - I now have a body!




Okay, it's not a great photo, but you get the general idea. Those are 3-stitch bobbles, by the way - the 5- stitch ones were a bit wild for this first-time bobbler.

I've really enjoyed this pattern. It has been refreshing to knit something with such (comparatively) heavy yarn and large needles - a real change from KSH and laceweight stuff. Due to an unexpected warm spell, it has also been quite a hot project. But since I want this ready in time for winter (fast approaching) I've persisted.

I'm hoping to finish the body before we go on holiday this weekend. We're heading to Australia for 10 days and while I love knitting this, it's far to warm and bulky to be a travelling project, so I'll have to take a break from it.

Fickle sunshine

I've finished the body and have picked up the stitches on the right sleeve. I only knit an inch of the sleeve last night. I took a ton of pictures this morning and had to delete all but three because of the fickle sunshine and the patchy cloud cover. I'm just glad I took them when I did because right now, there's no sun at all!

Here's larger pictures of the top and bottom halves. The ribbing will have to be severely blocked. Right now, it's very small. I may pin it down on a cork board while it dries so it doesn't shrink up again. This will require me to clear off my cork board which may take some time.

Have I told you how much I love the bobbles? ; D

First post: Confessions of a cable virgin

Hi, I'm The Skirt from Singleskirtedly, and I'm a cable virgin.

Jess from Fig and Plum inspired me to add Forecast to my must-knit list, and I bought the wool and began over the weekend.

I'm using Jo Sharp wool in a deep aubergine, and the collar (all I've managed so far) looks great. (I'll post a pic next post when I have a little more to be proud of!)

Since I've finished the first 16 rows I'm keen to get started on the pattern proper.

Therein lies my problem. I'm a cable virgin. Advice please? How do I knit those 9 pesky cable stitches?

Hello

Hello everyone,
I haven't started my Forecast yet, but I hope to cast on in the next week or so. I'll be doing it in Cascade 220 in the color 2452. (Kind of a fern color in the "heathers" collection). I'm planning to do a lot of the mods like longer ribbing on the torso and sleeves. I'm debating between 3 stitch bobbles and no bobbles. I am new at the blog/post thing, so I may have to ask stupid questions about attaching pictures as I get going.

I'm in Olympia, WA and have two kids...one at home (3 years old) and one in school (6 years old). My husband works for a local airline so he's gone a lot. This actually works out great because I can spread out my knitting and watch what I want on tv when he's gone! Looking forward to seeing all of the finished projects!!

Heidi

Almost ...there ...

I'm going to do about 3 more inches on the ribbing. After I finish the body I'll be swatching for my other sweater (traitor!). After the swatching I'll, hopefully, rush through the sleeves. I'm knitting them in the round with longer ribbing on the forearms. I already have the buttons picked out. I hope Canvas Works calls me soon so I can go pick them up. They're really lovely.

Oscars Progress

Thanks for everyone's advice on sizing! I've decided to go with the smallest size and hope for the best in blocking and making up an extra 1/2 inch or two in the button band if necessary.

My buddy Oscar helped me get a big chunk of Forecast started yesterday:

As you can see, I'm going with bobbles, and bobbles all around, rather than plain cables. (Can I tell you it's all I can do not to mistype "boobles"?). So far I'm pleased as punch with it. They make for a sweater with a lot of character and a definite vintage flare. They're a bit difficult to photograph. In fact this whole sweater is difficult to photograph - between the stitch patterns, the color, and the shape (esp. since the needles I'm using are shorter than recommended... gotta change that). If you click on the detail shot below you can see them a little better:



x-posted here

First Post: A Question of Ease

Hello there! This is my first post to the knitalong... it's so great to have company, isn't it? I'm Jessica, and my blog is Fig and Plum. The yarn I'm using, Beaverslide Worsted Weight in a saturated emerald green, arrived yesterday and I couldn't wait to start swatching!

Here's the yarn (the color is hard to photograph, so I fiddled with it in Photoshop a bit to get it close, but it's still not bright enough really):



And here's a horrible shot of the swatch (my first bobbles! They're 3-stitch rather than 5-stitch):



My first query for you is on sizing. My chest measures just about exactly 32.5" (see, we're getting personal right off the bat!), which would mean size S would have 0 ease. That seems tight for a thickish sweater. But the M is 36.5", which seems too loose with 3" of ease. So here are my questions for you:

How much ease are you building into your Forecast?
If I have to go for an "in between" size, is the best thing to do to go up a needle size?
Is there some other easier way of altering the pattern to get a few additional stitches here and there?

Thanks, and looking forward to knitting along!