Forecast premiére at the Art Gallery

This Sunday was the premiére for my Forecast in public. Family headed off for Djurgården in Stockholm, Sweden, to meet up with some friends at the yearly art exhibition Vårsalongen at Liljevalch Konsthall and for some lunch afterwards at Blå Porten. The cardi received many compliments from the friends.

Saturday evening I had finished the last bits and pieces ... and uh, how boring that was. I had feared that the button and buttonhole bands would be causing problems, which they also did. Now I'm not completely satisfied with these, but they aren't so bad that I would care to reknit them. They are a little loose at a few places, though you can hardly see it. Only fix I did in the end was to to tighten up the buttonholes.

Overall I'm really happy with this cardi, and it will definitely be worne a lot! It is the perfect day-trip-cardi especially to draugthty museums and chilly cafées, as it's really comfy and warming. I used approximately 4.5 skeins á 100g Rowanspun Aran in the colour Heath. Find more pictures at my blog mamatherapy.

pine green forecast

Hello everyone! Just joining in now, after a great bout of cabin fever pushed me to start a sweater (slightly extended version of the saga on my blog).

I'm mostly finished with the yoke, but as it's still scrunched up on the circular needle, it can't fit around my own shoulders for a photos. My dog (husky/yellow lab mix to give you a sense of scale) reluctantly stepped in to model:

I'm using a slighty coarse worsted wool that I bought from a farmers' market here in Vermont, in a dark pine green. Here are my early tinkerings with the pattern:
-I needed to go up to a size 8 needle to avoid a stiff fabric.
-I've swapped a horseshoe cable for the bobbled cable.
-I'm knitting every row instead of purling (has anyone else done this? I haven't read about it, but it's much faster for me!)

It's been incredibly helpful to read through all the earlier posts. Glad to be here!

another one finished

I just have to sew in the ends from sewing on the buttons and then block it. the shape looks really funny, but i promise it looks much cuter on. i just didn't even want to try, as this sweater is very fitted and my belly would probably pop the buttons right now. though when i block it, i'm going to try to make it just a tad bigger all around. here's a close up of the buttons that i spent like and hour and a half picking out at the store:

yarn used: rowan cork (discontinued) in "glow," bought off ebay

needle size & gauge: actually got pattern guage on size 7's

pattern modifications: the biggest change i made was probably making the armholes smaller. i did this by increasing fewer stitch in the arm sections during the yoke increases at the beginning of the pattern. though i love it in theory, and it looks great on some, including stephanie herself, big puffy sleeves and big armholes such as this do nothing to flatter my self-consciously linebacker shoulders. i also made the whole body a bit longer, by doing more rows of the 2 x 2 ribbing at the bottom. i also added some shaping in the middle of the ribbing for a few rows. nothing drastic, i maybe increased 8 stitches. i wanted the ribbing section to not be quite as tight, especially considering that by making it longer it would extend over my hips, so i figured a little more room would be a good thing. i didn't do the popular mod of starting the arm ribbing at the elbows but just tried to make the ribbing on the arm and the bodice the same height. all in all, a simple, and fun knit. wish i could afford her new book.

Forecast complete

I completed Forecast on Tuesday this week. Time to knit the sweater took about 2 weeks. It is the fastest sweater I've ever knitted. I used Cascade 220 and size 8 & 6 needles. I blocked it kind of aggressively to make it a little more roomy. Also I used 5 buttons, rather than the 10 recommended by the pattern. I prefer to wear it unbuttoned. It is just a little too warm for me to wear a wool sweater buttoned up (I do live in a relatively mild climate) The weather forecast is for a bit of rain this weekend so I should be able to get some wear out of the sweater :)

Abby

tangy!

it's done! yay!

(yes, i am trying to pose just like stephanie japel. there are dpns holding my hair up too.)

yarn: cascade 220 in orange
needles: clovers, size 8 and 6 circs and dpns
mods: ribbing begins after elbow(and very long sleeves), slightly longer ribbing in the body and 3-stitch bobbles

this pattern was so much fun to knit and i'm now addicted to top down raglans. they are truly the best for people who are afraid of seaming.

the orange color is something i'm still getting used to wearing but i feel more and more brave everytime i wear it. i've gone in public with it, but i haven't gone to school with it on yet. that's the next phase.

there are more pictures on my blog!

i'm lazy

but i'm blaming it on being pregnant. i've had my forecast finished for months now, but haven't woven in the ends from sewing on buttons. will have to block it too, but i'm posting in hopes of remembering to actually take pics and post them here. all in all, it was a lovely, easy project. i made some calculated mods (the common ones of lengthening rip, plus i made my armholes smaller) at the beginning and love that the pattern allows you to customize the size, etc. as you go.

Oops! Didn't read carefully

Yesterday I started knitting the sleeves using double pointed needles. After a couple of rounds I noticed my gauge was really off. (see picture below) I instantly thought because I change from knitting with circular needles to double pointed that it caused my gauge to change.

So I went to my local knit shop to buy the next size bigger double pointed needles (US9). At the knit shop, the owner as she was admiring my sweater pointed out to me that I was doing wrong. She showed me that I had reverse stockinette going on in the sleeve and that is why my gauge was so off. (remember the sweater is suppose to have the garter stitch bumps on both the inside and outside) When you convert a flat pattern to knitting in the round you are suppose to change the wrong side stitches from knits to purls and also the purls to knits. It even reminds you to do this in the Forecast pattern if you switch to knitting with double pointed needles! I had only followed this advice for the 9 stitches making up the cable section. Oh well... So I frogged it and started the sleeves again. Below you can see my gauge with the sleeve now matches the rest of the sweater. Didn't need to change needle size. Just follow the directions more carefully :) The picture above shows the true color of the sweater the best (less glare).

Abby