Almost Over

I know I could probably wait and post this as a "final" post with pictures of it blocked and being modeled by moi, but I just finished it last night and before I get it all wet and stretched out I just had to show it off!

I had so much school work to get done a few weeks ago and had to put Forecast on hold, so this first week of my Summer home I decided to make up for lost time. Originally I was going to buy the buttons today, but looking through my mom's button box(she is a sewer/quilter) I found eight buttons that were just perfect. who needs ten buttons, anyway?

a really bad picture of the back view and a good closeup of the buttons have been posted at my blog. hopefully I will have pics of me wearing it in the near future!

ta da!

Just in time to catch the last cool days of spring...

(click photo to make it a little bigger)
This ended up as one dense sweater. But I love it! My yarn was a heavy worsted wool from a farmer's market. It's bulkier, stiffer, and more rustic-feeling than the Cascade 220.

I departed from the pattern in a number of ways. Minor modifications included knitting every row instead of purling, switching to a horseshoe cable, and adjusting for gauge, size, etc. The more significant modification is that I did a short-row button band that only buttons up the bottom half of the sweater. I go into a bit more detail on my blog, but basically the pattern's strategy of making large decreases below the bust wasn't necessary for someone with a less curvy figure, like me. Since I didn't feel like reknitting the body, I started experimenting with an asymmetrical button band. And this is what I ended up with!

My main concern with the finished sweater is that my collar ended up very, very weird. I have no idea why it angles out instead of in. It was hard to see how it was going to lay until I'd already finished a good part of the yoke, and I was hopeful that I could block it to lay at a different angle. No such luck. At some point I plan to cut it off and replace it.

It's been very helpful to read about all of your experiences with this sweater. Thanks!

Button problem

Knitting is done. Just one band to go. Which brings me to a problem.... buttons. Should I go with matching white ones (which I still have to find) or should I go with these not yet finished polymer clay ones.
I'm tempted. I made them last night, they still need to be polished from my fingerprints and covered with some gloss varnish.
Hmm... do polymer clay buttons break easily? Opinions please, ladies...

I finished!

I sewed on the last of the buttons earlier this evening and now I'm done!

More photos and details are over on my blog.

I've really enjoyed seeing what everyone's done/been doing with their Forecasts -- thanks for all of your tips and inspiration! I'm sure this won't be the only time I'll knit this pattern (although I might wait to knit it again until the weather is more favorable for wool sweaters!)

Hello Forecasters!

I know I'm a little late to the party, but my knitting skills weren't ready to take on this project until recently. I'm Mel and I live in L.A. This KAL has been so incredibly helpful! I read every entry before casting on and answered many questions for myself. I am in love with this pattern and it's been a breeze. The only mistake I made was in not knowing how to read a chart and not realizing that the WS rows were included. I thought all the rows were RS! My sweater would have been down to my knees......luckily, I figured out my error early on.

I'm using Cascasde 220 in Lime Heather. Man, do I love this yarn.

Do I need to be concerned that it looks a little small? I'm taking into account that several inches are crunched up under my arms on the needles and assuming that those added to additional inches of the button band will take care of the gap. It feels good under the arms.I'm not sure if anyone is still reading this blog, but if you are out there, come say hello!

www.girleatssoup.blogspot.com

Hi, My name is Ingrid, I'm Estonian but currently living in Italy. Three days ago I started forecast (eventhough it's summer here) and have reached this far. You can see that I'm really enjoying the pattern :) Since there are no schematics included in the pattern my work is more difficult (about measuring and sizing), but I'm getting there.
I've made some alterations to the pattern to make it more comfy to work on.

• I am knitting the garter stitch with knit rows instead of purls (it required some attention on the second row, but makes the process much faster)
• I don't turn my work when knititng the bobbles, I simply pass the 5 stitches back to left needle, knit them and then pull 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th stitch over the last knit one. Again it makes the knitting way faster.

I have a question though... ho long does the ribbed part have to be/is? Since I substitued the yarn (unknown producer, 100% merino, softest merino I've gotten my hands on during last few years, bought from local market) the pattern instructions don't help me by saying "repeat 10 times" for the gauge is only given for garter.