Sew Wrong

On the Needles: Carnac Sweater [WIP]


carnac

Apparently, there are hazards in talking to my sister on the phone (aka The Stitcherati).  We’re crafty ladies and like to dish on the projects we’re currently making, things we’ve seen on Pinterest, and stuff we want to make.  Well, last Sunday, she told me about a sweater she started to knit that she saw over on the Anthropologie Knits board on Ravelry.  I may have squealed in delight into the phone when I looked up the project on my iPad while talking to her.  This was a must-knit sweater, and I had to knit it now.  Which is why I paid extra for shipping on Knit Picks because I wanted that yarn to knit that sweater NOW.  Get the picture?

The pattern is Carnac by the oh-so-awesome Heather Dixon of Army of Knitters.  I’ve always said that I’m “lace-challenged” in that even the most simple of patterns always seems to make me stumble and screw up my knitting.  Once I got the hang of the constant yarn-overs, which make this sweater look almost like crochet, I started to breeze through this pattern over the weekend while watching a marathon of “Murder, She Wrote” on Netflix.  Oh, Jessica Fletcher…it’s a shame Cabot Cove isn’t a real place in Maine because I’d move there.

I’m planning on seeing my crafty sis when she comes to visit me in October and I hope we can both wear our Carnac sweaters while she’s here.  I’m trying to crank mine out as fast as I can to wear in time for the impending fall weather, and I can’t wait to see how hers turns out!

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Next on the Needles: Spring Garden Tee

webs6

Remember this?  This is my haul from shopping at Webs!

There’s something about summer that just doesn’t motivate me to knit at the speed I do in the winter time.  I’m guessing it’s because there’s so many cute summer clothes I want to sew and I’m not really inside watching Netflix and Hulu as much as I do when it’s cold outside.  At least I have my AC installed in my window now and can knit comfortably without having to deal with sweaty hands…

Anyway, my Gemini is getting very close to the end and I’m planning on that occurring this week.  I’m travelling today to New Jersey for work and have a four hour train ride down and a four hour ride back to Boston over the course of two days, so I anticipate that there will be much knitting happening on the train.  And as any smart knitter would do, I’ve packed the yarn for my new project, the Spring Garden Tee.

I’m not that optimistic that I’ll finish knitting the tee before the summer is over, seeing that I casted (is that the proper past tense?) on for my Gemini, oh, back in May, and I’m still not finished with it.  But I just can’t bear to start my Owls sweater in that heavy, wooly Rowan Cocoon that you see in the above pic.  Maybe once September rolls around…by then I’ve caught the “autumn bug” and want everything to turn cool so I can bring out my boots and jackets and cute sweaters.  Autumn is the one good thing about New England weather.

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On The Needles: Knit Night Cardigan

whole wheat WIP

I love my Wednesday night knitting group.  We’ve been meeting at our local Panera Bread every week since last August and I’ve gotta say, it’s a great group of girls.  Some of us are new to knitting, have been knitting for years, work in super smart science/tech jobs, but we all share a love for the craft and gathering to trade ideas and get inspiration.  Forming this group initially on Meetup.org is one of the best things I’ve done since moving to the city – I’m so glad we all met!

I’m calling this cardigan my “Knit Night Cardigan” since the yarn I’m using for this project was purchased at a LYS using a gift card that the girls chipped in and gave me as a thank you for starting the group – they’re the sweetest!  (Funny enough, the LYS is across the street from where we meet and they have a knitting group that meets every Wednesday as well.  And there’s a bookstore in the shopping center where we meet that has a Wednesday night knitting group.  Wednesday is a knitting night I guess!)  I’m using Sublime Yarns Baby Cashmere Merino Silk DK, which has such a nice feel and stitch definition, but it’s a little on the splitty side if you’re not careful and paying attention to your knitting.

I’m really enjoying the knitting on this project, which is originally called the Whole Wheat Cardigan by Alexandra Charlotte Dafoe.  It’s not mind-numbing stockinette and it’s not overly complicated that I can’t talk while I’m working on it.  The above picture is my progress so far on the back, but I’m actually further along than what you can see above.  I’m right at where the neck shaping takes place, and then it’s time to bind off and start the fronts.

And yes, this really is a shockingly loud pink yarn.  Perfect for all of those black and white dresses and tops I’ve been sewing!

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Leaflet

Leaflet

Pattern: Leaflet by Cecily Glowik MacDonald

Yarn: Osprey by Quince and Co. in Nasturtium
Needles: US 11 circs 
Size: Small

Leaflet

Last week we felt our first really “cold” day of autumn in Boston, which reminded me that I needed to block this sweater and wear it before it’s no longer in season.  I love how this sweater turned out – it’s the perfect fall color, the short sleeves make it a great layering piece, and the leaf pattern on the back is a nice surprise.

I had some trouble starting this sweater, as I wrote about here, due to my initial yarn selection.  But once I got over the hump, the sweater flew off my needles and was a quick knit.  I probably would have posted this sweater earlier but I was just too darn lazy to pick up the stitches around the neck and knit the ribbing.  So it sat in my knitting basket, waiting, until one of the girls in my knitting group asked me how my sweater was coming along and wanted to see it the following week at our knitting night.  It was some good motivation to get me to pick up all of those stitches around the neck, which I dreaded doing.

Leaflet

The other nice thing about this cardigan is that there’s no buttons or buttonholes, hooray!  Sometimes that can really ruin the look of the ribbing band around the front of a cardigan.  I picked up a cute shawl pin at Webs  in Northampton, MA that had a leaf decoration at the top, which seemed apropos for the sweater I was intending to use it for.  Even more versatility with this sweater – easy to wear it open or closed.

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I really should be packing, but…

Leaflet WIP


I just can’t even begin to think about all the packing I have to do in preparation for moving at the end of the month. Granted I just have a bedroom in a Philadelphia style house and I’m only moving three minutes away to another apartment, but I have stuff.

Like, a lot of stuff.
I previously furnished a one bedroom apartment almost all by myself for my first two years in MA, but things happened and I’ve been subletting in the city for the past five months. I crammed just about all of my furniture in my room, my couch is down in the living room (the four boys I live with love it), and all of my pots, pans, dishes, and spices are in the kitchen. Not to mention I have all of my clothes, books, yarn, fabric…the list goes on. This will be my fourth move in the past three years, and I’m just tired of doing so. I guess you could say I’ve become an expert on moving.
So instead of packing, I’ve been making progress on my Leaflet. I brought it to work on at Pints and Purls at Gather Here in Cambridge the other night and knitted to the point where you divide for the sleeves. I’m right now just about half way through the second of three leaves, which are so fun to see materialize throughout the process. The Boyfriend is always watching me knit this when we’re on the couch in front of the TV and I think he likes to see the leaves form as I knit, too. He was even suggesting the other night on how I could have mixed up the leaves, making each one look different. How can you not love a guy who is actually interested in what you’re making?

Leaflet WIP


One thing I’ve noticed about this sweater on Ravelry is that, in my opinion, the sweaters made in the Osprey yarn look better/nicer than sweaters made from other yarns. Like I said, just my opinion, but it’s almost as if this sweater was made for this yarn. I had difficulties getting gauge when I tried using a different yarn than the one recommended and when using this yarn I can see why – it’s a yarn between a worsted and a bulky, and I really can’t think of another yarn that looks like this. So when sweaters are made from worsted yarn on 10US needles, the look is much more open and loose. I’m so happy I went with this yarn and colorway, plus it’s a dream to knit with. Plus, I’m certain at the rate I’m knitting that this will be done just in time for cool weather to set in. Which is not that far off in New England…

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