Swan Lake Cardigan Finished!

When I started this pattern, I wasn't expecting fabulous results, but I am thrilled with how it turned out!!

We took these pictures this morning before I left for work and right before Bill got in the shower. I caught him just as he was getting in the shower, if you know what I mean. Well, he decided to bare it all outside while snapping these pics (even though I did offer my lovely pink robe). I couldn't help trying not to bust out laughing at what neighbors would think . . . fortunately, we have old ladies in the houses next to us and no children.

Anyway, here are the details:

Pattern: Swan Lake Cardigan, by Joan McGowan-Michael, Interweave Knits Spring 2007

Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Banana, just less than 4 whole skeins, size 3 circular bamboos

Size: I followed instructions for the smallest size, 33 1/2"

Modifications: I pretty much knit this one exactly as written. The only change was the middle section of the body. I knit the number of rows called for by the larger size because I wanted it to be longer. After years of knitting, I have finally realized I like my knits to be around 14" long before hitting the armhole shaping.

The only other change was that I could not get the gauge called for the in pattern. I went down to size 3's and still was getting 5 sts/inch, which is why I knit the smaller size. I figured it would come out closer to the 35" one, which I wanted, and I think it worked.

I worked an extra round of single crochet around all the borders before doing the rev sc, and I omitted the tulle.

Verdict: Oh, I really love this. It's so different from anything else I have and I love the puffy sleeves. They are so darling, if I do say so.

I got the buttons at Joann's with another project in mind, but when I put them up against the Swan Lake, I thought they went just perfectly.

After knitting this, I am ordering McGowan-Michael's Lingerie Style today. Her design was simple enough but so effective in its results. I can't wait to see what she's cooked up in her book.

Almost done!

Over the long weekend, I finished all the knitting for the Swan Lake Cardigan. Then I started seaming. Fun.

I started by sewing the sleeves into the armholes, even though the pattern says to seam the sides first. I think this makes it harder to the set the sleeves in properly, so I ignored the instructions. After seaming the first sleeve, I realized I had done it completely wrong. The sleeve is supposed to be puffy (DUH) and only be about 1 1/2 long. I set it in so the sleeve was about 5" long and not puffy. I freaked out, thinking the sleeve pattern was incorrect, but then I realized that I needed to make much bigger pleats.

Better.

So far, so good. Then I started seaming the sides. Reverse stockinette. Ugh. I did the first side on Monday and it came out really crappy - all bumpy and uneven. Yesterday, I found this helpful website with a simple technique for seaming reverse stockinette. It also works for garter stitch.

I started the second side seam using this technique and I think it looks OK so far. It even stretched flatter when I tried it on.

Then, on to the crochet. I am not a very good crocheter. I only do it when I have to, and not only does this pattern call for regular crochet, it calls for something crazy called reverse single crochet (rev sc). What? I looked at the instructions and Googled and realized it's kind of the equivalent to knitting through the back loop. It's also called crab stitch. So, I started rev sc on the sleeve border.

I couldn't get it to stop curling in, so I started with a round of single crochet and then worked the reverse sc. I think it turned out close enough to what the pattern looks like in the magazine.

Tonight: Finish seaming side, re-do first crappy side seam. Work crochet border on second sleeve. If time permits, move on to the body crochet, which involves making button holes . . . . yikes. Maybe an FO post by the weekend?

Swan Lake Progress

A little knitting monogamy this week has given Swan Lake a boost in the WIP pile. I finished up the back at the end of last week, knit the right front over the weekend and am about 1/2 way through the left front, with hopes of finishing it tonight.

It looks all twisty and long, but that's the stockinette sides pulling in. I'm really excited to see how it turns out. The chart has actually been extremely helpful and I'm glad the whole garment is mapped out on it.

Loving the Cotton Fleece.

With the long weekend approaching, this baby might be finished next week!

One other little tidbit: Last spring, before I started blogging, I knit two little hats for a co-worker who was expecting twins, one boy and one girl. He showed me these pics of the now one-year olds modeling the little bunny ear-ed hats!

Boy bunny.

Girl bunny.

Too cute! Here's the pattern I used.

This state of the knitting

Here's a look at the state of my current WIPs.

This is a top-down v-neck cardigan with cables starting about 3" past the underarm and planned to go all the way down to the bottom. I used Stefanie Japel's Fitted Knits to get an idea of how many stitches to cast on and how many increases to do given the gauge I got, knowing that I wanted it to be about 33.5" around before the button band. It's knit with Debbie Bliss Cathay in color 09. It's a nice shade of pink - not too bright. I plan on doing the sleeves similarly, maybe with a flared sleeve where the cables start.

Next up is Sahara. Ahh, Sahara. So freakin' close!! I'm not sure how I screwed this up, but I ran out of yarn. Luckily, I discovered that WEBS carries the Jaegar Roma on sale, so I've already ordered more. I can't figure out what went wrong here. I am making this version much shorter than the pattern calls for. The pattern says I needed 523 yards for the short sleeve version, and I had more than that. Oh well.

And, I cast on for the Swan Lake Cardigan from the Spring Interweave. This doesn't seem to be one of the popular patterns from this issue (like Cable Down Raglan), but I like it because it's different and the construction is a challenge. The chart on this looks super intimidating, but once I got the leaves started, I realized I just need to keep track of them - the rest is just filling is some reverse stockinette. I'm using Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Banana, my first project with this yarn. I've joined the Interweave KAL. I also want to join the Sexy Knitters, but they've moved over to typepad, so I hope I can join. They're doing Sahara now!