Monday, May 07, 2007

Jewel cardigan? Finished!

It is finished! In just over 3 weeks, which has to be some kind of record for me. Just a warning, there are a lot of photos in this post. Dave and I headed down to the Lake Washington Ship Canal for the photo shoot. If the rocks look familiar, it's because this was also the site of the zucchini graffiti last fall... I finished the Jewel cardigan (aka short-sleeved cardigan with ribbing) Sunday morning at about 10:15. There was a slight snafu when I realized the purl ridges didn't line up after I attached the buttons, but that was quickly rectified.
Project Stats: Short-sleeved Cardigan with Ribbing (Jewel cardigan)
Pattern: Short-sleeved cardigan with ribbing from Fitted Knits. I made the smallest size.
Yarn: Cascade Jewel, slightly less than 4 skeins. Yarn acquired from Little Knits. I've not seen it for sale anywhere else, so I'm glad to got my hands on it, because it's great yarn! Needles: Clover bamboo circulars, size 10.5 and 9. I'm a tight knitter so I had to go up a needle size on both needles to get gauge. I believe my gauge was spot-on, which is a miracle for me. Usually I'm pretty good with the stitch gauge and I wing it on the row gauge. That's actually what I did here, now that I think about it, but it worked out pretty well.
Time to knit: April 12-May 6, 2007. Just over three weeks, and it could've gone faster but there were some pauses while I found buttons and then blocked the sweater. The actual knitting was super speedy. Big needles = fast progress!
Knitalong: The Fitted Knits Along was great for help and inspiration! Thanks to all of you for dropping by!Impressions: I'm really happy with the way this turned out! It's not the most slimming sweater I've ever seen, but such is life with a tight-fitting bulky sweater! The fit is great, despite my concern about the bottom ribbing being too tight. I was able to block it out quite a bit and the added width from the buttonbands was all it needed to fit perfectly. It could be a bit smaller in the bust region, but it's fine. I will concede that it might enhance the cleavage, but that's not really what I was going for. Although there were several errors in the pattern (check the errata), it was easy to follow and well-written overall. This was the first garment I've made from the top-down and I really liked it because the progress seemed so fast, and it looked like a sweater almost immediately. For me the one-piece construction was key to my quick finishing of this sweater. I'm scared to death of screwing up all my hard work in the seaming of garments - hence I have a sweater that is completely finished apart from the sewing together, and has been completely finished for months and months now. The minimal finishing on this meant I wasn't intimidated and I could finish it quickly. The only finishing was the buttonbands, and I'm good at picking up stitches :) I loved working with this yarn, and highly recommend it to anyone who can get their hands on some. It's a bit thick/thin but knits up to be fairly solid, in that I could wear this sweater without anything underneath (although it is slightly itchy, due to the tight fit). I'm really happy with my sweater! Now onto the next - progress photos soon!

13 comments:

Rachel said...

It turned out very, very well. w00t!

Anonymous said...

It looks great! Can't wait to see it "in person".
Nice modeling, by the way...

Anonymous said...

Emily, Great sweater and quite the glamour shots! love, mom

LizKnits said...

Your sweater looks fab!
I have a question for you. This sweater is high on my to-do list but I wonder about using chunky wool for a short sleeve sweater. Will this be something you can wear in the summer or is it really a fall/winter sweater?

Susan said...

Hey Emily,
I came over from the Fitted Knits KAL. Your sweater is so gorgeous.
The color & fit look fantastic on you.
Very, very cute and I love all the modeling pics.
You did an amazing job so wear that sucka w/pride!
Well done!!!!!
-Susan

Unknown said...

Wowza girl, that was FAST! It looks great, and you've inspired me to request this book from the library. I haven't seen many sweater patterns that are possible for a grad student to finish in less than 3 years. :)

Susan said...

I love the finished product. This might have to go on my list of projects from the Fitted Knits book. Two down and twenty-three to go!

Susan & her blog

Cfighter said...

Sweater looks great and even better the model looks blissful in it :) Great job Emily!
Wear it to lunch soon, so we can see it.

Rachael said...

I LOVE your sweater. I'm in NC, so I have mine on the list for fall knitting, but I have some malabrigo in a similar color designated for it already. You have definitely inspired me to follow through!

Anonymous said...

Great work! It really suits you. (by the way, you two should start offering professional photo shoots...)

Daisy said...

Love the sweater and the modeling!

Shannon said...

I love this sweater, and I'm glad ou got the ribbing thing worked out. I had mentioned the same problem over at the KAL. Also, I tagged you on my blog for the Seven Random Facts Meme...smile, you're it!

Anonymous said...

Oh, how gorgeous - both the photography and the cardi. Well done.