FO!

I finished Tempting! I love the way this sweater looks and fits, and how easy it was to knit. I like easy projects I can knit while engaging in another activity like conversation or watching TV.

Compliments flowed from friends, family, and strangers when I wore the sweater all day Wednesday, so my knitting ego was stoked. I wish I'd used a natural fiber, because an acrylic top in 90°F weather feels like a sauna. In the AC and and at nighttime, it felt fine though. Caron Brights is pretty soft for acrylic.

I made the large size, but stopped short of all the length schematics. I just kept trying it on as I knit - the body to 14" and the sleeves to 3.5" and then 4" after the join before starting the eyelet row.

The eyelet row is in multiples of 8 sts, so it works perfectly for every size EXCEPT the large - the sequence is off by one rib. I put the offset where the bow sits, but I think it would be better to add or subtract 4 sts from the body. I also changed the eyelet row to "YO, K2tog, YO, P2tog, K2, P2" which matches the ribbing, but maybe that doesn't matter since the ribbon covers that row anyway.

I didn't like having to adjust sts to close the holes at the underarm corners. Next time, I will try the kitchener's st, if it's possible with mismatched ribbing, or at least something that gives more stretch than the 3-needle BO.

About halfway through the body, I discovered via Knitty that I was a tight knitter, but since I started that way, I had to finish as such. Next time, I will go with the medium size at a more relaxed gauge. That means less yarn, few sts, and happy hands!

yarngear.blogspot.com

Mine's coming slowly, but it's still coming

Here's a progress pic:


It's tedious, so I'm not getting a lot done at a time. But I think that'll change as I look for a break from socks and lacework.

Almost There!

First of all, thanks for including me in my first knit-along. I've been knitting exactly 6 months now, and love every minute of it. Today marks exactly 1 month since I started Tempting, and I'm almost done. I just joined the 3 pieces last night. It's so exciting to see my hard work resemble a sweater now.



I had a couple of minor problems. I'm making the L size, so I don't know if this will apply to the rest.

At the end of the last body round, it says "Place next 12[14,16...]sts on waste yarn, work across 60[66,74...]sts, place next 12[14,16...]sts on waste yarn, work to end of rnd." Reading this part of the pattern literally, one would put the sts on waste yarn, then pull the yarn across those waste yarn sts to work the rest. What the pattern SHOULD say is, "Work the next 12[14,16...]sts, THEN place them on waste yarn, work across 60[66,74...]sts, and work across the next 12[14,16...]sts THEN place them them on waste yarn, work to end of rnd."

Joining the first sleeve was gravy. My body rounds end with P2, so joining the sleeve with K2 fit perfectly in the ribbing sequence. For the next sleeve, I stopped at the body waste yarn with a K2, so the next step would be to join the sleeve with a P2 but my sleeve starts with a K2. I shifted the waste yarn of that sleeve over 2 sts, so the sleeve starts with a P2, matching the ribbing sequence of the join.

Once joined, I knitted a few rounds and seamed an underarm. Now when the pattern says (for the sleeves) "break yarn, leaving a long tail" that means at least a 24 inch (60 cm) tail. I left 12 inches, and I ran out in the last couple of sts in the 3 needle bind off. After calming down, I unraveled back to the joining round, unraveled 1 round of the sleeves, so it could become the long tail, and joined again. After a few more rounds, I seamed the underarm again, but I noticed gaping holes at both sides of the seam. I tried pulling and redistributing the slack across the rest of the row, but those sts still look strained.



Did I bind off the underarms too tightly? Later, I'll bind off the other one more loosely to see. If that doesn't work, I'll unravel 1 round past the joining rnd, and reknit the last round of each piece, marking where the waste yarn junction will be. Then I'll tightly knit those few sts before & after the junction. Hopefully I'll finish this weekend!

Since this was my first (practice) sweater for me, I'm using cheap yarn - Caron Brights - but it knits to gauge. I'm definitely going to make this sweater again, with either the Cashmerino or something equally luxurious. I envision adding a pretty border or picot hem on the bottom of the body & sleeves.

yarngear.blogspot.com

Tempting Still Isn't Done

But I'm getting closer. Everybody says this is a quick knit, but I guess ribbing bores me. Sometimes I can get into a rhythm and get some knitting going with this 2x2 ribbing, but mostly I just get bored with it. I am getting closer now as I'm up to 15 inches, which is where I stopped to begin the sleeves, because I wanted my Tempting to be at least 22 inches, I made the body a little longer and then began for the sleeves. I am also making the sleeves a little longer (5 inches), which really isn't very long either. I am hoping to have this done in the next two weeks. I'm kind of tired of this thing.
Here is a picture of progress, thus far, although it was taken last week and I've now completed the first sleeve and am more than halfway with the second sleeve





That's all for now.