Friday, Girl Friday

or, the Three Week Sweater

I've mentioned my Girl Friday briefly before.

I haven't knit a sweater in a long time- at least a couple years (not counting baby sweaters). I enjoy knitting big things, because you can just start knitting and go, but sweaters have two problems: lots of seams to sew (this is my least favorite part of knitting), and you actually have to make them fit. My go-to baby sweater pattern is Peapod, and the body of the sweater is knit in one piece, so the only seams are the arms (which could easily be done in the round) and shoulder seams. And with baby sweaters, they don't actually have to fit the baby. Babies grow so quickly that they should be a bit big anyway, or else baby will wear it once, and that'll be it. Babies also don't care if their sweaters are boxy, or the sleeves are too long. Babies generally don't have any sort of fashion sense. So grown-ups like me take advantage of this, and knit them things they'll regret in their dating years.

But sweaters for me are not so easy. Out of the 4 pullovers I've knit myself, I've worn 3 of them once, and the last one never. Of the 3 cardigans I've made, I've worn one once (it's super heavy and thick), one several times (it's white, good for DAR, and the size issues are partially fixed by pretending it's a wrap sweater) and one once, with the intention of wearing it again.

So with this track record, starting a new sweater was a little daunting. But, since knitting myself a sweater and actually wearing it (no matter how many times I need to frog and rework it) is a 2010 goal, I decided to start one asap. I went with a cardigan- easier to fit. If it's not perfect, I just wear it open. And with this pattern, I can make the edging wider if it's too small to button decently. This is what the sweater should look like:

(photo by Mercedes Tarasovich-Clark, more info on her and her pattern at knitty.com)

I placed a knitpicks order when I knit myself a Christmas stocking, and got 12 balls of Swish worsted in Truffle (as well as sock yarns for Clint, myself, and an unspecified pair)

And so, on December 27th, once all my Christmas knitting, was done, I cast on (using size 8 needles).

On Day 3, the back was finished.
On Day 7, the front panels were finished.
On Day 16 (after going back to work, and no more long distance car trips), the sleeves were finished.
On Day 20 (today), the body of the sweater is sewn together, and I've 1.5 inches into the 3-4in (I'll have to see how I want it) collar. The sleeves are not yet sewn in.

The morning before I started sewing seams (before blocking):(Pansy likes to help with these pictures)

And a close of up the lace pattern (which is said to be very easy to memorize, and this is very true)
Now I have to think what to knit next- and we're going to a hockey game tomorrow night, so I need to think fast. I'll probably use my Christmas yarn to knit some of Cookie A.'s Monkeys (socks).