Sleeve Steeks?

I am making Autumn Rose as a gift for my sister who has requested solid color sleeves. I am ready to join the sleeves to the bodice, but the more I think about it, the more I wonder if life wouldn't be easier if I steek the armholes, finish the sleeves, and then attach them. Has anyone tried anything like this? I know raglan sweaters are often made this way, but since the neckline on this is different than most, I wasn't sure. Thanks for your help. Everyone's sweaters look lovely!

From Start to Finish Line

Just wondering.......of the 50 of us signed up for this knit along, which started, lets see......almost a full year ago.....how many have finished?

Was this your first fair isle?
If it was, what made you take the plunge with this particular design. (ie was it the fit of this particular design versus the traditional boxy fair isle pullover? was it Eunny's reputation as a designer?)
What did you like about this sweater visually?
What didn't you like?
Were you happy with the knitting experience?
Now that you've knit it (or part of it) what would you change if you did it again?

I'm wondering if you would knit fair isle again?

It's all over bar the blocking

At last, Jamiesons delivered the long-awaited yarn and I could finish off the neckband. Obviously I couldn't wait to weave in the ends and block it etc before I tried it on!

Initial reaction is good. When I'd tried it on before doing the neckband I had felt that it was way too wide across the shoulders. Indeed, several people had commented that theirs kept slipping off their shoulders. So I boxed clever and did some small decreases at each raglan point and that seems to have made the difference. I'll take close-up photos when I've blocked etc.

There is a bit of bagginess above the bust along the raglan line and I think that perhaps the decreases didn't taper quite enough for my shape. Maybe that will even out in the blocking anyway. We shall see.

My only other comment at this stage is that perhaps bust darts could have helped under the bust rather than relying on the stretch and cling of the fabric for the fit. Just a thought, but I suppose that might have been overly complicated given the already complex patterning.

I'm Done!

I'm done. I love my sweater. I have received many compliaments. I wear it every chance I get.

I had a problem maintaining row gauge (too few rows) so I had to add the band of the sunrise/madder to the sleeves and the body. Too maintain the length of the yoke, I also added more rows of the medallion pattern . I did run out of yarn but it turned out to be ok. I was going to be short 8 decreases but I made up for it by making my last decreases during the body bind-0ff. For the neckband bind-off, I used a tubular bind-off which looks great but took FOREVER. My mods in general were to make the sleeves longer and raise the neckline. A note about the neckline is that because of my problems with row gauge, it isn't much higher than the pattern calls for. The fit is ok but if I were to redo this, I would start the shoulder decreases a inch sooner to shorten the armscye. My sweater wants to slip off the shoulders. I also notice that the back neck on mine scoops down a tad lower than I want. Otherwise, I love this.

Off to the Frog Pond!

I cast on all 296 stitches for the hem and started knitting. My circular needles were new and quite curly-wurly and it was hard to straighten them out properly (can you see where this is going yet?) but I struggled along merrily. It was good Saturday-night-whilst-watching-a-film sort of knitting and it progressed well.

The next day, after running the Hastings 1/2 marathon, I picked it up to do a little light knitting whilst I had a short rest. The twisting wouldn't straighten out and that's when I realised - yes, it was totally twisted when I joined and I was making a Mobius Strip! Oh dear. I twisted and turned it thinking I couldn't have been so daft but I had to accept it and so it was that rather than knitting yesterday afternoon I was ripping.

I didn't cast-on again last night and had a couple of glasses of wine instead to numb the pain!

Swatch this!

I didn't start too well. After all the notes I've made about doing this I started swatching with the background colour in my left hand and the pattern colour in my right instead of vice versa, DOH! Not the end of the world as I realised after the 4th row. The pattern is not especially helpful as the chart shows dark colours as light boxes and light colours as dark boxes. How silly.




Here's the reverse of it before washing and blocking. I love the way the woven threads form their own pattern. It was very curly and hard to stretch out!




The front before washing and blocking.








I washed it in a gentle liquid wool wash then rinsed it and patted dry. When I first saw all the colours in the flesh I thought they looked rather drab and I was a bit disappointed. Now I've seen them together I've totally changed my mind as they really sing out. They are beautiful!

Having done the swatch I have several questions:

i) I'm using the pattern colour in my left hand and background colour in my right hand. When there is a big block of colour in the background colour (say 5 or more stitches) I can easily catch the pattern colour in to secure it. BUT, how do I do it when it's reversed? I don't see how I can catch the yarn in my right hand under the left hand yarn. Do I need to worry about it?

ii) Some of the rows use just one colour. This means the fabric is thinner as the patterned sections have 2 yarns. Is this OK?

iii) The Shetland Spindrift is very variable in thickness. The Old Gold is really chunky but the Shetland Black is incredibly thin and weedy. Does this matter in the scheme of things?

At least my gauge is OK. I've noticed that people have recommended knitting a size smaller than their actual bust measurement as it is meant to be close fitting. My actual measurement is 39" so I think I shall knit the 37" version as I don't want the neck to gape which it might if I did the larger size.

The other thing I wondered about is whether to increase the length a little. I'd better make a decision on that soon!

Another newbie

Hi everyone,

I've been following the KAL for a while and have finally plucked up the courage to tackle my first big FairIsle project. I've got the book, I've got the yarn and this evening I shall be casting on to swatch. I am quite a slow knitter so this project will probably take me a while but I'm really looking forward to it. Wish me luck!