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!

Finished!

I'm done! I cast off last Friday, blocked Monday, and today I tried it on!

I'm happy with the depth of the neckline and I think I could wear it without a tshirt under it. The sleeves are actually a bit too tight despite my trying to block them wider - which is ironic because I was worried that my gauge was too fat there. The rest of it fits nicely, however, and I think I could get away with just a camisole under it because the Palette yarn is softer to the touch than the real shetland.

I agree with whoever on Ravelry said they had a slight problem with pooching in front where the raglan seams meet the neckline - I think it is the nature of the way the pattern is put together, and it's not very noticeable when being worn.

I did two fewer rows of ribbing on the neckband because I was down to the last couple of yards of Garnet Heather and I was not about to order another ball! If you want to make ANY size other than 35 inch you will need two balls of Palette in that color.

If I were to do it again I would knit one more round with black before setting the neck steek, as I think it looks slightly odd to have the gold blend up into the neckband like that - it needs the extra row of black to finish off the horizontal band there. I might also make a size larger - I am kind of uninterested in floppy sweaters these days but I am afraid I will find it too slim once I get wearing it. It's supposed to be chilly here tomorrow, so I might try it out with just a camisole under it and see how it fits when worn that way.

I enjoyed this project a lot, and I made a TON of use of the charts that Debbie made - I took the time to make myself chart pages for the front body above the armholes so that I could map out my neckline decreases, and also for the sleeves. I couldn't have knit this half so comfortably if I was trying to use the book charts. Thanks Debbie!

Help!

I've done two repeats of my Autumn Rose and I think it's going to be too small (Yes, I did swatch and I tried it on after I'd knitted the rib). I'm knitting the 41" size and would like to some measurements to help me decide whether to frog and start again (I could always turn what I've already done into a handbag). It would also be useful to have a hip, waist and chest measurement to help me decide what to do.

Thanks

Above the armholes

It has been awhile since I posted! I have joined up the sweater at the armholes - aren't those first few rows on a yoke sweater always awkward to get around! I liked what 'Spinning Jenny' on Ravelry did by raising the neckline, but I wanted it higher than level with the underarms. So I rejoined my yarns at the center front like the pattern said, intending to knit the band of crosshatch and then set my neck steek.

That was a dumb thing to do. It put the 'jog' between rows in the center front. After 6 rows I realized I just could not do that. I ran a size 1 circular into the gold joining row as a 'lifeline' and ripped back, tinked the joining row but left all the parts on the needle, then joined my yarn again at the left back raglan line and started again. Much better. I am going to set the center steek after I knit the solid gold row above the crosshatching.

Here is how it looked on Sunday right before I resigned myself to ripping back to the join.

I am happy with the way the colors are working out, but I do enjoy seeing other color schemes that people are devising, and I would love to try that myself someday.

A Question about neck shaping

Hey everyone,
I'm getting to the point where I will be doing the neck shaping on the sweater, and I have a question for those who have finished. Where does the steek actually go? Is it in the middle of the neckline stitches I'm holding on the stitch holders or is it to one side? Thanks for the help.

Oops, I did it again!

Hi,

My second autumn rose is done. Now I think I will take a break with knitting for a few days :o)

It's an "autumn violet" with loganberry (4sk), mulberry(2sk), lemon (<1,5sk) and white (<1sk) instead of the original red and yellow shades. I made the bigger size, added length (one more repeat on the sleeves and the belly) and was a little short with mulberry : i have accelerated the diminution at the end to finish 4 rows earlier.

I've used Harmony wood circular needle this time and it didn't tension the yarn as much as with metal one. The result is bigger this time... luckily not too big.

Have fun with this pattern!

Finally cast on

I have started my Autumn Rose after completing my previous project. I love the colors, but I'm not in love with this yarn; I'm finding it very scratchy. I think it will be better once it gets blocked, but I'm a little worried. How has it blocked up for people who have finished the sweater? I'll post pictures once I get to something interesting.

It has begun...

The beginning of a my first semester back at university may not be the best time to start a new relationship, but I'm afraid I had no choice. Love moves at its own pace, and I could resist no longer.

I received the Knitpicks Options needles in the size I needed (2.75mm) and cast on almost immediately. I am already in love with the shifting colors, the tiny stitches, the clever shaping... I can tell this feeling will last.

Autumn violet

Hi

I received yesterday some other violet shades for my mother autumn "violet".

I tried a few combinaisons, nothing is exactly what I wanted but here is the best match I could find.

I don't have enough time to order others shades...

I hope she will like it!

Finally blogging the finale

I actually managed to finish my Autumn Rose before the end of 2007 (just barely!) but because I've been at half-speed lately, I didn't get round to telling you guys about it before now (sorry).




All in all, I'm really pleased with it. Not only does it fit, I'm happy with the evenness of my knitting, it forced me to learn how to steek (!!!), and I can now say that I've actually knit and finished a sweater!

The only thing I'm not pleased with is the fit around the shoulder area. I assume has more to do with my body shape than the pattern itself; it's as though I have too much fabric in the shoulder area so unless blocked rigorously, the shoulders puff out slightly at the front between the neckband and the arm. Maybe I need a set-in sleeve shape, or less ease above the bust line?

This has been the most fun I've ever had knitting, and apart from the weaving in of 15 billion yarn ends, I enjoyed every second of it. Yes, even the parts where I had to rip back to the armholes.

I had so much fun that if I can figure out how to adapt the pattern to fit my shoulder area better I will certainly be making another one, albeit in a colour scheme of my own devising.

Long-winded details are on my blog along with a few more pictures.

Purple Autumn Rose

Hi All,

This is my first post, although I've been reading the blog for a while. My pattern book and yarn arrived over Christmas. I'm attempting to do this in an alternative colour as rusts and golds are not really my colours. Now I'm just trying to get the balance right. Here is my first swatch. I think I'm going to change the black to a softer grey and the coral needs to be one of the purples.

I'm going to do a second swatch with what I think will be the colours that I will use in the garment.

Got some of my yarn

I went to the LYS yesterday to pick up the yarn for Autumn Rose. They were out of several of the colors, but they have them on order, so I'll be picking them up next week. I sat and did my guage swatch at the store, and the guage was off, so I'll be going up a needle size. I'm going to be making the 39" size, planning to cast on just as soon I finish the sweater I'm working on now.

New to this

Hi everyone,
I'm new to this sweater, but I'm really excited to be casting it on over the holidays. This is going to be my second fair isle sweater so I'm really excited to get it cast on. I'm making it as a gift for a friend who likes the pattern and says that she will wear the sweater. I'm not sure how much time it will take me to actually finish this as my knitting time is pretty limited, the first fair isle I've been working on since August, and I'm just wrapping up with the sleeves. Hopefully this one will be a bit faster due to the fact that I'll be starting over Christmas break and should get a good chunk done then. I'll be heading to my LYS this week to pick up the yarn and pattern for this since they have a kit.
I'm really excited to be able to join in this KAL, even though I'm coming late, because all of you have made such beautiful sweaters or progress on them, and you're obviously a very talented group. Thanks for having me; I'll post again when I've actually started this beautiful project.

Fini

My Autumn Rose is finished and overall I'm happy. Pattern notes and final specs in this blog post including a small pattern error for the size 39. Thanks for all the help from the KAL group! It was so nice to have a resource for my first fair isle project.