a new Tradition

Finished today: Cardigan sweater, Tradition pattern from Philosopher's Wool. This is my first all-over Fair Isle sweater and the first ever done with two-handed knitting technique, over which I am ga-ga. Also first steeks, which I think are pure brilliance in no-fuss sweater construction. Yup, it's a bit too small, but I still love it. Must make more.

I worked on this as a diversion from the Dale of Norway ladybug sweater that I was knitting for a friend's baby-in-the-works. I have yet to figure out why, but the 24-mo. size sweater is turning out big enough to fit 8-year-old Leah, with room to spare. I am not exaggerating. The sleeves are on gauge, but the body? Not so much. I do love this pattern, but can do without these shenanigans, so it's being abandoned for now. Next? To be determined.

Yes, I am fully aware that I completed the 100% wool cardigan above as we are heading into July. Yes, I am fully aware that gauge issues are not the fault of Dale of Norway or the adorable ladybug pattern. Sshhhh, you! Just leave me alone in my happy place and don't confuse me with facts. :-) 

hybrid

This happy girl is wearing a sweater that's a hybrid -- a little of this, a little of that, combined into something new.

The yarn is 2 strands of burgundy cotton reclaimed from a Goodwill sweater, as shown on the Neauveau Fiber Arts tutorial, combined with 1 strand of variegated tencel from Webs. The pattern stitch is the broken lace rib from Paige's Stitchionary, with picot edges learned from Purlwise.
I used Jackie Fee's Sweater Workshop to calculate the important pattern numbers. The sleeves were knit in the round and bound off at the top. The body was worked in the round with steeks for the sleeves and front, as learned from Philosopher's Wool and additional info from See Eunny Knit because I wasn't sure if the slick cotton/tencel would be okay for a steek. It is. :-)

This sweater packs up small, so it came with me as the traveling project in Paris-Belgium-Amsterdam-Luxembourg. The steeks were cut while I was in the middle of a room full of happy knitters and spinners at Spa weekend in Maine.

(As an aside, I was hanging with newbie spinaholic Bart when I cut the steeks and now look...you can find his smiling mug all over the internet. Doug is the guy who is standing in that picture. He is one of Bart's mentors. Doug's friend, Laura, is one of the kind people who helped untangle Jesse's yarn. Each one, teach one...and the beat goes on.)

Edited paragraph above to reflect that Laura and Doug are friends, not a married couple. Oops -- sorry, Laura and Doug!

Anyway, hybrid, yeah. I suppose all handknits and all other handmade projects are hybrids, blends of experience and techniques and resources and references all pulled together to form something new and different, but this one seems even more so for me because I think it's the first sweater I've made up really from scratch. I chose every single element, right down to the yarn combination, and it all came together and it fits (this year only, I think -- the Goob is growing fast!) and looks good and was a really satisfying knit and, best of all, she loves it.

ACK!!!!

Heart-stopping moment last night, but first I must say that all 4 members of this family had a thoroughly enjoyable time yesterday, as evidenced by Jesse's proclamation that "this is turning out to be one of the best days ever!"

The heart-stopping moment came at what should have been a relaxing time in the evening. I'm up to armhole level on my Philosopher's Wool cardigan sweater, toodling along with knitting the body tube over the past couple of months, knowing that eventually I have to do something called a steek. I've never done a steek before, but I was confident that I'd figure it out when the time came. So, I came to the armhole level yesterday and didn't quite understand the instructions that came with the kit, so I decided to read in more detail in the Fair Isle Sweaters Simplified book. La la la la la... Gasp! I knew I needed to steek/cut the center front for a cardigan, but what's this about a single purl stitch that should have been made on every round, all along?! Okay, okay, breathe...um, I guess I could drop a stitch, let it run all the way down, and then painstakingly purl it back up to make my steek line...right? Please?! Read...read...seek guidance...ooh, a whole section on how to fix mistakes...
Oh, thank FSM! No purl row needed! Okay, onward and upward into the land of armhole steeks! No fear! :-)

But first, a family romp with textiles and pyromaniacs. 

me so steeky

The kids went to Lion King with my mom last night (and loved it -- I can't wait to hear more from them when they wake up), so I took advantage of the evening to concentrate on my sweater. Believe it or not, I was not the slightest bit nervous about cutting the armhole steeks. At this point, one sleeve is just about fully sewn in place and the neckline curve has been marked out and machine sewn. Hopefully at some point today I'll get the second sleeve sewn on and then it'll be time to pick up stitches to knit the neckline ribbing! I have my doubts about whether it's going to fit, but I am enjoying this process so much that I'm fine with that and would just give it away and start myself another Philosopher's Wool sweater.

You see those boo-boos in the diamond band at the bottom of the sleeve? When I first noticed them, I decided to leave them there because 2-handed knitting was new to me and I couldn't bear to tear out my work. And now I still don't mind the errors because I figure they're a reminder of how far my knitting has come during this project.