Kirsti Knits

Time - such a precious Gift is it; To work, to read, and Yes, to knit. - Minnie Gertz

Thursday, February 23, 2006

I might just make it!

After a very productive SnB at Caribou last night, and a bit more knitting while waiting for Terry to come home, and then some work this afternoon and this evening ... I'm feeling slightly more optimistic about my chances of finishing in time. I switched from dpns to using two Addi circulars for the sleeve, and that's certainly made things a lot faster, and easier too.

So here's my progress, with one sleeve completed and the other ready to go:

That's one sleeve completed, with ends all woven in too. I'm overall pretty pleased with it, although the sleeve has ended up sitting too low on the shoulder, and making a kind of ugly bump. I'm sure a teddy won't mind, and I've certainly tried to rectify it when picking up stitches for the second sleeve. This is why I'm doing this project, to learn and avoid these mistakes on a full size garment. Plus, although I figured out that I should use paired decreases on the sleeves, I didn't think about leaving an undecreased "edge" stitch at the start and end of the round, like you do on socks. That might make a smoother seam, and again, I'll try that on the other sleeve.

Using the Addi's also made it so so much easier to pick up the other armhole stitches, especially as by putting the stitches onto the cable, I could stretch out the steek so it lay nice and flat for cutting. And, to make up for the lack of documentation of the first steek...


Here's me just starting to cut open the second steek. Note the bottle of wine in the background. This is because the cutting was proceded by...
...this! Barefoot Merlot, highly recommended in combination with Addi Turbos for making your steek cutting a lot less stressful. And, to be precisely accurate, the bottle in the background was Monday night's Gewurstraminer that I tracked down for Terry's Christmas gift.
And here's the end result: one open armhole. OK, it's a rather fuzzy picture, but you can blame Terry for that. Or the wine.

So now we're going to watch the women's figure skating and I'll see how far I can get with this sleeve. I'm not working tomorrow, so hopefully can get it close to done, if not completely done. We've got a busy weekend: going to see two shows at the Ark on Friday and Saturday night, staying over with some friends in Ann Arbor on Saturday, then a church membership class til 3pm Sunday. But I might yet make gold, even if I don't find a bear to model it by then. Heck, if necessary, I'll see if one of Amby's dogs will put it on...

At 10:19 PM, Blogger Sharon said...

Knitting, glass of red, what an awesome combination.

 
At 10:31 PM, Blogger Bethany said...

So you pick up the sleeve stitches before you cut? I'm so confused, and will be steeking soon.

 
At 11:08 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

That sweater just keeps getting better and better! Don't worry, you and I shall lean on each other, encourage each other, and generally drag each other to the finish line on time if need be!
I'm sure Mickey would be thrilled to wear your sweater, but I'm not sure if either of my little stinkers are worthy of wearing such a beautiful piece! (PS - thanks to your marching orders on my blog, I knocked out ten more rows!)

 
At 1:37 AM, Blogger Mauren Mureaux said...

Eeeek! Actual photos of the steek cutting are really scary looking, i'd have had some wine too...ok, maybe not, i don't drink wine unless it's Tabor Hill(a Michigan Wine), so a rum & coke will do, thanks! ;D

~Suz~

 
At 9:04 AM, Blogger Dana said...

I am totally with you, I would need wine to cut my knitting too!! You inspire me, I will be keeping my eye out for a project as challenging as yours to try. Maybe that sweater would fit my niece? I'll have to take some measurements of yours to see. Great job, can't wait for the finale!!

 
At 10:29 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

It's looking very good! You're very brave with the cutting there...

 
At 2:05 PM, Blogger Bethany said...

What do you think would happen if I wove ends *into* the steek, instead of toward the sweater? Would that be better?

 
At 5:19 PM, Blogger Dixie said...

I am beyond impressed! That sweater looks fabulous!

 
At 11:15 PM, Blogger Zonda said...

Awesome job! Congrats on finishing... me...no wine and knitting..hehe would be soo bad!
zknitter :)

 

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