Circular Needles 2, Erica 0
I first started it on Thursday. I did a couple of rows, realized my tension was really uneven, and ripped it out.
I started again on Friday. Did several rows. Was happily knitting along. Then on Saturday I started thinking..."I wonder what the pattern meant when it said to be careful not to twist when joining the round? Could it have meant....oooooh, I'd better check that. Yep. That's definitely what it meant." Ripped it out again.
I'm now on my third attempt. I think everything is going okay, but I may be wrong. I won't feel confident about it for awhile. I guess you really get your money's worth out of yarn when you get to knit it over and over like this...
In the picture I'm about 20 rows in.
I decided to add a little bit of length to the bottom. A little less than an inch. I've looked at lots of finished sweaters online, and some seem too short, while some look just right. I don't want to take any chances though...if I spend hundreds of hours and, most likely, a fair amount of aggravation on this, I'll be pretty pissed if it ends up being midriff-baring. So I'm adding a bit to the bottom, but plan on shortening the sleeves a little because they seem to be too long for most people. I'm really worried about running out of yarn, though. I think I have more than the pattern calls for, but in the errata the author mentions that a lot of people run out. I'm wondering if I should go pick up an extra skein...
posted by erica at
1:13 PM
3 Comments:
Great start Erica. I will be re-starting a sweater too today. Hopefully when the KO is over, I can pick up the book the Hourglass sweater comes from, and contemplate making it. Make sure you take GREAT notes, so you can share with me. I'll return the favor, lol.
Necia
By
Anonymous, at 2/12/2006 5:51 PM
Hey, if it makes you feel any better, I'm redoing the neckline on mine tonite for the third time, I think. And I had to restart my sweater twice b/c my handpainted yarn didn't match from skein to skein. Silly me, I thought I could get away with not alternating two skeins every few rows. Live and learn.
Did you see my reply on the HG blog about the circulars? Here's what I put:
I used a 8" circular from Joanns.com, but I don't think I'd do it again. It was pretty hard to do on it. If I'd had to purl more than the one row on each sleeve, I'd have been REALLY frustrated. Knitting's not quite as hard as purling with it, but it's still not easy on the hands. I'd read that other knitters' hands cramped up sometimes, and mine came close with the 8". I was certainly relieved to get back to the bigger circular when it was time to add the sleeves to the body.
I think the next time I'll use the Magic Loop method, with the really long circular, used similarly to the two your LYS showed you. Try Googling Magic loop knitting if you don't know how to do it. I used it for mittens this last fall, and it was so much easier.
What yarn are you using? I had 5 skeins of 216 yards each, and I probably have a total of a skein left over. It was the Malabrigo worsted merino. So that's what, roughly 900 yards? If you have a recent publication, the amount of yarn should be corrected already. The one from my library wasn't, but my LYS's was.
By
binkwaffle (Holly), at 2/16/2006 9:56 PM
Oh, thanks for telling me about the Magic Loop. I'd heard of it, but I thought it sounded really hard. I just Googled it and it looks manageable. And it would save me from having to buy two circular needles to use the 2-needle method.
I'm using SWTC bamboo, and I have 1000 yards, so maybe I'll be okay? I think the book I'm using is actually somewhat updated. It didn't have most of the errors mentioned in the errata, but did have a few. I'm still on my first skein, and I'm starting to think that I'll have enough.
I looked at your pictures of your sweater, and it's really beautiful. I love the yarn you used.
By
erica, at 2/16/2006 10:42 PM
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