My First Sweater

I finally finished it. Seams and all. Hand sewing is not my bag, but once I got started I actually got the hang of it.

Two Tone Sweater - Lion Brand

Here's my review of this knitted garment:

Name of Pattern:
Two-Tone Tunic Sweater
Pattern #1100

Here's the link for the free two-tone tunic pattern.

Designed by:
Lion Brand

Pattern/Garment Description:
Bulky tunic sweater. Loose fitting. Side slits.

Size(s):
S (43"), M (46-1/2"), L (50"), & XL (54").

I made a size Small.

Yarns Used:
Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick yarn. I used Fig and Black colors. Fig is one of my favorite colors.

I used 7 skeins of yarn. Fig - 4 skeins and Black - 3 skeins.

Gauge:
9 sts and 13-1/2 rows = 4 inches. Size 13 needles in St st.

Knitting Tools Used:
Size 11 - 24" circular knitting needle.
Size 13 - 24" circular knitting needle.

Things I learned:
Increases
Pick up stitches
Sewing seams

What I Like About this Pattern:
A quick and easy knitting project.

What I Dislike About this Pattern:
Nothing to dislike about this pattern.

My Pattern Rating (Beginner, Easy, Intermediate, Hard):
Lion Brand rates this pattern as a Beginner. I have to agree. It's a nice challenging project.

Conclusion/Additional Comments:

I like this beginner pattern. I like knitting with larger knitting needles and bulky yarns. The sweater pieces knit up fast.

I shortened the length of the sweater by 1-1/2 inches. I shortened the length of the sleeves by almost 3 inches, from 20 inches down to 17 inches. The length came out perfect for me. I owe this to my sewing skills/experience and understanding my body measurements (not just the bust area).

Would I knit this again? Probably not. I think owning one bulky sweater is enough for me. I now have to figure out where I am going to store this. :)

Additional views:

Not a bad fit in the back

I like the side profile with the side slit

Catching Up On The Knitting Front

I've had a busy weekend. Saturday morning I went to church. As the unofficial photog, I took a lot of pictures of the kids, couples, and families during Sabbath school and church service. As a side job, I plan on creating a church directory. I've given myself 6 months to complete this task including taking over 200 pics of all the church family members. Yes, I'm behind already. After a couple of hours at church, I came home and crashed. I was one tired puppy.


I went to my LYS (With Yarn in Front) in Centreville to see if they had a pattern I've been looking for. Well, what do you think caught my eye? These cool looking purse handles made by Clover. What will I do with them? I plan on sewing a knitting bag for myself. I've seen so many cute ones, but I have had to resist...big time! I know I can sew one that would cost a lot less. I also have a huge fabric stash that would benefit from a 1-1/2 yard reduction. Additional information on my knitting bag will be posted on my sewing blog.

My new handles for my future knitting bag


My Cropped Cardi Vest is coming along. I started to knit the front right piece.

The back of my Cropped Cardi Vest is completed


I can't do anything sewing related (e.g. trace a pattern, cut out fabric, etc) until my Two-Tone Sweater is completed. It's currently taken up space on my cutting table. I finished seaming the second sleeve. I went ahead and tried it on to find that: 1) I can get the sweater over my head and 2) the sleeve lengths are perfect. I did intentionally reduce the number of knitted rows. When I finish this sweater, I will post a review here. Oh, I would like to add that this sweater is BULKY! I love the Wool-Ease Thick & Quick yarns, but my goodness...where am I going to store this sweater????

Almost done with my Two-Tone sweater. Just need to sew the side seams.


Finally, here's a picture of me modeling my finished shrug.

I feel like a neon sign...the pink is awfully bright

In the Sewing World, I Would Call This a Muslin

You know, sew it out on a rogue or leftover piece of fabric to see what the end results would look like. Apparently, the sleeves were bothering me so much that I woke up really, really early in an attempt to do something about it. I pulled out a leftover wheat-colored yarn from my scrap stash that happened to be the same yarn I'm using for my sweater (Wool-Ease Thick & Quick). I started knitting a test sample of the sleeve. Well, what do you know? I think I've got it down. The sides of the sleeve are looking straight. In my two attempts last night, the sides were nubby and just looked terrible.

My test sleeve

So, DH woke up early to find me MIA. He wandered into my sewing room to find me sitting on the floor with my finished test sample. I was smiling from ear to ear, he was not as thrilled as I was.


My first muslin attempt, was knitting a mini sample of the front/back section of the sweater. I was curious to see what this baby would look like before I used up the 7 skeins of yarn.

My mini test stitches

I'm on a roll with this sweater. Once I'm done with knitting the two sleeves, the next step of sewing all the pieces together will be an interesting experience for me. I'm armed with a few books to help me through this process.

One Piece Done, Three More to Go

I finished the back piece of my beginner sweater. I have to pat myself on the back, because I never thought I would get this far in my knitting skill. It looks like an actual back piece of a sweater. Amazing!

As I was knitting through the base and arm area of the sweater, I converted the sweater instructions into my plain english notes, something that made sense to my methodical/step-by-step mind. I was doing fine, until I got to the neckline area. I read and re-read the instructions. I thought I had a vision and wrote down what I thought was a good interpretation of the steps. Well, halfway through the neckline, realized I had to drop my instruction conversion and go with what felt good and made sense. It looks like a rough neckline for now. Later, when I start stitching the pieces together and then knit a neckline in, I hope I won't have to "fix" too much. Thank goodness this was the back, so my hair should hide any errors. :)

I'm now working on the front piece which is coming along faster thanks to my converted notes. The instructions for the front piece is similar to the back piece, until I get to the neckline area. The front will be slight shorter than the back piece. I have a better idea of how I need to knit the front neckline shaping.

I've Started My First Sweater!

I finally decided on the sweater pattern for my first knitted sweater. I'm working on my two-tone sweater that I posted the other day. Of the 3 projects that I mentioned, I thought this one had the best pattern instruction to follow. I'm making the smallest size which has a 43" finished chest. It uses a total of 7 skeins of Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick yarn (e.g. 3 skeins of Black and 4 skeins of Fig). I am using 24" circular needles in sizes 11 and 13.

I originally bought these yarns (on sale) to make 2 mini cardigans (one in Fig and one in Black). After reading the mini cardi pattern instructions, I decided to use the yarns for this project instead. I was still one skein short of the Fig color. I went back to Michael's and was able to find the yarn in the same dye lot.


Here's what my current sweater looks like. I love the two colors I am using Fig and Black. I have to say that knitting with black yarn in the evenings puts a strain on the eyes, but you know me...black is a great color to use and wear.

Working on the back of my sweater. Knitting in the sleeve area.

I love using my Takumi Velvet circular knitting needle. I haven't had a problem with my stitches sliding off accidently.

Here's my new gadget, hard at work:
My new mini Kacha-Kacha showing 64 rows of knitting completed, so far.

Thank goodness the weekend is here. I hope to finish the back and start working on to the front.

Why Not Add a Third Future Knitted Garment

I found another simple sweater pattern to try. This pattern is rated as Beginner. Which is what I fall into until I knit my first garment.

Two Tone Sweater

I also like this pattern as it uses Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick and Quick yarn. It calls for 3 skeins of one color and 4 skeins of another color. Or it can be knitted in a single color. I better keep my eye out on future sale ads to see if anyone has this yarn on sale.


This free pattern is available at Lion Brand's site.