Monday, November 20, 2017

Artfully Meandering: Down the Knitting Rabbit Hole - My First Sweaters

I blame Irma.

Well, I started falling down the knitting rabbit hole before Irma, but Irma clinched it. Nothing like evacuating to Alabama and having four days to focus on knitting.

I finished...frogged and re-knit my very first sweater. This is the Old Town sweater from Sunday Knits. This one took six weeks.



And then I went and knit a version in white for my niece. It was originally supposed to be for my sister, but I used a thinner yarn (smaller gauge) so it fits my niece better. This one took two weeks.




And now I have three four projects (two baby blankets, a scarf, and a hat) at the moment with a few others percolating in my head cast on my needles.

I knit my first pullover sweater in linen. This is gorgeous Prism Euroflax Linen yarn. I had a skein of this yarn in my stash when I decided to take on this sweater. I ordered two additional skeins from Desert Designs Knits to complete the sweater. Normally different dye lots can create a very jarring transition, but it worked out okay with this sweater. And I'm SUPER happy with the result of this sweater. In fact, I have a request to make one for another friend.  I've been able to machine wash this in super delicate and dry on delicate and it turns out perfectly. It's getting softer and drapey-er with each washing.



I've been pairing the sweater with another Sunday Knits item - the Sonoma Stole is perfect for the slightly cooler in between weather for a Florida winter. I get to wear my warmer knits!!!


While learning to knit with linen, here is a list of references that have helped me.

Here are the linen posts:
http://fluffyknitterdeb.blogspot.com/2006/06/l-is-for-linen.html
http://untangling-knots.com/2016/05/20/6-things-to-know-about-knitting-with-linen/
http://www.knittingparadise.com/t-172115-1.html
https://marvelknits.wordpress.com/2015/06/11/knitting-with-linen-technicalities/
http://www.ravelry.com/groups/linen-and-hemp-lovers
http://knitbot.com/blog/2013/5/9/knitting-with-linen
http://knitbot.com/blog/2013/5/22/finishing-with-linen
https://www.interweave.com/article/knitting/knitting-with-linen-yarn-and-knitscene-summer/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaPdU20WdzQ


Adding lining to a knit piece:
http://techknitting.blogspot.com/2008/05/best-way-to-attach-lining-fabric-to.html



And a side note on a cool stitch called the Linen Stitch for future knitting...


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