Still knitting away...

Not much to report since last week, although I am proud of myself to blogging about my progress on a regular weekly basis which is better than I've done in the past.

The Sedgemoore is moving along SLOWLY.  I have finished the first repeat of both charts on the back of the sweater.  It is a slow knit for me not because it is a difficult knit, but rather it is just a complex knit.  The reason I say it's complex is that you are knitting 2 different charts each row AND the twisted rib between each chart.  It's complex and I find that for myself, I need to be fully alert and few distractions to knit this pattern.  This is a personal issue as I am a confessed ADD knitter.  I do get distracted easily.  To quote the movie "UP",  SQUIRREL!

But I am making progress on the back of the sweater.  I like the feel of the fabric and I am please with the look of the Knit Picks Shine Sport as I knit through the charts.  The color is rich and will suit my skin color well.  I can see wearing this to work or casually with a cami under it during the warm months and layered over a turtleneck when the weather here turns cooler.

Progress on this project is going to slow down over the next few weeks.  I am hosting a fiber arts retreat at the end of February and have 18 small projects to sew up for that and 18 embroidery projects to set up on the embroidery machine.  Fortunately, my embroidery machine is set up the pattern and let it go until I need to change thread colors which means I can do some mindless knitting while keeping an eye on the embroidery hoop.

That's all for this week, readers.  Stay warm and knit on Fiber Addicts!

Sweater Back Lower Border Done!

Lower border complete!  Yes, I had to read the pattern several times and it was a learning experience to knit the pattern thus far.  And yes, the 30 rows makes sense now because row 31 is the set up row for the body of the sweater.  I'll try to get some new pictures of the sweater back posted to show off the progress.

This is a pretty short posting, but I wanted to put something up to mark the progress on this project.

Nomenclature Differences

There are several adages in the fiber arts world that some of us (yes, I do mean myself) at times choose to ignore.  "Swatching saves time later" and "Measure twice, cut once" among other adages.  Well, here's a new one to the list.  "Read it once, read it twice, read it thrice to be sure you understand it."

Why do I say this?  In the course of watching others struggle with The Knitter Knitting Masterclass, I made a few personal observations and discoveries that and I'm sharing them with you here.

I think the biggest discovery is that you do need to read these patterns more than once to understand them.  These patterns are not published in an American based magazine.  This is a British publication and it appears that many of the designs used in the class are created by designers in Europe or the UK.  To that end, there's a definite style difference in how popular American designers and American publishers and technical editors write and edit patterns versus how submitters, editors, and publishers for The Knitter write and edit patterns. This is why I recommend reading the patterns thoroughly and more than once.  Here is an example of what I observed so far.

An American designer tells you to continue in the pattern stitch for either X number of inches or X number of pattern repeats.  In the first pattern in the Knitting Masterclass, you are given the ribbing pattern and told to repeat the rows and chart for 30 rows and end with a certain wrong side row.  This sounds fairly straight forward until you start to really think about the instructions and then look at Chart A that is an 8 row chart.  30 cannot be divided by 8 evenly.  You can divide 32 rows by 8 evenly and you actually then end Chart A on a wrong side row. 

This is why I recommend reading the patterns several times, ask questions if there's something you don't understand.  Also, search The Knitter website for pattern errata as many of the patterns are reported to have errors.  If you check for errata before you start the project and find corrections, it will save you A LOT of frustration later. And if you discover an error in a pattern and find no errata, contact the designer or The Knitter and report it.  One, you'll get the correction and be happier with your project; two, you'll be everyone's hero by getting the pattern fixed.  And if you're a member of my Become a Better Knitter group on Ravelry, please let the group know your findings in the appropriate thread.  You'll be our hero there too!

That's all for today, fellow fiber fanatics!  Knit on and knit strong!

Sedgemoore Swatch

I did say I was an inconsistent blogger, right?  Ok, so I've been busy with life beyond knitting for the last week.  Last Thursday, I returned to work after my holiday hiatus.  On Sunday, I spent precious time with my daughter as she prepared to leave our home to return for her last semester of her undergraduate degree.  On Monday, my future daughter inlaw, a dental hygenist, sent me a picture text message asking me if I could make/design a small project for her bosses and their brand new dental practice; this equates to a commissioned project where they will pay me to make the projects if they like the prototype I created (money for knitting, what can be better).  So, yes, I've had some other things on my mind and my needles this week.

And I finally took pictures of my swatch for Sedgemoore and my beginnings of the ribbing that I have done so far.  So without further ado, pictures of knitting!

 

I'm using Knit Picks Shine Sport in Terra Cotta.  The swatch is rather lighter than the actual color in the second photo below.  It is more of a deep coral color.

Sedgemoor Beginnings

Wow, 2 blog posts in a row. I think this is a record for me. They say doing a thing 21 days straight is how to make it into a habit. I’m going to try to keep up with daily updates even if it is only a few sentences.

So I cast on Sedgemoor last night. My tension was horribly tight and this morning I discovered a mistake in row 1. I was about 4 stitches from the end of the row when I discovered the mistake. And it was a mistake that would show in the finished product so I did the frog thing and ripped it, ripped it. Yep, frogged the whole thing and started with a new cast one because the tension was too tight and I wasn’t happy with how row 1 was setting up. It looked strange to me.

The back is cast on once more, tension is correct this time, and when rows 1 & 2 were done, the back looked better. I’m more satisfied with how it looks now.  

Swatch and Prep

I did say I'm horrible at blogging regularly, right?  Well, I am trying to be somewhat consistent with this project.  I knit up my swatch for the Sedgemoor Cardigan and it's blocking now.  I'll get some pictures up once it's dry and the lighting is better.  

My swatching process was to knit up 26 stitches for 28 rows using the twisted rib and the horseshoe cable pattern.  I'm not always consistent with knitting swatches for projects, but in this case because I'm a US knitter, I felt I needed to start this journey doing swatches for each project to start getting me in the habit of swatching.  I also wanted to test my understanding of the knitting terms used in the Knitting Masterclass because they are UK terms and not always the same as US knitting terms.  There are no truly glaring differences, just minor differences more in the descriptions for accomplishing pattern stitches.  I'm glad I did the swatch because I'm a loose knitter and throught I might have to go down a needle size to get the correct gauge.  But I surprised myself and obtained gauge using US Size 7 needles.  I'm also using Knit Picks Shine Sport Cotton in Terra Cotta.  The yarn is lovely in the hand and the color is a deep salmon color.

While the swatch is finished and drying, my preliminary measurements is right on gauge!  I'm pleased with the look and I'm pleased with the feel of the knitted fabric.  I think this is going to work very well.  I'll update this post with a picture as soon as I can get one taken.

Happy Knitting!