Progress

The increases are done on sleeve #1. I tried it on him last night - it fits perfectly!! I originally intended to make one sleeve at a time, but I decided that won't do. I want them to be exactly the same. So I bought another #8 circ today...I'll work sleeve #2 to the same point I'm at on sleeve #1, and then probably alternate 5 rows at a time or something.



The sweater is about 8" long, and the sleeve is 12.5". Incidentally, this is just below the bend of his elbow. I increased 2 stitches every 5 rows, and the increases were done on row 65 (not counting the 10 rows of ribbing for the cuff). It's hard to capture in black yarn, but I love the way the increases look...



There's a strip of 3 stitches that remain constant, and you increase one before and one after. It almost looks sort of like a seam or something. Anyway. I'm going to go cast on for the other sleeve now, and watch some more Northern Exposure Season 1.

Sweater, day 2

It's about 5" from the cast-on edge so far, and I started the sleeve last night. I only got about 5 rows done. (It looks really tiny, but it's ribbed and stretches a LOT.) Although I obviously started a new skein of yarn for the sleeve, I have yet to use up a whole skein on the body. That makes me feel good - I think 7 skeins will be plenty. And if I have to...the collar can always be in the grey used for the stripe. :) But considering that I originally bought the yarn at Michael's and then found an extra skein in the same dyelot at Joann's, I don't think I have much to worry about. Although I'm still tempted to go buy just one more skein...especially since it's on sale this week!

A new project

Mr. Nekkid has been asking for a sweater for a while. I bought the yarn a few months ago, and it has been in dustproof, mothproof, catproof storage (aka the kind of plastic bag a set of sheets comes in) ever since. I'm not sure what came over me Friday night, but I suddenly HAD to swatch for it. And now, with some help from Elizabeth Zimmermann's book Knitting Without Tears, I am attempting to make a patternless, seamless sweater.

Here's what I'm working with:
- 7 skeins Patons Classic Wool in black
- 1 skein Lion Brand Wool-Ease in Oxford Grey (for a stripe across the chest)
- US #8 circular needles
- 5 stitches to the inch in stockinette
- 200 stitches cast on

I started off with 10 rows of 2x2 ribbing. Well, I intended to, anyway, but I forgot until I had a good 40-50 knit stitches on the first row...so the first row is knit, then the next 9 are in 2x2 ribbing. Thankfully, I don't think this is noticeable.

Once past the ribbing, the stockinette began. This picture shows where I stopped last night:



Sadly, black knitting doesn't photograph all that well, but you get the idea. That's probably a good 3,000 stitches right there...and I think I've nearly done that much again today. If I can keep this momentum going, maybe, just maybe, I'll have it done in time for our anniversary, which is in four weeks.

Oh yes, I also came up with a variation on my baby bib (pattern here). Instead of incorporating buttonholes into the strap, just knit it straight until it's long enough. Sew the button onto the strap, then use the eyelets on the body of the bib as buttonholes.