Finally, a Sweater!

I nearly forgot how gratifying it feels to actually finish a knitting project! But it feels awesome! Last night I casted off my Rena Cardigan. How many months has it been since I could say that I casted off of a big project??!

It has a few quirks that I will likely go back and tweak, but I must say that I am really satisfied with the results. My intention was to knit a very neutral, wear with anything, comfortable cardigan. As far as I'm concerned, mission accomplished! The inspirational piece can be found here on Fossil's website.

When I started this sweater back in August, I almost immediately got hit with knitting obstacles (my way of saying "no time for knitting") and eventually it was shoved into one of my many yarn baskets to await the day when I would finally pull it out and finish it. To be honest, somewhere between Halloween and Thanksgiving, my interest to complete it was almost nonexistent. I'd hit a wall from being worried I wouldn't have enough yarn in my dyelot to finish and the knitting itself began to feel monotonous and never-ending. Essentially, I gave up on the sweater. I guess it's easier to admit that now that it is actually complete. Nobody wants to say they gave up on something that they were so excited about!


But inevitably, I got bitten hard once again by the knitting bug. I guess when you truly love something, you may stray but you always go back to it. Hence my urge last Saturday to pull it out of the basket, and over the next few nights, it was all done!


I am so excited to share my work that I'll settle for the photos I took during the last few minutes of daylight this afternoon.
















As you can see in the above photo, the rolled edges of the collar are rolling in just a bit too much. I believe that a little more blocking should help with that. Also, there are a couple of stitches around the edge where I picked-up to knit the collar that got a little too stretched out. I will probably go back and reinforce them slightly. It was quite a task to pick up all of those stitches and have them on the needle at one time!





In this photo of the back, you can see where my seam looks crooked. This was frustrating, because I ripped and re-seamed half a dozen times before I realized that it would always appear crooked. This is because the eyelets are two different sizes on either side of the ridge. That's what I get for wanting a reverse stockingette stitch background with yarn-overs! I guess it's a good thing I've let my hair get so long - it will cover the seam up!!




As for the construction, it went much like my September sweater (check my labels to the right). I absolutely love putting something together in a non-traditional way! First, I casted on at the elbow of one sleeve and knit up to the shoulder. I casted on stitches at either side for the front and back yokes. I did a tiny bit of neck shaping and knit to the center of the back. I wanted this sweater to have a seam there (a fact I now regret a teeny bit due to the aforementioned crookedness). Then I knitted a second sleeve exactly the same way. Next I sewed both pieces together. Then stitches were picked up for the bottom and lastly, for the collar. If only it went as quickly as the explanation!!

Details:

• Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton Ease in Stone; 3.5 balls
• Needles: US 6,7,8
• Time: Sometime in August - January: way too damn long!

Well, that's all for now. I took pretty good notes while knitting this baby and once I organize them, I'll likely share them in the form of a tutorial. I don't know why I recoil from the idea of writing a bona fide pattern. I think my brain just rejects all the math involved in sizing. It's enough for me to keep up with calculating gauge :)

I'm already planning on a little somethin' to cast on tonight! Ha!
I guess I've got it bad!!