WIP: Cardigan & Romper for New Grandson

November 15, 2009| Lindy| 0 Comment | 10:29 am

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Okay — I swatched some more on this cardigan project. Earlier I had posted about Things Learned from a Swatch. Well, I continued to be dissatisfied with my color selections — I really just do not like that light aqua color for this sweater. So, I went back to my LYS and bought up all the teal color they had — which is the color I really wanted for the main color on the cardigan. The problem is that there isn’t enough of this color to do both a cardigan and a romper to match.

So, standing in front of the yarn bin at the store, I decided that I’d try using a combination of the teal, the red AND a darker blue. There was enough of the darker blue in one dye lot to do the romper and there was 1 ball of another dye lot left. Since I only need 1 ball of the darker color to do the alternating 3 color pattern in the cardigan, I bought this ball as well because the color variation is not that different between the two dye lots and since it will be mixed in with the other colors, it should work out okay.

Swatch_Cardigan3 Here’s my swatch with the new color scheme added. The darker blue color definitely shows up better than the lighter blue against the teal color that I want for the main color. I have started knitting the romper in the darker blue and I think I’m going to really like the coordinated outfit that will result. This project is a bit challenging because I am knitting on size 0 and size 1 needles to get the right guage. Lots and lots of small stitches…

October and Breast Cancer AwarenessOctober and Breast Cancer Awareness

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. I am a ten year breast cancer survivor and at this time of year I like to remind my friends and followers about the importance of having an annual mammogram. I was well overdue for my mammogram when my breast cancer was detected. Fortunately, it was in the early stage and I received good treatment and am now cancer free. But I do not miss my annual mammogram.

So, my friends — Have you had your annual mammogram this year? If not, please get it scheduled and get it done. It’s important to take care of your health and this is one thing that you must do for yourself every year. One in eight women over the age of 40 will develop some form of breast cancer.

For those who are either dealing with breast cancer treatment or have a loved one who is — I have designed a Turban Style Chemo Hat — one knitted using worsted weight yarn and one knitted in sport weight yarn. Both are available for free.

Turban Style Hat in Worsted

Turban Style in Sport

Book Review: Perfectly PlusBook Review: Perfectly Plus

I have decided to do some book reviews on my blog during 2012. I am going to start with my review of Perfectly Plus by Mary Arnold, Colleen East and Kristin Hansen.

This is a “How to” book — as it says on the cover, it features the “Knit-to-Fit Workbook For the Full-Figured Woman”. If you have read my blog about knitting sweaters without a pattern, you know that I am a proponent of taking measurements and adjusting your patterns to get a better fit. This book follows that philosophy and focuses specifically on what plus-size women need to do to get better fitting sweaters. The first chapter covers all the basics: the importance of gauge, making adjustments using your own measurements, using schematics and calculating yardage. If you read just this chapter, you will learn a great deal about knitted garment construction.

The book includes a basic pattern for a knitted shell and another for a knitted cardigan. It is designed as a workbook, so these patterns have places for you to fill in your measurements and do the necessary calculations to adjust the pattern so that it fits you. For those plus-size ladies who need help with the math — this book really walks you through all of it.

The remainder of the book contains sweater patterns showing variations from the basic patterns. These are nice patterns, but I think I am more likely to go with the basic patterns and do my own thing in terms of stitch patterns and details. This is a good reference book for those of you who are looking for information on how to knit better fitting plus size sweaters.

If you are interested in this book, just click on the image of the book to go to Amazon.com.

First Row of Teddy Bear Squares Done!First Row of Teddy Bear Squares Done!

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I have completed the first row of Teddy Bear pattern squares on my baby blanket. This project is knitting up nicely and I am happy with my adaptation of the original pattern. I think the choice of the cotton Peaches & Cream yarn was also a good one. Just read a thread on Ravely about yarns for babies and one knitter commented on how the Peaches and Cream yarn gets softer with each wash – exactly what I wanted: a soft, washable baby blanket.