Sun 30 Nov 2014
Has it really been 2 weeks since I posted? I’ve been knitting away on Branden’s Basketweave sweater, lost in that endless middle section where there is no apparent progress to explain where the hours go. It has been slowly growing, though – helped along by a rather extended bout of inexplicable insomnia – and all of a sudden it’s starting to look like a sweater.
I’m not 100% happy with how the color is pooling. I ordered all 4 skeins at the same time because the yarn is batch dyed to order and I wanted to make sure that I ended up with only one colorway, but one of the skeins is significantly lighter than the other 3. I hoped it wouldn’t show, but with the sweater laid out it’s clear that there’s a difference. I’ve been working 2 balls together to try and even out the lighter skein, but the color is still not looking even across the whole garment. We’ll see how much it bothers me in the finished product. If it’s jarring enough, I may go back and overdye to reduce the contrast. I’d rather not have to, since that will probably also eliminate the subtle shade variegation in the yarn, but we’ll see how it looks. Good to have overdyeing in my back pocket, at least.
Deep in the middle of the sweater slog band, there was a day where I just couldn’t knit on a never-changing object anymore. And so, I cast on for a sweater that I knew I could finish in a day.
(Sorry for the terrible lighting, on both photos…it was a beautiful day and I was home for all of it, and yet it didn’t occur to me to take photos until well after dark, so poor lighting is what we get.)
It always surprises me how long small knitting projects do take, but this was fun nonetheless, and it used up a tiny little ball of leftover sock yarn that I had kicking around in the stash. I cast on 5 stitches for the front and back, and 2 for each arm section, and whipped up a simple little raglan in a matter of a few hours (I think I put 8 stitches on holder needles for the arms, and then picked up another 2 or 3).
I’m not usually into fiddly little projects, but this one was just right. It took the edge off of my need for progress, inserted a little color into a lot of black knitting, and the finished sweater is very cute indeed. I think I may have been subconsciously influenced to try some miniature knitting by the Yarn Harlot’s recent adventures with an advent calendar. There is no way I’m going down that crazy path, but it did seem like it would be fun to have a tiny little sweater to hang on the Christmas tree (which we put up today…is it really December already??).
It was fun to have a tiny project, just for a day. Here’s a photo to give you a sense of scale:
Off to knit a few more repeats on the body. Only about 6 more inches to go!
The difference in size of the two sweaters is amazing! I must admit that I am partial to small, colorful, and finished projects! 🙂
It’s too bad the yarn is different shades even though it is a lovely color. I wonder if she dyed them all at the same time?
Tiny sweater is great. I saw a whole string of them in a store window in NY a few years ago just to advertise the store. I’ve thought about it ever since but never did anything about it!!
I love the tiny sweater! So cute, so small. It will look great on your tree. The big sweater is really coming along. Too bad about the pooling. It almost looks like a design element (??), but I like your idea of dying it again if it’s absolutely necessary.
That last photo has me chuckling. Not the dye lot problem, though. Overdye is an answer, but too bad you have to go that route, if you do.
I can’t believe I’ve let nearly a month go by without catchup with your blog (or any until the past couple days, actually)! I’m sure I’m behind the times as regards Brandon’s sweater, but the miniature one is adorable. The Yarn Harlot’s advent miniatures are a bit tempting, but I think I’ll mostly leave the fiddly projects to others. I’m sure you have loved seeing the new sweater on the tree, though!