A sweater in 33 days!

First off this blob is my finished sweater blocking. :) I finished it last Thursday. I have to say that picking up the stitches all the way around and casting them off took a LONG time! But it was worth it. It really looks finished and after all the CRAZINESS it fits! I tried it on at work pre block and the photo below is my in my LOVELY work shirt in the basement. But its warm and it fits and it makes me happy. I will do a post after its blocked with how much yarn I used and all the changes I made to the pattern. (And they are many!)

I have been busily knitting a skirty with soaker which I finished on Thursday. (I also finished a pair of socks that I had been working on for MONTHS! Thursday was a great day for my knitting life!)

I used a whole skein of Cascade 220 (dyed by Jen) and about 1/2 a skein of the orange Cascade 220 for the skirty/soaker.

I had never done a skirty before and I found that I really didn't like it. Although since I am going to be running a business making these things I need to get over that! It isn't that they are hard it is mostly that they are boring. I bought the license for the EviePants All in One . Which means I can make skirties, shorties, capris, soakers and longies using her pattern and sell them. (Money is GOOD!) It is a great pattern I really like how she had the short rows set up (to make room for the diaper) and it really doesn't take long to make a pair.

These blue ones are not for sale. My friend Bernadette's sister is having a baby and I was invited to the shower. So I am making these pants (which need blocked) a sweater and some bibs and burp cloths. I'm hoping thats enough because I'm poor and can't buy a car sear and I don't have the time to knit anything else. I added a cable down the leg on this one. I love cables by the way. I think everything should have cables. I think they are really easy and add a lovely Irish look! (Have I mention my love for all things Irish before?!)

I used VERY little of the gray 220 for the trip and just over 1/2 of a skein of 220 Hand Paints from Cascade for the pants themselves.

I made this bid on Saturday for my friend Brenda. She is having a little girl in January and I need gifts for her to! (Have I mentioned my slight fear of crying babies. They make me nervous!) Anyway the bib has a cable up the side and around the bib. I used Sugar and Cream and it is a purple yellow and cream color! (Which are the colors of String Thing Shop the store Brenda owns!)

I've been so busy knitting I haven't posted!

Hello fellow bloggers! As I said in the title I have been a busy little knitter! And guess what it is totally paying off! My sweater WORKED. I have pretty much rewritten the pattern using the actual pattern as more of a template! I finished both of the sleeves in about a week. I had to use the smallest size the pattern called for. Even though I did the smallest size they are still a little large! Which with my gigantic arms is a miracle. I have never in my life owned something that was to big in the arms. But I've tried it on for all my knitting friends and they say the arms look fine. So I have a feeling that I'm just not used to having room in the sleeves. :)

I took a break for about 5 days on the sweater while the second sleeve blocked and made a super cute pair of longies. My friend Brenda, myself and a few others are going to be selling longies, soakers, shorties and skirties to the clothing diapering community via Hyena Cart. So I wanted to make a second pair of the longies and get some practice. The yarn I used was hand dyed my the wonderful Jen or The Purl of Knitting .

I learned how to seam a sleeve into a sweater for the first time! There was some youtube.com watching involved! So thank you to all the knitters out there in cyber land who put videos up! You are the best! :) It took forever to sew the sleeves in and than sew them closed. I think learning the mattress stitch on my navy blue sweater MIGHT not have been my best idea. The hole for the sleeve was bigger then the sleeve by about 1/2 an inch. So I stitched the hole closed. Better a little big then a little small!

The great thing about adding a few inches to the top of the sweater (which was less stitches and a little more interesting) was that I didn't have to knit as far on the bottom! The sweater falls about mid pocket on my jeans. I thought if I went any longer it would be to long. I used a size 10 needle to cast off because my cast off is generally very tight!

All I have left to do is finish the cable edging up to the neck. Then I have to pick up a million and a half stitches for the edge. The pattern only calls for 5 rows of ribbing on the edge. I however am fairly certain that I will be using at least 2 inches. I want to make sure that this sweater CLOSES! :)

My knitting/blogger friend Julie has offered to help my resize a pattern for "my" size. The problem is the sweaters that are calling to me call for a semi bulky yarn to a bulky. And the GOLDEN rule of knitting for the fat girl is NEVER EVER use bulky yarn. :( But I have visions of myself in a bulky cabled sweater on a snowy day. :( Stupid knitting rules. Here is the sweater I love!

Also welcome fall! I finally get to pull my knitted socks out again! :) These are my Cookie A. monkeys. I don't think I've worn them at all yet! I heart the fall!