School Me, Please?

In order to justify all the spinning I've been doing (as if!), I've decided to actually knit a sweater.  Or possibly two (Did I mention, lotsa Cormo?).  I think it wants to be a deeply-textured, cabled Aran.  Something uber-traditional, with a wide center panel, and shoulder straps...maybe a turtleneck...

And then I realized that I have never knitted a real live Aran sweater.  Sweaters with cables, sure, but never what I would consider the the real deal.  I've bought books, been to classes, queued patterns, and never once actually done the deed.  Not sure why not, but there it is.  Knitting is always full of things we've never done before, thank God.

So it seems to me that a bit of practice is in order.  I'm going to take the unusual step of knitting somebody else's pattern, before I strike out to design my own.  But which one?  I'm having trouble narrowing it down.

Here's a beauty by Marie Wallin.   I do love me some knots and crosses.  And that funnel-neck is super cool - I dig the way the cable sort of crawls up the sides of it.

And one by Hayfield, whose designers clearly know exactly what they are doing.  Nice, restrained use of bobbles.  This company scares me to bits because there are no charts.  Really?  What century are we in?

Or how about this one, by Friend of the Blog, Sandi Rosner?  Totally dreamy.  And the sweater's not bad, either.  Particularly that shoulder strap/sleeve situation.

What do you think makes a cabled sweater design really special?  I especially love it when the cables/elements continue into the edgings, such as in Kathy Zimmerman designs.  I also love it when the cables are positioned to enhance garment shaping, like Nora Gaughn does.  What/who are your favorites?

Aside from design specifics, what technical elements do you think make a great cabled knitting pattern?  Do you feel that charts are essential?  What designer/publisher uses the clearest symbols?  Who has the best size range?  Most intuitive instructions?

Share your opinions, won't you, Gentle Readers?  I gotta get some more know-how!

EPS, a la MSH

Meanwhile, back at my Elizabeth's Percentage System test laboratory...

When last I updated this project, things were looking bleak in the yarn supply department.  As in, I was running out fast.  I had finished the body by adding 1" long sleeves, with the intent to make them however long I could at the end.  I finished the neckline and plackets, then divided my remaining yarn in half, to finish each sleeve from the armhole down.  Then I realized that the edging I wanted on the cuffs had to be worked from the bottom up.  So I worked one cuff edging from each half of my sleeve yarn, then set them aside and hoped for mercy from the Knitting Gods. 

I worked from the armholes down on each sleeve, then grafted the cuffs on, hoping to end up with a sleeve length that was in any way wearable. 

Here's an action shot of the graft:  A combination of DPN, circulars and one lone tapestry needle to get the job done.  Desperate times call for Desperate measures.  Fiddly much?  I'm pretty sure I didn't exhale the whole time.

And then I ran out of yarn, one round short of the second sleeve's end. 

Trying not to cry, I grabbed my purse to storm out of the house.  Not sure where I was headed, just OUT.  But the car keys were in the other purse; the one I had just changed out of the day before.  And so was this:

The remains from when I wove the ends in on the main body.  I don't even remember where I was when I wove them in - somewhere without a garbage can though - or I wouldn't still have the ends in my purse.  When spit-spliced together, they added up to exactly enough to knit a round and graft on the second cuff.

Say what you want to about those Knitting Gods, but sometimes, just to keep us wondering, they are kind.

Oxygen deprivation notwithstanding, this was a really good exercise for me.  I followed Amy Detjen's short-row insertion strategies (Originally Elizabeth Zimmermann's, perfected by Meg Swansen, and tweaked for prime time by Amy), and they really really work.  Follow Amy around the country to where she is teaching, or take her class on Craftsy to soak up some Genius.

I finally understand where the short rows have to go and why (different for every person's body), and best of all, I've cracked the code to putting a circular yoke on my own very square shoulders (Don't be in a hurry to start the yoke decreases!  Suck it up and keep knitting longer than you want to after joining the sleeves). 

Do I wish there had been less fabric in the main body so there could have been longer sleeves at the end?  Yep.  Do I wish it were a little longer, overall?  Affirmative.  Do I still love the color of the yarn enough to wear this in spite of not loving 3/4 length sleeves? Yes, and Yes.  Wearing a long-sleeve t-shirt under it compensates for both the length deficiencies. 

And let's not forget:  The goal was to get a whole sweater out of exactly three skeins of yarn, which I did.  Yay Me.  Oh, and the other trick that never fails:  Use more buttons than are usually called for on a cardigan front to avoid Gap-osis.  I have 11 here, when there would normally be 5-7.  And make sure there are an ODD number, no matter what.  Because it always just looks better that way.  These are antique shell, with a super-cute exposed shank attachment. 

This is the perfect time of year to make an abbreviated cardigan.  In most parts of North America, we still want a sweater on most of the time, but a short one like this affirms your belief in the promise of Spring.  Why not try your own EPS sweater?  I promise you'll learn a lot.  But please, do make sure you have enough yarn first.

I'm Sure I Can Make It Stretch

There is something about the violet yarn that makes me lie to myself.  I think I may be in a destructive relationship with my knitting.  I keep telling myself that I can make it work if I'll just change.  Change my pattern, change my needles, change my rate of decrease.  I will make a sweater, damn it, I just have to try harder.  It's totally me, not the yarn.  It's certainly not the fact that there isn't enough yarn.  Nope.  That's not it.  I haven't struggled along this far, only to run out at the bitter end.  The Knitting Gods are benevolent and kind.  They would never betray my fealty that way.

I made the circular yoke cardigan from the bottom up, in spite of knowing that top-down would be better for a person whose yarn supply is dubious.  When I got to the armpits, I attached sleeves that were only about 1" long, with provisional castons.  Then I finished the upper part of the sweater, and all the placket business.  The yarn that was left (the better part of one skein) I weighed and divided in half.  Then I took out the provisional CO and worked the first sleeve about as long as I dared to, but here's the sick and twisted part:  I absolutely must match the lower edge treatment at the cuff.  But the lower edge is a lacy scallop which is made from the bottom up, and the sleeve, as established, is being worked from the top down. 

Without breaking the working yarn from the sleeve edge, I laid the whole thing aside and pulled the opposite end of the yarn out of the center of the ball.  Then I worked a cuff edge from the bottom up with it, knowing that if I ran short of cuff yarn, I could always unravel some of the sleeve at the other end of the strand.  Which, miraculously, I did not have to do.  I had exactly enough to make the cuff and graft it to the lower edge of the sleeve.  Although I will tell you that I had to kitchener that B@#^$tard on three times to get the graft right.  Did I mention this is all in the round, on DPNs?  Yep.  I grafted 2 pieces of circular knitting together, which amounted to 6 DPNs.  Three Times.

It worked perfectly.  Except that, as predicted, I didn't have enough yarn to make a full-length sleeve.  I have perfect 3/4 sleeve.  And I hate 3/4 sleeves.  This may not be my healthiest knitting relationship.  The sweater and I may have to go for counseling, but I'm sure I can change if it will just give me one more chance.