Queen Sleeves

Warning:  This post contains graphic images of Sweater Cutting.  Steek-Squeamish Knitters are advised to proceed with caution.

My "Swatch" for the Queen Bee cardigan is done. It grew up into two super-cute sleeves, just as I hoped it would:

Conjoined Sleeves, with steeks between

Separating the Twins

Independent Entities

Dead. Sexy. Sleeve

That's all there is to it.  I'll sew the underarm seams from the right side, with matching yarn and mattress stitch.  This will allow me to match the pattern perfectly at the seam {insert OCD remark here}.  Then I'll cover the "seam allowance" on the inside with bias tape or ribbon.  And the best part of all?  Not weaving in A SINGLE YARN TAIL.  That's right.  They'll all be secured by the steek, neatly trimmed, and hidden on the WS by the seam binding.  Which means that I could have changed colors in this sleeve on every single row, and never had to weave any ends in.  Sassy Much? 

Say it with me now:  Stranded Colorwork Is Not Hard!

Mystery KAL Kits, and a Not Very Helpful Hint

In case you didn't get around to checking Ravelry this weekend, I'm delighted to tell you that the Mystery Knitalong kits are ready for order! 

If you click the obnoxiously-glowing button on the sidebar here, you'll be taken to the Abstract Fiber website where you can buy them for - are you ready?- $15.00 each!  I don't know about you cats, but in my world, when I can't decide between two colorways, and then it turns out that they are SO fairly priced, why, the solution to Get Both is totally obvious.

And while I'm on about our mystery knitalong (when am I not?), I think it's time I offered you a sneak peek:

This is an extreme closeup of the sample made from Colorway 2.  Notice anything unusual about this colorwork?  Take your time.  I'll wait.

Post your guesses, and I'll tell you when somebody figures it out.  Bwaaaa Haaa Haaaa!  I love this KAL game a little too much. 

I think I may have a future as a benevolent knitting overlord. 


Congratulations, Emily!  With a close second to Audrey, whose guess was almost correct.  Yes, the stitches are upside-down.  But I photographed the sample right-side up.  So how can that be???

Love,
Mysterious Mary

Congratulations, Susan and Ginny!  You cleverly surmised that (at least the part in the photo) is worked from the top down.  My Gentle Readers are all such clever Beasties.  I'm gonna have to make the next one way harder...

MM

 

The Making of a Queen

It's no longer an empty threat, my friends:  I have yarn, and I'm not afraid to use it.

What you see here is two sleeves (being worked together), which are the beginning of your long-awaited Queen Bee cardigan.  

Here's a profile shot, in which you can see one of the steeks, with a sleeve growing on either side of it.  Those who have made this sweater in the baby version (The Bees Knees) will notice that I have added a skep motif to the border.  That's because I decided that the original proportions of the sweater were perfect for a Smally to wear, which means they are not right for an adult.  I needed to make the scale more, well, Queenly.  Which feels right to me so far.

And why, you might ask, would I start with the sleeves?  Because I've knit this motif before, and I've used this yarn before, but this is the first time the two have really met.  It's actually my gauge swatch, in addition to  being my first pass at the newly-enhanced Bee border.  I wanted to make a swatch which stood some chance of becoming part of the sweater, and my steeked cardigans only contain 2 knitted pieces (that's right: a cardigan sweater made from 2 tubes: how sexy is that?).  So it was either the conjoined sleeve unit, which starts out with 132 sts, or the main body tube, which begins with 336.  Even I can figure out that kind of math.  Sleeves it is!

And of course you will want to know what yarn this is:  Blue Moon FIber Arts BFL Sport.  I'm using (clockwise, from top left) "Saffron Surprise", "Chestnutty", "Harriet", and "Mossay".  They are playing very well together so far.  I can't wait to see what happens next.

After a whole year of working on Top Secret book projects, I can't tell you what a relief it is to be able to openly tell you all about what I'm working on!  I also thought it might be fun for those of you who go on to make this design, to see what I was thinking as I worked on the original.  I don't know about you, but I always wonder "What were they thinking?" when I knit another designer's pattern.  At least in this one case, you'll know!

And speaking of what I'm thinking, here's a word on the sizing of this piece:  The nature of the big (30 sts!) motif repeat presents certain sizing constraints, but so far it looks like the sizes in the pattern will be something like (finished measurements)  40", 43", 47", and 50".  If the size you've been hoping to make falls outside that range (smaller or larger), drop me a line or post a comment, won't you?  This is your chance to help me get the size range right (if possible). 

Can you believe it?  I've been promising knitters that I would tackle this project for over two years, and it's finally happening!  Bust out the honey, my Queens.  It's gonna be SWEET.