Men's Striped Cardigan
12/23/10 — Even though it’s too small for him (especially in the armpits and along the button band), Alex wears it almost daily. Aww! :)
06/19/10 — Attached the sleeves and sewed on one button before I had to get ready for work :\ As soon as I get back, those buttons are getting sewn on! I’ll take pictures of Alex wearing the cardigan as soon as I can :) ETA: Awww. Darn. The sweater is ever slightly too small. The sleeves hug his arms too tightly and the buttons don’t stay quite closed. The points where the arms meet the body are too narrow, he says. Sigh. I may still try to soak it and stretch it out more. We’ll see?
06/18/10 — Picked up 274 sts along the edges & neck. Knit 3 rows in 2×2 ribbing, worked 5 one-row buttonholes in the next row, then knit another 3 rows of the ribbing. All that’s left is the sleeves! (And sewing on the buttons but shh!)
06/14/10 — Whoo! Once I got the hang of weaving in the ends, it went a lot easier. I used the 3-needle BO to attach the front pieces to the back. Now I’m blocking the pieces before I attach the sleeves and knit the button & buttonhole bands.
06/09/10 — Wove in the loose ends on the sleeves today. Started weaving in the ends on the body… only got as far as weaving in the loose “new ball” ends, not the color changing ends. Almost there!
06/02/10 — Oh, the agony! The ends! THEY’RE EVERYWHERE! How will I deal with this? :(
06/01/10 — Decided to ditch that weaving-in-ends-as-you-go effort. It wasn’t working out as well as I’d hoped… so I went back to striping regularly. I’ll just deal with all the loose ends when I’m finished with everything :\
05/30/10 — Started sleeve #2. Trying out a technique where you weave in the ends as you knit. I’m tired of all the loose ends >_<
05/29/10 — Picked up the sleeve again. (I needed to put away this project to work on baby things for a friend.) Finished it. I kept making Alex put it on as I was working on it to make sure that it would fit him how he likes it. I worked it to 21.5” before shaping the cap. Now to duplicate it…
05/09/10 — Cast on for the first sleeve. Knitting it in the round to avoid seaming.
04/29/10 — The body is finished. There are loose ends everywhere! I didn’t bind off like the instructions said to do because I’m contemplating using the 3-needle BO for the shoulders. I’m just wondering if I should weave the ends in first. That will probably save me time and sanity later on… so I’ll most likely do that.
04/26/10 — Dividing the fronts from the back and starting the armhole shaping. I’m using one of Alex’s favorite cardigans to figure out length and shaping for this new cardigan.
04/18/10 — Woohoo! I finished the ribbing last night and managed to complete three stripes today. At this rate, this sweater will be done in no time ;) I’m also looking into making the sleeves in the round so I can do as little seaming as possible.
04/17/10 — Got my needle tips yesterday and finally cast on today. I’ve decided not to do the single row of contrasting color at the edges so I’ve cast on with color #2 (Pomegranate)… and I’m continuing with it, doing the 2×2 rib in this color.
04/09/10 — Huh. I only now realized that the set of KP Options Harmony interchangeable circular needles I bought a couple of months ago came with two sets of size US 5 tips… and no US 6 tips. Awesome. ETA: I emailed Knit Picks about it and they’re sending me a set of #6 needle tips gratis! Score. (Thanks, Knit Picks! ♥)
04/08/10 — I just swatched for this cardigan and it looks like I’m making gauge! I’m getting 4.5 sts/inch… but 7 rows/inch (instead of 6 rows/inch). This will probably work out for the best, though, because Alex wants his cardigan to be longer than 25”. (He wants it closer to 27” or 28”.) We’ll see what happens? Oh, and I’m loving this yarn so far!