Live!
And that's the news from Lake Woebegon,
where all the women are strong,
all the men are good looking,
and all the children are above average.
-Garrison Keillor
We interrupt our regularly scheduled lacksidasical summer blogging to bring you (nearly) live, real-time knitting and blogging. Will wonders never cease?
And what is the cause of such unprecedented blogging? A new and exciting project.
The Baby Cable Vest from Debbie Bliss' Simply Baby. It is just all things cuteness and light. Too much fun. So much fun that I'm ignoring the inconvenient fact that there are as many stitches in the back of this as there were in my last adult sweater. That would be the fingering weight speaking . . .
It would also be a rather stark contrast to my current adult sweater project - Green Gable. Am I the only person who doesn't like knitting in in the round from the top down? First of all, I don't dislike seeming. But my big problem from the top-down method is actually what everyone likes best - the fit question. I find it easy to hold up a sweater piece and measure or compare to ensure a good fit. But putting it on waste yarn is a huge pain, and I still can't really tell. I alternate knitting rows and wanting to frog them. At least Rachel found a good solution to the neck roll.
where all the women are strong,
all the men are good looking,
and all the children are above average.
-Garrison Keillor
We interrupt our regularly scheduled lacksidasical summer blogging to bring you (nearly) live, real-time knitting and blogging. Will wonders never cease?
And what is the cause of such unprecedented blogging? A new and exciting project.
The Baby Cable Vest from Debbie Bliss' Simply Baby. It is just all things cuteness and light. Too much fun. So much fun that I'm ignoring the inconvenient fact that there are as many stitches in the back of this as there were in my last adult sweater. That would be the fingering weight speaking . . .
It would also be a rather stark contrast to my current adult sweater project - Green Gable. Am I the only person who doesn't like knitting in in the round from the top down? First of all, I don't dislike seeming. But my big problem from the top-down method is actually what everyone likes best - the fit question. I find it easy to hold up a sweater piece and measure or compare to ensure a good fit. But putting it on waste yarn is a huge pain, and I still can't really tell. I alternate knitting rows and wanting to frog them. At least Rachel found a good solution to the neck roll.
posted by Theresa at 2:09 PM/Permalink
14 Comments:
I hate the waste yarn too, so my solution is to divide the stitches on two long circular needles (they don't even have to be the same size) to try it on. And I don't usually try it on until after I've put the sleeves on waste yarn - until then I just try to eyeball it. My least favorite part of top down is when you have the gajillion stitches for the front, back and two sleeves before you put the sleeves on the waste yarn. Seems like each round takes 10 minutes.
I'm not a big fan of the seamless top-down, either. My first ever sweater turned out soo huge even though it seemed fine when I tried it on. There was nothing to do for it but to rip back almost to the beginning, and I didn't want the yarn back that much. Knitting the sleeves with the whole body attached was not my cup of tea, either.
I'm anxious to try a sleeveless sweater from the bottom up, EZ-style.
er... seamless, not sleeveless. Long day.
I like seamless from bottom up; but I have never tackled top down. It seemed liked GG was a quick knit, am I mistaken? Or you finding it to be a slog?
I agree that the waste yarn is a pain in the arse. I'd say it's worth trying on just after you've passed the armpits -- that was the first time I actually got a decent sense of the fit.
I am a sworn enemy of seaming, so I didn't mind the knitting-in-the-round routine for the Green Gable. But it was t-e-d-i-o-u-s!
I absolutely love the gray and white on the baby vest, too adorable.
Since I'm actually doing my top down sleeves after knitting bottom up, I don't know yet. But trying it on, calculating gauge & measurement etc, never really seems to help.
I'm just impressed you've got anything at all on the needles. Busy much? Going for a second month, eh? One month at a time....;)
I've only knit one sweater top down. I think I tried it on once. It seemed to fit fine then, so I just trusted the pattern was the right size for me. Maybe I got lucky that time.
That's going to be a really cute baby sweater. Lots of stitches, but you probably won't have to knit as many rows.
I love the vest already! So cabley and happy. I really don't need to be ordering another baby knits book...
I hear ya' on the top down question. I'm still not convinced. Because so far, I haven't been able to get any thing to fit nearly as well as when I piece it together...plus you often do so much work before you even know you have a problem!
I've never tried the top-down thing, but I don't hate seams either. Knitting in pieces also has the advantage that your project remains a little more portable. I like the suggestion to put it on two circulars. Or if you have Denise needles, you can get a very lonnnnng circular with that set and use that.
The reason I like top-down sweaters is that the seem infinitely modify-able on the fly, which is how I roll. One of my peeves is when sweaters are too short, which is an easy fix on a top-down. Green Gable is a cute little top, and pretty universally flattering, so you should go with your instinct.
Pretty knits! I don't do the waste yarn thing - PITA! Instead, I bought one really long - 47" US #1 circular needle to transfer the stitches to while I try it on. Since it's on a needle, it's all ready for me to start knitting again.
The vest is really cute! I'm sure it will look gorgeous.
I haven't tried a top down sweater yet, but lately I've been reading a few bloggers who are not as enamored of them as others. Maybe it boils down to how much you hate seeming?
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