Top Secret Sweater: A "Making of" Saga, Pt. 1

As sick as I'm getting of working on one project 24/7, I have to say I'm very excited to finally see my efforts taking shape...

Saturday was my last "Make Your First Sweater" class, and I attached the sleeves to the body (see left) and began working on the chest/shoulder area. I chose this project as a first sweater project because it's all in the round, with minimal seaming (just three needle BO under the arms). All I had to do was attached the live stitches at the tops of each sleeve to the appropiate places on the body (leaving a set # of stitches for the 3 needle BO) and then I just began knitting like normal.

As I pointed out in an earlier post, I had difficulty with casting on my sleeves. The first one I did was extremely tight (probably because it was my first time using dpns in a while and I was tightening a lot to make sure there would be no ladders) and the second one is the same gauge as the rest of the sleeve. I only hope blocking will fix this!

As I mentioned earlier, I modified the sleeves somewhat, so they wouldn't be huge and ballooning but rather a bit more subdued and somewhat form-fitting. I accomplished this using the highly technical process of trying them on while knitting them and looking at myself in the mirror. :) Somehow, in the midst of this highly technical process, one of them ended up lumpier than the other. *Sigh* I still don't know how, as I did take notes and measurements while adjusting the first (and more lumpy) sleeve. Once again, I'm looking to blocking to help me here... (sensing a theme, are we?)

Here's a pic of how it all looked pieced together, before joining all the pieces and working the chest. Hopefully sometime this week I'll post the pics of the whole thing on my needles, so stay tuned!

Look - Emma's "helping" me take pictures (by getting in the way).

Knitty's "Top Secret" Sweater

I've been taking a "Knit Your First Sweater" class at my lys for the past month. This Saturday is the last class and I have to have both my sleeves done. So as you can imagine I've been in knitting overtime - I think I did a good six inches last night on sleeve #2. Tonight I can't knit because I'm going to a concert (Jamie Cullum!!) and I still haven't found the time to put together my Halloween costume for Saturday. Argh! Knitting on a deadline definitely makes me want to stop knitting - or at least switch projects. I bought some Misti Alpaca Bulky (softer than a dream!) and I haven't been able to start working with it because of this sweater.

But now on to the sweater. I'm doing Knitty'sTop Secret in Noro Kochoran. I've made a few modifications, like shortening the whole thing so it fits a petite person such as myself. I've also lessened the "bell" look of the sleeve - I reduced the number of cast-on stitched to 36 and reduced two stitchs at the wrist, and then increased 8 sts as the sleeve goes up the arm, in order to make it look a bit more fitted.

This is my first sweater, and I'm learning some harsh lessons about making sleeves. Namely the lesson that they each need to be exactly the same. Somehow I cast on the first sleeve EXTREMELY tightly, and then loosened up after the inital inch of purling. The second sleeve is totally normal, stretchy cast on and all. So I'm hoping (and praying!) that if I block the cuff of the first sleeve way more than the second, somehow they'll look fine. I just don't have the discipline to redo a whole sleeve, especially on a deadline!

So Saturday I'll be putting the body and two sleeves on my circs and beginning the cowl/neck/chest part. I'm actually really excited about this because that'll be the first time it'll look like a real sweater!