A Long Overdue Finish

Men's Knitted Pullover Pattern | Whims And Fancies

 

A little self-inflicted toe mishap has me currently home-bound.  I am finding myself knitting a lot during the times when I would rather be outside hiking a beloved trail.  That’s not so bad, since I managed to finish this sweater for my husband before the passing of another winter.

Three years ago, while visiting a yarn store, I found myself buying a set of yarn to make a sweater for my husband.  A daunting prospect considering all I could make at the time were simple scarves.  A year and a half later as a more confident knitter I started looking for a pattern, but I couldn’t find even one for the amount of yarn I had purchased.

 

Men's Knitted Pullover Pattern | Whims And Fancies

 

Since a long time had passed in the meantime, I couldn’t just buy the extra yarn needed because of mismatched dye lots.  So I had to end up ordering another complete set of skeins with matching dye lots to make this sweater for him.  I learned a big lesson find a pattern first, then buy the yarn.

I have already found and purchased another pattern to make a sweater for myself with the original skeins.  I don’t mind at all since I was secretly wishing to make a sweater for myself in that colourway.

 

Men's Knitted Pullover Pattern | Whims And Fancies

 

I learned short row during this project.  It makes for a little higher neck line on the back of the sweater.  Short row on the round can be a bit confusing at first, but it worked out quite well in the end.  I was initially worried because it looked a bit bulging, but blocking the sweater removed the bulge completely.

 

Men's Knitted Pullover Pattern | Whims And Fancies

 

Although the majority of the sweater is knitted in stockinette stitch, there are two sets of cable design on two sides of the sweater underarms.  It’s an easy cable design that I could follow without paying too much attention.

 

Men's Knitted Pullover Pattern | Whims And Fancies

 

The sleeves were the hardest part.  Strictly following the pattern made for really billowing sleeves.  I had to frog the first sleeve twice before I figured out the rate of decrease to make a more shapely sleeve.  I reduced another set of stitches right before knitting the ribs to get a perfect fit around the wrists.

 

I used the Gamekeeper Pullover pattern that I found on Ravelry.  I had purchased DK weight yarn, while the pattern is written for worsted weight.  After quite a bit of trial and error, I figured out the right size for him that would work with DK weight yarn. The pattern was very adaptable.

The pattern itself is well written.  I like to learn as I work through projects, this sweater was perfect for that.  Other than the sleeves, I had no problem with the rest of the pattern.  I will definitely use this pattern again as a base for another sweater.

 

Ravi Sweater | Whims And Fancies

 

Once I finished making his, I started on a new cardigan for myself.  This is Ravi by Carol Feller.  The yolk is knitted sideways and the shape is created via short row.  I kept putting this one off because of the combination of short row and garter stitch.  Then I learned German short row.  It is so incredibly easy!  If you are interested, here is the video by Very Pink that I used to learn it.

My husband is all smiles about his new sweater.  Now that I can knit a little better, hopefully he won’t have to wait so long for me to finish the next one.

 

-Soma

 

I am also linking up on other linky parties on my Events And Links page.

 

 

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Knitting Snapshots

Knitting WIPs | Whims And Fancies

 

Last week did not afford me any opportunity to sit at the sewing table for any length of time required to work on any project.  We live in a much cooler place now and I need to make a few more quilts.  I am working on them, just not at the moment.  I need to keep my hands busy, and knitting needles are perfect for filling in those small waiting moments.  With cooler weather approaching, I have been seeing a lot of knitting projects around, which has been motivating me to knit.  So I decided to indulge my craving by working on three knitting projects simultaneously.

 

Whisky Barrel Pullover | Whims And Fancies

Gamekeeper Pullover

This is a pullover I am making for my husband.  The pattern is written for worsted weight yarn but I am making it with dk.  I had to do A LOT of swatching.  After some trial and error, I got the sizing right.  I am almost at the point where I separate out the sleeves.

 

Live Long And Prosper Mitts | Whims And Fancies

Slipstream Mitts

Knitting round and round is kind of boring, specially on a large size pullover.  Enter mitts.  This is the Live Long And Prosper yarn from Lorna’s Laces.  This yarn is quite busy and it took me a long time to find a pattern that would actually show it well.  Unlike the pullover, this one needs all my attention.  So watching TV while knitting this pair is not an option for me.

 

Harvest Mitts | Whims And Fancies

Harvest Date Mitts

Since I have one mind-numbingly boring project and the other one is an attention-seeker, I needed a third one that would be somewhere in between.  I made this pair of mitts before in an orange yarn.  It’s a really fun and quick pattern and I love this yellow yarn.

 

Yarns | Whims And Fancies

 

My husband went out to get a hair cut last Saturday and stopped by the yarn store.  This is what he brought back home!  Lucky me!  More handmade knits!

 

Charlie Cat | Whims And Fancies

 

In midst of all the crazyness, I got a new camera.  I am very fond of Canon cameras.  This is another Canon, so I found all the settings very quickly.  Now it’s time to play and test out different settings.  Charlie, of course, gets to be my model!  Here he is waiting for us to finish breakfast so he can have a few drops of milk.  Staring down does work by the way!

 

Online Trunk Quilt Show | Whims And Fancies

Trunk Full Of Quilts – An Online Quilt Trunk Show

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I am also all set for the online trunk show next week.  Since posting about it last week, I have heard back from Fat Quarter Shop and they are also sponsoring the event, so that means more prizes to give away!  If you haven’t heard about the Trunk Full Of Quilts event, it’s an online quilt trunk show hosted here at Whims And Fancies starting next week.  Hope you will join me!

Until then,
-Soma

 

 

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