I.
Am.
Loving it.
Join the Summer Sweater KAL at luvinthemommyhood!
Tag Archives: KAL
Summer Sweater KAL
A sweater? In the summer?
Well, in the summer it’ll be on the needles. The idea is it’ll be ready to wear by the fall, when the weather calls for it. And check out my yarn! I think it’s the perfect colour for fall. Reminds me of kicking my way through the crunchy, fallen leaves. Shown here are my five lovely skeins of Knit Picks’ Swish Tonal in Foliage (a colourway that’s now discontinued; thankfully I was able to catch it on sale on its way out). Dreamy.
And my pattern: the Ladies Classic Raglan Pullover by Jane Richmond. Looky here:
I’m planning to knit mine up with two inches of negative ease, so it’ll fit more snugly than the one shown above (which is knit with zero ease). What this means for me is knitting a size down from my actual measurements. But in the spirit of tweaking this sweater’s fit to be as close to exactly what I want as possible, I’m going to follow a tip I snagged from Jane herself and knit the body and sleeve lengths for my own (actual) size to accommodate my gangly arms and long torso. And guys? I even swatched properly (and blocked my swatch, I’m that serious) for this thing. I am the most on the ball I’ve ever been about getting the right fit. I’m not wasting my money and time on a garment like this only to end up with something that only fits ‘okay’ in the end. No no. Enough of that nonsense. This one will fit right and it will be glorious. Mantra.
I cast on the other day and have already made a bunch of progress! Thank you to CrazyBaby for going to bed pretty early the last couple of nights.
At that ‘all curled up’ stage. Hard to photograph, but you can get the idea.
And for the ‘KAL’ part: I’m knitting this as part of luvinthemommyhood‘s Summer Sweater Knit Along! I’m really looking forward to having this sweater on my needles over the summer and ending up with (hopefully, probably, LIKELY!) a wonderfully fitting and cozy sweater just in time for fall. And it’s orange! It’s orange. Eff yes! Orange sweater for me!
Come knit along with us!
Tops, Tanks, and Tees KAL wrap-up
It’s done! I finished! The morning of the last day of the KAL I was furiously seaming and weaving in ends on my Liesl tank. You can’t get much more last-minute than that. But that’s totally how I roll — always has been. I suppose I am rather productive in a bit of a time crunch.
And verdict: I love it.
It’s funny, I realized recently that I’m more of a process knitter than a product knitter — meaning that I enjoy the making of something more than the end result so much. Well, at least this has been true of the garments I’ve made for myself so far. But I sometimes wonder whether it’s simply that I’m knitting the wrong size, or with the wrong yarn, or choosing my pattern unwisely. I am still relatively new to this knitting thing (only a couple years in, here), so I probably have lots to learn. Especially about patience. And swatching properly. And choosing appropriate fibre. And blocking. And how to get the proper fit I’m looking for. Sigh. So okay, that is a lot.
But hey, this one worked out pretty well, finished-product-wise. I wore it all day today and it was great!
But back to this KAL thing. Shannon over at luvinthemommyhood posted her big reveal about the prizes to be won for those KALers lucky enough to have their names drawn. And as I mentioned before, I am one of the KAL sponsors! The astitchinlime Etsy shop, where I sell my handmade stitch markers, is donating one set of markers to each of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place KAL winners. So fun, right? I can’t wait to see who wins and which set they each choose!
Which set would you choose?
(More options for the indecisive at astitchinlime.etsy.com)
Make sure to check out Shannon’s awesome other sponsors to see what loot awaits the lucky three prize winners! I’m so flattered to be listed among the other KAL sponsors, who are delivering some seriously wonderful goods. Truth.
Tops, Tanks and Tees KAL
Folks, it’s KAL time again. Luvinthemommyhood is hosting another wonderful knit-along (KAL) called the “Tops, Tanks and Tees KAL” and I am all. over. that. Reason being is that I’ve got a lovely tank I’m working on and this is just the push I need to get’er done. My tank’s name is Liesl. She is very pretty. And she is only about 30% done! See see?
Okay, this is quite possibly the worst ‘in progress’ photo of all time, but you get the idea. Liesl is knit from the bottom-up and I’ve gotten to a point where I’m just past the pockets and headed North. As I’m ever so slowly decreasing my number of stitches, I’m hopeful that it will start to knit up a wee bit faster and I might have a hope in hell of getting it done for the May 23rd KAL deadline. Right. Because my costar in this photo will totally let me just sit on my ass and knit for hours. Uh huh. I should probably be knitting right now…
Anyway. Here’s another terrible photo for your eyeballs.
My cast-on edge is totally loose and wonky, but my hope is that blocking will set that right. It damn well better. I’m knitting this up in Katia Linen and I think it’ll make a really nice airy summer top. One more motivator to get it done before summer comes and goes.
Here’s an extra fun fact about this KAL: I’m one of the sponsors! That means I’m donating some of my crafty wares to be used as prizes for the approximately three bozillion folks participating in the KAL (okay, it only feels like that many because of all the Chatty Cathies on the luvinthemommyhood Ravelry group who are simply amazing and talented and impossible to keep track of being that they post almost nonstop). But I won’t spoil the prize surprise since Shannon hasn’t announced them yet. I’ll let her do the honours near the end of the KAL. But how cool is that? I feel like a proper internet crafter type being included in the KAL in this way. I was so honoured when Shannon asked me to sponsor the KAL and I’m super excited for the big prize draw at the end! Won’t you come join us and get a chance to win some cool swag in the meantime? There’s still time!
Jooooiiiiiin usssssssss…
