Sunday, November 29, 2009

Mookie Gone Wild!!!!

Can you spell D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R.
It's the only word to describe what happened to Mookie, may it rest in peace.
My son's sweater went oh so wrong. I knew the sleeves would be a little too long, I wondered if the body was long enough for him...but this! This I didn't expect...
Hey, remember that episode of the Cosbys when Denise tried to make a shirt for Theo? Well, this is my knitted version! ROFL
All we could do was laugh, no need in crying; though I really wanted to. Everybody was so amazed at what a good job I did even though the sweater didn't come out as planned. Noooow I remember why I'm better at crochet.
Will I try again with this yarn, I think my son's face says it all. I'll just stay away from the super bulky stuff for now thank you. Will I attempt another sweater? I think so; after all, I did get the length right, he loved the neck, everybody loved the cable. So where did I go wrong? I think it's the drop shoulder which lead to the sleeves being way too long. Even though drop shoulder made it easier to keep the sweater even and show less distortion, it was not a great idea for the shoulders of this top. Also my son's arm girth was underestimated so that wasn't quite right either. I guess it's back to the drawing board on this one. I'll salvage this yarn and make a few scarves, a shawl or something. So now I have a new mission, I can not be defeated by the needle...I ain't goin down like at!! My non-resolution list for the new year will include making (knitting) sweaters that fit.

Keep stitchin'

Friday, November 27, 2009

May I present Mookie!

Finally, after many do-overs it is done!

















I can't wait to see Qwante in this sweater. It looks so tiny in this picture but it's actually quite large. It's so big and bulky I know it will only wear it a 'travel' sweater. I definitely see this as more of an over sweater than one that would be worn all day; I know I wouldn't. But maybe when he goes out for his birthday he can wear this over his shirt instead of a coat...hint, hint. I am just so happy to be finish. It was really tough doing this without a pattern which clearly accounts for the longer sleeves. I'm not too concerned about that considering a lot of the younger people like having their sleeves longer anyway. Did I say that, younger people. Boy am I getting old!

Keep stitchin'

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Mookie Lives!!!

So after all the headache with trying to follow the pattern for Bang which was no good at all, I found something that works. I have been out sick all week with the flu so, being a good patient, I spent the week reading/looking through some of my old knitting mags. Some of the old 90's Vogue Knitting mags really helped. The mags had sweater with drop shoulders and set-in sleeves. I decided that doing a simple drop shoulder would be the easiest for me with this thick yarn. So now, as long as I've got the gauge right my sweater will be a hit. I also decided to use the cable pattern I found in my Harmony Guide book. I think a simple turtle neck will do nicely, my son did not like the neck anyway.
By Friday I was feeling up to moving around a bit and picking up my needles. The back piece was done quickly and easily since my only shaping was done at the shoulders. What I overlooked with the front is that with cables you need to add more stitches to keep your width right. I was at the underarm when I had this brilliant revelation; back to the ripping board. So once again I have to start the front over. Oh, this is after I had finished the back and actually worked 10" of the front and realised I had forgotten the cables completely!!
LOL, I CRACK MYSELF UP!!
Blame it on the flu, yeah that works, it's the flu bug.
So now I am starting the front over with more stitches than I used for the back. This is another problem I would finally have noticed with John's sweater too, the hits just keep coming with that one.
With my Mookie, I am doing careful, elementary math and hoping for the best. At least I know there are absolutely no errors in the cable pattern I am now using and this is going to be one great sweater! I'm proud of myself already.



Keep stitchin'