Topographie Sweater: the Big Reveal

After a skirmish or two with my photographer, I was able to get some photos of my finished sweater this morning, in the bright blinding sun.

I am super happy with how well it turned out. After blocking, it's a little bit longer than I had planned, mostly because I didn't really bother with measuring it much after I blocked it out to dry (read: the measuring tape was in the next room.) The sleeves, however, remained the perfect length. As predicted, the stitch pattern did smooth out a lot, the kool-aid stayed fixed in the yarn, and it looks pretty cool, I think. And the thing fits like a handknitted glove.

I did a lot of short row shaping in this sweater -- the back has a couple of short rows, right above the bottom hem, to add some extra length to the back of the sweater. I hate it when shirts ride up in the back.
Then I did some decreases to the waistline -- I did three in back and only two in front, every two rows. This had the added bonus of making a subtle curve in the back, which is reminiscent of a bustle. It fits well over my also-curvy fanny. Then I did some short rows at the bustline to give some added length there, so the sweater won't ride up in front, either. It fits there just perfectly. Then near the top of the yoke, I added a few short rows in back, to raise the back neck a bit. In future, I would extend those short rows around the side of the neckline, to bring the sides up a smidgen more than the front, as well.

I agonized a bit over how to finish the neckline, but opted for a basic hem to match the sleeves and bottom hem. It is about half the width of the other hems, though. I was worried that it might stand up all weird, but it just barely stands up, and I really like it, actually. I had considered doing a rolled hem (the easy way out) but couldn't stand that it wouldn't match the other hems.



I am totally enamoured of this sweater, and love how it fits (and how easy it was to do.) I didn't entirely use Zimmermann's percentage system to make it, but used a lot of my own calculations and adjustments. That's the secret of a well-fitted knit, after all. I am really excited at the prospect of making another yoke sweater in the future, with some nice fair isle in the yoke. I will have to add one to my always-ridiculously-long To Do List.

Topographie Yoke: Where Arm Meets Body

My sweater was on hold for a few days, while I quickly knit up my HLM a toque during the cold weather we had last week. Alas, I have no photo of it right now, since he took it with him on his trip to NYC to see Terry Reid. When he comes back, I will get a photo and show it off. It's one of Jared's Koolhaas hats, in a nice grey.

When I picked up the sweater again, I decided to do some short rows for the bust, to add some length in that area. Any of my readers with ample bosoms will know that sweaters always ride up in front because of the extra length the fabric travels over the bust.
Now, I could have read up on how to add short rows, and how much to add, etc. Instead I just decided to wing it. I've made enough short row socks that I know the general technique. So I did three wrap & turns evenly spaced on the outside third of each side of the sweater front. I tried it on and it seems to have worked perfectly. Last night I knitted the sleeves onto the body and am making slow progress up the yoke. After a couple of inches, it will move much faster, as I will be decreasing the stitches by one-third at the halfway point of the yoke. Not long now, and I will have a completed sweater. I just need to decide how to finish the neckline.

(Weaving progress coming soon.)

Topographie Yoke: the Middle

I've been busily knitting on my Topographie Yoke sweater for the last few days. Once I finished the sleeves and got to stop knitting magic loop style, it's been smooth sailing. I did a few decreases from hip to waist and was planning to do some increases for the bust, but today I tried it on, and decided not to.
I had planned the body to have a mere inch of ease, and somehow the translation of measurements from paper to sweater have left it looking plenty big. (Or maybe I'm just used to wearing clothes that are too small for me.) And now I'm worried that it will get bigger when I block it. This is where I start to bemoan the fact that I'm too lazy to properly block my swatches.

Anyway, as I was pulling it up and off, I settled it around the busty area, and it seemed like it fit there pretty well. So I think I'll just knit it straight to the underarms and let a bit of negative ease do the work for me. Lazy? Well, yeah, but if it works, it works.

Topographie Yoke: the beginning

A while back you may have seen some yarn I dyed with Kool-Aid for a sweater project. I began the knitting last week, after I finished my socks, and have been making slow but steady progress on the sleeves.

I like knitting two sleeves at a time, using the Magic Loop method, since I will otherwise somehow manage to make them different from one another (usually by forgetting what I did on the first one.) Well, I say I "like" it, but really I find it kind of tedious -- it's still better than having two different sleeves.
As I mentioned before, I'm using the stitch pattern from the Topographie pattern in Knitty's Winter '08 edition. Basically you just take a variegated yarn and knit stockingette, but when the next stitch on the left needle is in the contrasting colour, purl it instead of knitting. It gives some really interesting texture, as you can see in the photo. I think after I block it, the ruffly nature of the knit fabric will be tamed into something smoother, but the reddish purls will still stand out.

You can see that because each skein I dyed is different, the stitch pattern will be different as well. One sleeve started out a lot more full of purls than the other, for example, but evened out as I went on. Now that I've gotten past the increases and into the upper arm, you can see that the pattern gets more regular and is making a spiral of sorts. I wasn't thrilled with it, initially, since I preferred the randomness, but it's growing on me. If I really wanted it to stay random, I could have begun to alternate skeins for each row -- that way, the repeat would have been broken up. I opted for letting the skeins speak, rather than trying to control it. After all, I dyed them myself, so I am speaking through them.

A few more inches and I will be done the arms to the armpit, and then I can cast on the bottom hem and start the body. I have to do some thinking about how fitted and/or loose and casual I want it to be...

Electric Kool Aid Acid Test

So I mentioned the other day that I would be dyeing some Cascade 220 for a yoke sweater... Well, on new year's eve, I put on my alchemist hat and this is what I ended up with:


It may look like a horrible accident that would have me in tears, but believe it or not, it's pretty much what I intended -- I wanted the dye to be sparse and erratic, some large and some small blotches, with the majority of the yarn still the original colour (Duck Egg Blue, for the record.) Some of the skeins have more dye than others, since I started to run out by the last skein or two (though a couple that look undyed in the photo have more colour on the other side of the skein) -- I think I'll just use them strategically, to try to disperse the colour evenly. Or not. I wound one up so far, to see how it looks in a yarn cake, and now I'm pretty stoked to start the project.


For the dye, I used equal parts Cherry and Orange Kool Aid, to try for a colour that wasn't just bright purple but wasn't brown, either. It came out somewhere between plum and dried blood. I'm pretty satisfied with it. The only snag was that most of the KoolAid dyeing instructions out there on the web call for a microwave, or sometimes a steamer basket, neither of which I have. (Or even the sun, which is also curiously absent this time of year.) So I had to do a little extra searching to find some instructions that used a conventional oven instead. It worked fine, but my whole apartment had the sickly smell of Orange Cherry Wet Sheep for a day or two. My HLM was not impressed. I went through a lot of incense, what with my windows being frozen shut by Jack Frost and all.


In other news, I spent the last couple of days plugging away on a new knitting bag (so I'll have something pretty to store my new sweater project in, natch.) I got the pattern free from Knitting Daily ages ago, and recently saw so many nice ones on Ravelry that I had to try it out. Knitting the berry stitch so tightly for three days wasn't the best thing for me, but it turned out so nice that I can't complain. Once again, I used Cascade 220 (this time in Como Blue, which is quite a bit darker than this photo appears -- it's more accurate in the photo below) but doubled up, since the pattern calls for a much thicker yarn. And yes, if you're wondering, those are wooden knitting needles at the top of each panel (10.0mm diameter -- yikes!) The bag was knitted on much smaller needles, of course, but you end it with the big ones, and glue the stitches at the point end so they won't slide off.


The bag is totally roomy and sturdy. I lined it with leftover fishy fabric, since it sort-of matched. I was going to stabilize the handles with fabric as well, but I didn't have quite enough, so they will just stretch out, as garter stitch is wont to do. I will live with it. Right now my Bumbleberry socks are stored in there, waiting patiently to be finished. Did I mention that I turned the second heel?