The Sweatshop of Lovers Blog

Dollar and a Half Cardigan

It feels like this sweater has taken me forever, but I started it on January 30th, intending it to be my February Sweater. I put it aside for two weeks for the ravelympics or I would have been finished with it much sooner.

Couldn't Fit Any Better!

We’ve been through a lot, Dollar and a Half and I. The cable band side should not at all be striped, and the front shaping should have started much lower.

Stupid Cabled Stripes!

It kinda looks like it should be striped, right? When I look at the original sweater, the way it should be, it looks… wrong.

STRIPES!

I’m in love with the stripes! And could I look skinnier in this sweater? So much for horizontal stripes making you look fat.

Fabric Buttons and Stripes Galore

I messed this sweater up royally and it still turned out great. This is a great example of going with the flow! The cable looks great against the mistake-striped background.

I love how the reverse stockinette stitch isn’t bubbly because I used size 4s for those sections and size 6s for the lace sections.

And I love my buttons! I used the plaid fabric I found at the estate sale in Portland to cover my buttons and it couldn’t be better. I had plaid fabric in mind the entire time and it came together beautifully. The buttons are so small, 5/8 inch, that it wouldn’t have mattered what I covered them with, but I love the plaid pop.

I’m still standing by my statement that I will never use normal buttons ever again. I should take out stock in fabric covered buttons right now.

The yarn is perfect, too. Knit Picks CotLin knits up really well. It’s nice and light and the color is beautiful. I will use this yarn again really soon.

I Love You!

I can’t wait to show the girls tonight in Sweater Club! And get ready for a Style Your Knits starring Dollar and a Half REALLY soon.

Pattern: Dollar and a Half Cardigan, Interweave Knits Spring 2007

Yarn: Knit Picks CotLin in Planetarium

Needles: Size 6s and 4s, both circulars

Ravelry Page Here

Hi February! Can you believe we are one month down already?

Congratulations to everyone who finished their January Sweaters! Not quite finished? Don’t worry! Just keep knitting and catch up in February.

Haven’t joined our Knit a Sweater a Month Challenge yet? Jump in now and knit up a sweater in February! It’s only the 2nd. Here is the ravelry group page, now up to 137 members, or send me an email to get on my mailing list.

Dollar and a Half Cardigan

I had a lot of travel knitting time this weekend so I got a little head start on my February Sweater: Dollar and a Half Cardigan! I’ve been planning this bad boy since October and I’m so happy to be working on it. Yes, I jumped the gun on it by two days. Progress!

Cable, Lace, Rev St St

There is a lot going on in this pattern. I cast on three times before this one stuck. I gauged it three times before I trusted myself to get the sizing right.

I decided to use size 6s for the lace, ribbing, and cable parts, and size 4s for the rev st st, based on the ravelry comments about the stripes being a little bulky. So far so good! The pattern is fun, the yarn, Knit Picks CotLin in Planetarium, is beautiful and is knitting up well (besides attracting a lot of cat hair!), and the sizing looks good. Knock on wood.

Ditto

Vicki (rav) finished up her Ditto Sweater (Vicki’s rav) which just looks so wearable! Couldn’t you just throw that over anything? And I love the  shiny buttons!

Shalom Cardi

And we shouldn’t be surprised that there is another Shalom Cardigan in the mix for January; this is one popular pattern! Kris (rav) finished this up in like 4 days or something insane. It looks like it took her the entire month!

Ginny's Boheme

Vintage Baby Cardigan

Bobby's Bright Green V-Neck

Leah (rav) finished these three baby sweaters! I was just as happy as Bobby is in his pull over to see all three of these adorable sweaters. So, clearly I couldn’t have been any happier.

Blue Mal

Andrea (rav) finished this beautiful sweater, Silken Scabbard, up in January after stalling on it last year. And I’m so glad she did! I’m in love with those cable details and the color! So pretty.

Liesl

Rachel-Marie knit up Liesl, kind of an in between January/February sweater, since Rachel-Marie is clearly a knitting super ultra star! I love that stitch pattern and colorway.

Peter's Vest

And another super crazy over achiever! Alexandra finished this adorable little vest as her second January sweater! Or, maybe first February sweater? Who cares! This vest turned out great, no matter what month it counts for!

Congratulations to all of the January sweater finishers! And it is never too late to start this challenge, so get out there and get knitting for February!

Big Box o' Yarn!

I wish I was a tiny person, like Thimbelina, so I could swim in this box I just got from Knit Picks!

Woodland Sage Gloss

I ordered this pile of fingering weight Gloss to knit this sweater:

Minimalist Cardigan

Only I have to make it hard on myself. The cardigan calls for worsted weight yarn. But I’m going to wait to worry about that.

CotLin Planetarium

I ordered this pile of cotton linen blend in Planetarium to knit this sweater:

Dollar and a Half Cardigan

Which is actually close to the correct gauge! So that is exciting. You can see that half of the cardigan is cabled, and the other half is a stitch pattern rib.

So what am I doing lining up all these sweaters to knit for myself? 2010 is going to be The Year of the Sweater! I’m going to knit a sweater a month.

(plus that will keep me from starting any of these sweaters once I finish Girl Friday)

Want to knit a sweater a month with me next year?! I know you want to. Think about it. You’ve got some time to plan. I’ve got three sweaters already picked out! Three down, nine to go.

… might have to knit a sweater or two for other people. But, can you really ever have enough sweaters? I guess I’ll find out!