It’s amazing how fast three weeks just speeds by. I’ve been back for two days and am already missing the coast.
The girls are valiantly trying to catch up three weeks’ worth of Spanish and Music Theory class work. How does the saying go…the one mum used to say? You play, you pay?
I am not quite sure when or why mum-ism became a regular at home growing up. I do recall hearing it whenever I stayed up too late. Somehow, despite the fact that I’m now a grown-up…doling out same words to my kids…I still hear mum’s voice echoing in my head You play, you pay.
Sure, we had quite an exciting vacation. But here it is Tuesday and we still haven’t recovered.
The hardest part isn’t the fact that I have to play catch-up on all my household chores. It’s the fact that I have to function all day trucking the kids around despite of the scratchy voice, my body on autopilot, and the brain is mush. I’m kicking myself for not working ahead on certain projects so I wouldn’t be sitting here freaking out about the crunch time I find myself in the midst of. Plus, my father-in-law,
his wife,
my sister-in-law, and her beau (oops, sorry Steve, for not getting a shot of you) are in town.
It’s quite easy to procrastinate another day…
So…right, Mum, you were right. You play, you pay. You don’t need to remind me. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to continue paying as I drag myself to take some pictures of the finished swirl.
Every knitter has dreamed of the perfect cardigan pattern that she might knit some day.
From a luminous lace to cozy cable knit, Knit swirls may just be your dream come true.
This is a wonderful and varied collection of sweaters–may be one of the most important pieces to enhance your wardrobe. You’ll want to make every one of these swirl patterns. So stop by your LYS now and get started.
Not as drapey and swirly as my first swirl
However, I really like the way it is turning out in the Aran-weight (color shown below is completely off?)
I kept waiting for it to go faster (first for the decreases in the bodice, then when I increased for the back/sleeves.) It never really did…possible that I just wanted it done and that made it feel like it was going slowly.
Like others have said, initially, it’s a lot of stitches to keep on the needle. I used a 40” US Size 5 Addi Lace circular needles. I think a longer cable specifically for this swirl would even be better to start out with. It might have made joining the round a little bit easier. I had to stop and manually shovel bunch-up stitches around frequently in each welt.
I made the Size 1. For a small frame, I like the fronts overlap and collar turned down more–a double breasted look, with a brooch or shawl pin closure.
After a few welts, I realized the pattern is pretty much same as my first swirl, just heavier fabric. The finished is really a coat, stiffer not as drapey or swingy.
Overall instruction is well presented, but, I did need to check for stitch numbers against chart, from time to time, to reaffirm my progress. It did require moderate amount of attention from me than usual. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, it looks like a simple stockinette/reverse stockinette cardigan. Beware that there is a bit of shaping and several steps to follow when knitting up back bodice and sleeves. Just so you know what you’re getting yourself into.
I increased 24 stitches less than pattern called for each sleeve, even distributed over 4 welts. The anticipated result was right on. I didn’t care for the raw finish on the cuffs…instead of an i-cord, I went with a simple single-crochet edge. What do you think? Yay? Nay?
Be sure you line-up/center the collar and neck edges before seaming up.
Or else, expect the wonky, wavy effect when worn tail up
I kinda like the way shown above. Since I am a fun-size (aka short!), horizontal/stripey lines across the body isn’t at all flattering.
Yeah. I know. There is no such thing as The Knitting Police. No one will come in the middle of the night to cart me off to Bad Knitters’ Prison for unaligned seaming!
One thing I did differently with this heavy coat was seaming with Gutermann silk thread instead of the matching yarn, using mattress stitch. The seam is pleasingly smooth, rather than bulky and uneven. All great.
Jury is still out on the final shape
…shorter coat, previously shown unblocked
or hard-block it out to full coat for more drapes and swirly as designed.
I plan to have other people try it on at Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival (aka OFFF) in Canby over the weekend. Will I see you there? May be I will get some objective help in deciding…Stay tuned for more modeled pictures.
Happy crafting and keep those creative juices running!
(still doesn’t do texting, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, DiggIt…)
