Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Lady in Red

I should be knitting blanket squares for the Knit Knack exchange. But I can't. I have a sweater's worth of the most awesome red Malabrigo just sitting in my stash, begging to be knit up into something fabulous. So I gave in. I admit, I'm weak in the face of such beautiful yarn. I cast on a new project, Oblique by Veronik Avery.

I've had this queued on Ravelry for quite some time, just waiting for the perfect yarn. And I think I've found it. My last experience with Malabrigo didn't turn out so well. My sweater turned out much larger than I thought it would. I'm not sure if it was the yarn or the pattern, but it grew significantly when I blocked it. (I really hope it was the pattern. I would really hate to end my love affair with Malabrigo. I just don't think my heart could take it.) This time, I did a gauge swatch and I'm going down a size than what I would normally wear. I'm hoping that when I block it, and the sweater grows, that it will turn out the right size.

I'm almost done with the left front piece. Considering I only cast on 2 days ago, I'm moving right along. The pattern is a little more difficult to follow than any I've done before. That's because the neck and waist shaping are done at the same time, but after a couple of "Oh no! I messed something up and now my stitch count is off!" moments, I'm on track. Turns out, I had the right number of stitches all along. I only did 15 stitches in the moss stitch section instead of 19. That's why the right-leaning lace had one more repeat than I was supposed to. Thankfully it all works out. I made some notes on the pattern so that I can repeat my "mistake" on the other front piece and possibly the back piece.

I don't have a picture of the actual WIP at the moment, but I'll try to swing back by later tonight and post one. In the meantime, here's a picture of the yarn I'm using. Red doesn't photograph well, so keep in mind that this yarn isn't quite as orange as it looks.



3 comments:

Mary said...

Pretty! My squares are almost done! Instead of starting a new knitting project, I've been using my sewing machine- zero square guilt.

Shanny said...

That is yummy yarn, and a great choice in patterns too! It's funny, I'm about to start a new sweater instead of working on my squares also

Anonymous said...

I'd love to learn how to sew. My mom has an antique pink sewing machine. I'm hoping she can teach me to use it when she retires.

I ran out of yarn for the squares so I have to wait to buy more. And I can't NOT knit in the meantime. So I decided to try the Oblique. Its a really great pattern but I had a little trouble following it during the decreases/increases on the front pieces. It took a little figuring, but I think I've got it. I'm almost done with the right front. I'll need to finish a few more blanket squares before I move on to another part of the sweater, just so I don't feel completely guilty.