Team Pie- 3WA Knitting Olympics Team

3WA does the knitting olympics! We're members of a completely serious, no snark ever allowed discussion board who enjoy knitting granny squares and ridiculously complicated floral intarsia smocked dresses for our perfect children. OK. We're a bunch of smartassed snarkmeisters who knit, curse, joke, and blather.

Friday, March 03, 2006

finis!



Four days late, alas, but my sweater is done. I spent most of Thursday seaming it and knitting the neck, and then this morning was spent weaving in about fifty zillion ends. I'll block it over the weekend. Yes, there is microfibre in the Cashmerino, but the vast bulk is natural fibre, so it should benefit from blocking. I changed it from a polo neck to a crew neck, because Phil asked me to (he wants to be able to wear it over a button-down shirt), but other than that, I didn't make any major changes to the pattern. It fits brilliantly, and looks just wonderful on him.

What I have learned: Totally natural fibres rule, because splicing is SO MUCH BETTER than weaving in fifty zillion ends. I loved working with the Cashmerino -- it's really a beautiful yarn -- but on a project this big, once I knit through my stash, I am sticking to wholly natural fibres in the future, because the joining and weaving in really did suck that much. I don't know if I'm just that much better a knitter than I was when I made the first sweater, or if this is just a better pattern, but setting in the sleeves was way easier this time. So was picking up stitches for the collar, and my overall confidence was significantly higher.

Next sweater project will be a cardigan in Summer Tweed for my mum, but right now, I'm going to finish the black and pink skinny scarf I'm making for myself, and then I'll probably do a shawl or a throw. I need a break from gauge!

No medals for me, but knocking out a whole sweater in just under three weeks feels like a big accomplishment to me. I subbed yarn, dicked with gauge, and changed a pattern. I trusted my own instincts, and holy shit, I totally fuckin' made ANOTHER sweater!