FO: NaKniSweMo Cardigan

It's Oblique by Veronik Avery.  I call it "The Me Mine Selfish Cardigan" because it's been two full years since I've made something for myself.  There are no buttons yet and the photo is horrible, but I needed proof.  Proof!

And it fits!

The T-shirt is a high-fives shout-out to my fabled attempt at NaNoWriMo in 2005.  My brother attempted it this year... well, sir, didya do it?

Previously on "Skeins of Our Lives," there was that quarter-sized ball of worsted weight wool/alpaca blend, Berroco Ultra Alpaca in colorway 6207 Salt & Pepper, severely downsized from the original five skeins.

Yeah, that yarn.

That yarn was not nearly enough to complete the collar AND the cardigan itself.  So how did I do it, you ask?  It's simple.  I am the greatest knitter that ever lived,  nothing less than an absolute genius, prone to feats of miraculous ingenuity and fits of hyperbole.

You see this yarn?

This yarn is a full skein of fingering weight wool/alpaca blend Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine in colorway 1207 Salt & Pepper, also known as my first-and-last sock leftovers (totally haven't done a FO post for those yet.  It'll happen).  And if you double this yarn, with the wave of my wand needles, it becomes a near-perfect match to that yarn.
And now you may applaud.


Final counts...
Cast On: 11/1/2011  10pm
Bind Off: 11/30/2011 10pm
Total Yardage: 1075+ yards
Total Stitch Count: 45,276

Wait, not 50,000?

No.  Not 50,000.  I lose.

And yet, somehow, I still win.   :)

NaKniSweMo Week 4

The home stretch!  And I have this much yarn going into the collar...

George does not approve.

Oooooops.  There may be magic involved.  Stay tuned, citizens.

Right Front

Two of 'em!

Cast On: 9:30pm 11/20/2011
Bind Off: 11pm 11/22/2011
Stitch Count: approx 6195 stitches
Yardage: approx 169 yards

Left Buttonband

Picked Up: 8:30pm 11/24/2011
Bind Off: 9:45pm 11/24/2011
Stitch Count: approx 649 stitches

Right Buttonband

Picked Up: 10:15pm 11/24/2011
Bind Off: 11:30pm 11/24/2011
Stitch Count: approx 649 stitches

Here's everything pre-collar, with the raglan shoulders seamed:

STITCH COUNT SUBTOTAL: 42,839

NaKniSweMo Week 3

Wool makes my eyes burn.

Left Front

Cast On: 10:30pm 11/14/2011
Bind Off: 11:15pm 11/16/2011
Stitch Count: approx 6195 stitches
Yardage: approx 169 yards

I'm a good 80% done with the right front -- not complete yet -- but there is a large source of worry on the horizon.  I'm also 80% sure I do NOT have enough yarn for this project.  I'm knitting the smallest size and, given the width of the button band in the sample picture, I'm heading for disaster.  The pattern calls for 13 balls of Adrienne Vittadini Natasha at 72yd per 40g ball.  Let's do some Cyp math:

13 balls of Adrienne Vittadini Natasha x 72 yards = 936 total yards
936 yards / 215 yards per skein of my yarn, Berroco Ultra Alpaca = 4.35 skeins

So I have five skeins, 1075 yards, bought in 2007 and depleting super quickly in 2011.  Sad face.

And if you ask me about my gauge square, you will get no answer, because I didn't knit one.  Now kindly wipe that smug look off your face because I'm walking away.

NaKniSweMo Week 2

I went five days between sleeves -- this may not bode well for the finishing the sweater.

Second Sleeve

Two of 'em!

Cast On: 2pm 11/11/2011
Bind Off: 10pm 11/14/2011
Stitch Count: approx 8682 stitches
Yardage: approx 218 yards

I seriously don't know how this ridiculous stunt is supposedly possible.  (How many modifiers can I stick in a sentence?  No matter.)  My arms feel like they're about thirty seconds away from seceding from my body in a huff.

STITCH COUNT SUBTOTAL: 29,151

NaKniSweMo Week 1

I went a little crazy.

Cardigan Back

Cast On: 10pm 11/1/2011
Bind Off: 11pm 11/3/2011
Stitch count: approx 11,787 stitches
Yardage: approx 311 yards

First Sleeve

Cast On: 9pm 11/4/2011
Bind Off: 8pm 11/6/2011
Stitch Count: approx 8682 stitches
Yardage: approx 218 yards

As a reminder, I'm knitting Veronik Avery's Oblique [Rav link], a free pattern, with Berroco Ultra Alpaca in colorway 6207 Salt and Pepper (the color is way off on these pics; I'll get better shots for the final piece, but I'm just documenting progress now, so deal with it, yo).

And I have a full time job and a husband and a child.  And I took a couple of nights to knit a hat (more on that later) and an additional night to do nothing, because YES!

NaKniSweMo Begins with a Whimper

A quick assessment of WIPs left me aghast: only one evening project on the needles [Rav project page]?  Okay, fine, I'll churn out some sock rows.  Then I remembered: it's finally November: NaKniSweMo!  I've always wanted to participate in National Knit a Sweater Month, the knitterly version of my beloved NaNoWriMo and this is my year, I can feel it.

Now it's, oh, 10pm and I'm finally casting on for a cardigan I've had queued since 2007, Veronik Avery's Oblique [Rav link], a free pattern, bien sur.  My late start means I'm already behind on my required row count, but I have every hope of catching up in the home stretch... provided my lack-of-swatching doesn't come back and bite me in the tuchus.  :)