Finished Objects Galore

Yes, I've been a busy girl. This section on the top down raglan is also posted to the Sweet Life Knitters blog.

Finished Top Down Raglan

I finished my top down raglan last weekend. It started out that I wanted to finish a cotton green summer top before the Mother's Day outing with Amber and Anne. But when I finished that on Saturday, my hands were still itching to knit, so I picked up the top down raglan and kept going! I finished off the neck, weaved in the ends, and was done, and I wanted to knit more! So I picked up some socks to keep knitting. Thankfully, it was night and about time for bed :) But here's a picture of Amber modeling the sweater. The picture came off of her camera. It was a chilly day. She wanted to wear the sweater, so we brought it along:


Yarn: Patons Wool Classic
Needles: Knit Picks size 8 circs, Knit Picks size 6 circs for the neck edge
I had measured the neckline of a sweater I had liked and calculated the cast on stitches based on that calculation. I started with the sleeves and the back edge. The front was cast on by first increasing a stitch at each end, then I cast on 2 stitches at each edge, then 3 stitches, and finally, I cast on the middle front so that I had just a few more stitches on the front section than the back. I have the actual numbers around here somewhere :) Then I knit, increasing at the raglan seams every other row. When I got to a point where the sweater was a comfortable distance below my armpit, I put the sleeve stitches on spare yarn and continued knitting the body. For the body, I started decreasing 1-2 inches below the join and decreased 4 stitches (2 stitches each side) every 5 rows, 3 times. Then I knit another couple of inches and began increasing back out, 4 rows every 5 rows, 3 times. Then I kept knitting until it was long enough to my liking and I actually put the stitches onto holders so I could work on the sleeves. I wanted to be able to keep knitting if after I finished the sleeves, I decided the body wasn't quite long enough.

The sleeves I picked up and knit. Every 25th row, I decreased 2 stitches until it was long enough. I chose to do a gradual decrease because I didn't want bell sleeves or anything resembling bell sleeves and I was afraid that would happen if I didn't do the gradual decreases.

I did end up picking up the stitches from the lower sweater edge and knit a few more rows and then bound off. Finally, I picked up stitches along the neckline and went down 2 needle sizes and knit an inch or two. It was just enough to even out the neckline and bring the edge in more so that the neckline isn't falling off my shoulder. Many of you have heard me joke about this being the "Flashdance off the shoulder sweater" but no, I need something that stays on my shoulders and I don't have to worry about falling off. This neckline works.

Comment on the yarn. I love it! It is so soft and I love the fact that I can spit splice and not worry about too many ends!

Finished summer top in sage green

Pattern: Sirdar Spinning Ltd. - Pattern 5083 - sleeveless version

Yarn: Classic Elite Provence in a sage green (2609-303), 3 skeins

Needles: Knit Picks size 5 for the body, Addi size 3 for the borders

Notes: My gauge swatch was bigger than what the pattern gauge called for. However, I was able to work out the math so that with my pattern gauge, I could follow along the instructions for the smallest size. My rows per inch ended being half a row more than what the pattern called for so I made up for this by knitting 6 extra rows into the main body, just above the lower edge of ribbing, before I started counting for the waist shaping increases. Then, at the arms, just before I start the neck shaping, I knit two extra rows. When I went back to pick up around the edge, I still followed the instructions for the smallest size for the number of stitches to pick up (without adjusting for the 2 additional rows).

Final thoughts: I really enjoyed making this. The pieces knit up really quickly. The seaming was quick and easy because it was a one for one seam. For the sleeves, you pick up stitches along the sleeve edge and knit two rows and then bind off. That really completed the pieces and finished off the edge beautifully. The only problem I have with this top is the neck edge is a little wide and because this is cotton, by the end of the day, the neck is ready to fall off of my shoulders. I'm going to need to find a way to keep this on my shoulders.