On the rack
What do you know… I finished the cashmere sweater that had been languishing there forever. It took a friendly hand to get me out of a rut. After spending about three months knitting 3 strands of superfine cashmere with #0 needles, I botched the seams, my constant nemesis, until Ivar quietly picked up the sweater, undid the seams and redid the whole thing properly — or I should say beautifully — and now I also know how to do it myself.
For now the sweater is drying on a rack and given that it's finally turned a little cold, it might take a while to dry completely. Wouldn't it be great if I could keep those leaf shadows in the sweater?
I decided to finish the neck, cuffs and bottom by keeping the raw rolled edges. I'll see how I like that when I wear the sweater.
Pipie is supervising the drying while enjoying a little bit of October sun in the dining room.
Unfortunately the orange cast is due to the fires in the San Fernando Valley. Let's hope they get completely extinguished soon.
Comments
I hadn't forgotten that sweater and I'm delighted you've finished it - it looks awfully good!
Posted by: Cornflower | October 14, 2008 11:36 AM
Love the sweater and the rolled collar, so gorgeous!!!
You and Pipie are going to match when you sport this sweater :)
Posted by: Kent | October 14, 2008 11:52 AM
Lovely sweater and beautiful kitty.
Posted by: Cookie | October 14, 2008 12:10 PM
I really need to dig out my stash of cashmere and cast on. You're providing good motivation! Definitely pack that sweater for your trip north so I can see Ivar's seams, please pretty please?
Posted by: Sylvia | October 14, 2008 12:23 PM
pazarela...
Posted by: luci a | October 14, 2008 12:36 PM
Gorgeous! What patience you have! Please send me Ivar ASAP.
Posted by: fleegle | October 14, 2008 12:54 PM
Size 0! You are crazy, but that's nice work. I guess 3 months for that wasn't so long at all.
Posted by: Angelika | October 14, 2008 1:43 PM
Beautiful sweater and amazing knitting job as usual :)
Posted by: Rachel | October 14, 2008 2:00 PM
Beautiful sweater, and always wonderful to see garments made on tiny needles. Love it!
Posted by: Joanne | October 14, 2008 2:38 PM
I had completely forgotten that sweater as well. It is really beautiful. You are so lucky to have such a good supervisor in Pipie...
Posted by: kitty kitty | October 14, 2008 3:53 PM
Hello!
You are so brave to pull your old knitting project out. I have so many in the box!! AAggghh! By the way, a lovely sweater. :) My cats supervises me too, and often helping me to "unravel" the yarn...
Posted by: Kyoko | October 15, 2008 2:28 AM
Size US 0 needles are my nemesis! I salute you for actually completing an entire st st sweater on 0's, but I guess that's the way to make the yummy cashmere knitting experience last. And how gorgeous it turned out. Thanks for the shots of the boys. I missed them!
Posted by: Peggy | October 15, 2008 1:29 PM
Cashmere on very tiny needles really knits up so well despite the amount of effort it takes! Indeed, it's a gorgeous soft sweater. Enjoy!
Posted by: lucy | October 15, 2008 2:51 PM
Per me ci voleva almeno un anno per completarlo. :-)
Speriamo che si riesca ad estinguere il fuoco al piu' presto possibile. Ho visto delle immagini nella TV. Erano terribili.
Posted by: Zita | October 16, 2008 1:00 PM
So good to see you back.
The sweater is great - I bet it feels divine.
(And are those lads married? just a thought :))
best wishes,
Silvia
Posted by: Silvia | October 17, 2008 11:08 AM
Yippeee! An FO! Good work! It'll be a dream to wear, I'm sure, and just the perfect hug for yourself after a rough few months. The leaf shadows are perfection; too bad you can't keep them. If it were me, I wouldn't have seen the shadows for their beauty, and would have been obsessively trying to find the "perfect" place for a picture without shadows!
Posted by: domesticshorthair | October 17, 2008 10:52 PM
beautiful color and #0 needles: impressive!!
Posted by: MaryjoO | October 19, 2008 8:13 PM
Great to see you back on the knitting side. Are you going to pass on any seaming tips? I also have a cashmere sweater on very skinny needles, light years away from finishing and seaming.
Posted by: WendyM | October 21, 2008 8:59 PM
Thanks, Wendy!
About the seams… I don't know if this will be any help, but I had knit the sides of the sweater with a selvedge, just a single purl stitch at the end of each stockinette row. When Ivar sewed the pieces together he inserted the needle into the first stitch *after* the selvedge stitch. I think there is a name for this technique, but I don't know it.
Maybe someone else can come to the rescue and explain this better than I can?
Posted by: Francesca | October 22, 2008 10:49 AM
Ivar sounds like a dream come true. Very pretty sweater, can you show us a closeup of the seams??
Posted by: Lorette | October 24, 2008 1:10 PM