Tuesday, December 17, 2013

One Week Sweater Knitting Challenge

As predicted, I wasn't able to complete the challenge. I just got the body of the cardigan done. I love the color combination - don't you think it's cool?
I still have the sleeves to be completed, which I think I'd pick up only tomorrow. I couldn't knit it today as I developed shoulder pain on the final day. As I mentioned before, I somehow developed this stupid habit of bunching my shoulders up which put strain on my shoulders and sometimes on my pectoral muscles. I am working hard to unlearn this habit but I somehow do it when I knit unconsciously watching something. I hope I learn not to do this soon, because it really affects my muscles and in turn slows down my knitting... I slowly cast off the bottom trying not to strain myself. Now that the pain has eased, I hope to pick it up tomorrow and hopefully complete it in two days. I'll keep you posted.

Sunday, December 15, 2013

One Week Sweater Knitting Challenge - Penultimate Day

Well, it's almost clear that I am not going to be able to complete this challenge within the time but let me see how long it extends. Here's what I have completed till now. I have at least 3 more inches to go, plus the border, aaaaaand the sleeves.
As if this challenge wasn't enough I was tempted to introduced a teenie cable pattern at the back. I recently learned to do this closed cable after what seemed like ages. I've been trying to do this closed cable for long, but I just couldn't get the M1, M3, M1 (M3 is the make three stitch thingy - can't remember the abbreviation for that). I realized that I was knitting too tight (the reason why I developed shoulder pain) that making this 5 stitch increase from 1 stitch was almost impossible.
Every time, I'd somehow manage to do the M1, M3, but the next M1 seems almost not possible. Recently I started a new scarf and tried the closed cable again and this time I was successful at it. I was so excited that I just had to try that in a real project so I did. As my blog title suggests, I just LOVE cables. If it were possible, I'd love to just knit cables all over a sweater. In fact that'd be my next project. I am already working on my own cable pattern swatch and hopefully, I start that soon. Wish me luck again. Hope this Lazy Knitter shrugs off his laziness some while the winter lasts.

Friday, December 13, 2013

One Week Sweater Knitting Challenge - Update

I think I should have named my blog, Lazy Knitter. As expected, the progress on the cardigan that I started three days ago is painfully slow. I just reached the armhole on day three. It is a very simple pattern of plain stockinette stitch with horizontal stripes.

Here's the link to the pattern on ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/f488-baby-and-toddler-striped-cardigan

I am using acrylic yarn with 4 mm circular needles for this project. I'd suggest this pattern for those who are beginning to knit sweaters/cardigans.

Let's see if I succeed in this challenge :D Wish me luck!

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Lazy Knitter

Have you ever met the most laziest knitter in the world? Well, you are reading the post of one such knitter :D.

In my last post (I know it's been ages) I promised that I'd publish the pattern of the pullover which I knit with sock yarn but I forgot to note down the pattern halfway through and even forgot to take snapshots of the finished project. I usually knit watching something and in the middle my mind would sway elsewhere in the Internet and forget about knitting. I'd force myself to come back to knitting and realize that I didn't note down the stitch count! Arrgh! I am so bad when it comes to being organized.

After I completed that pullover, I began another cardigan for my nephew with worsted woolen yarn. I was so captivated by a cable pattern that I saw online but I couldn't find the pattern as it was part of some magazine. I decided to try that out and it did come out well, but as usual, I got carried away with my laziness and when I was almost reaching the armhole, I realized that the chest was two inches extra! That was a real disaster (Like it's new to me, duh!) I just couldn't continue knitting as it would be just too big for my nephew if I continued.

So, I did what I almost always do with a project that I design - Frogging! I think I inherited this habit from my grandmother. She'd usually begin a project and would be more than halfway through. She'd realize that she had made a small mistake that was peeking out like an ugly monster and she'd pull it all without further thought! Though a lazy knitter, I never hesitated to frog my projects. With a painful sigh at the lovely cable, I began a new project -  a subtle diamonds scarf for my friend in Germany.

Yesterday, I began knitting another cardigan for my nephew (not my own pattern) and I thought I'd challenge the lazy knitter in me to complete it within a week. Will I able able to do it? Let's see...