Fiber Arts Friday: Cozy Stripes Sweater, part 9

While the pattern calls for the sleeves to be completed next, I will do the Collar/Button Band next... I am feeling more confident about the remaining Brown Skeins, but I want to be certain. :-)

My original thought was to start with a fresh skein to hopefully prevent the need to join skeins in the midst of this section, or worse in the midst of the button holes.

So I spent some time reviewing the instructions for the Collar/Button Band and estimating how many grams would be required for each row...  That brought me to ~25g, or one complete skein, to make the Collar/Button Band.   Then, I still need yarn to make the i-cord bind-off.  Which means I will definitely have a join in this section.

So with that information, I decided to continue with Skein #6 and force the join to be somewhere in the middle.

But first, I need to pick-up the stitches...

Picking up the stitches has been kind of a drag on this project.  I had the thought of creating a life-line as I went, but I was pretty far down the body before I had that thought.  :-/  Also, it's typical to pick up 3 of 4 rows, rather than all of them.... Anyway, I did finally get there, but not without some pain.

The blue markers are stitches that need to be added and the orange markers need to be dropped.

Since there were so many, I decided to slip the stitches and add/drop as marked and then re-count, before beginning to work the Collar/Button Band Section, which now looks a lot less ominous.  lol.

The body is shorter than the pattern calls for.  So I have the collar marked as written and the Stripe/Hem section marked as written, with the middle being fewer stitches.  I will need to keep this in mind as I work the pattern.

At the beginning of this section, I had 19g available in Skein #6.  The join to Skein #7 happened on the lapel in the short row section, so it is not obvious.  WooHoo!

Upon finishing all of the short rows and being ready to bind-off, I used the 19g from Skein #6 and 8g from Skein #7 for a total of ~26g... which means my estimate was close.

You can see from the above photo that it's hard to really see how the project looks while it's still on the needles, but I do like how the collar is laying.

I have 17g available in Skein #7 for the bind-off which is more than enough.

I am a little annoyed that the Button Holes are hard to find, but it did help me choose which buttons to use... I will think a bit on how to make them more visible.  In the meantime, the stitch markers are holding the places for the buttons.

This section took a lot longer that I hoped, and you see I have set up a second project which is resting.  I want to finish this sweater before the warm weather really arrives.  Otherwise, it will not get worked on until the fall.... AND I want to wear this sweater in the fall.  So you see, I am starting to feel a bit of urgency.  :-D

At this point I have 3 skeins of Brown remaining for the sleeves.... which I will begin next.

Skein duration:

• #1 (11/2/24 - 12/10/24) 5wks 3days
• #2 (12/10/24 - 12/30/24) 2wks 6days
• #3 (12/30/24 - 1/6/25) 1 week
• #4 (1/6/25 - 1/18/25) 1wk 5days
• #5 (1/18/25 - 2/5/25) - 2wks 4days - 14 g remain

• Green (2/5/25 - 2/6/25) - 2days - 22 g remain (begin body stripes)
• Orange (2/6/25 - 2/8/25) - 3days - 23g remain
• #5 (2/8/25 - 2/9/25) - 2days - 11 g remain
• Orange (2/9/25) - 1day - 18 g remain
• Green (2/10/25 - 2/14/25) - 5days - 17 g remain (complete body stripes)

• #5 (2/14/25 - 2/20/25) - 6days (begin hem)
• #6 (2/20/25 - 2/25/25) - 5days - 20g remain (complete hem, bind off pending)

• TINK Body Hem (2/27/25 - 3/6/25)  - 8days
• #5 (3/6/25 - 3/22/25) - 2 wks 2 days (begin re-Knitting Body Hem with smaller needles, US3)
• #6 (3/22/25 - 3/23/25) - 2 days (complete and bind-off Body Hem) - 19g remain

• Pickup Collar/Button Band Stitches (3/24/25 - 3/30/25) - 6days
• #6 (3/30/25 - 4/10/25) - 11days (begin Button Band/Collar, US3)
• #7 (4/10/25 - 4/22/25) - 12days (complete Button Band/Collar and Bind off) - 14g remain

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Rainbow Vanilla Socks, part 1

I have wanted to make a pair of Rainbow Socks for a while.  As such, I've accumulated a selection of Rainbow Sock-weight yarns over the last few years.

I've been setting them aside for the last few months and contemplating them with different patterns... I want to show-off the colorway without making it muddy or modifying the stripe thicknesses due to changing round lengths around the heel.  Many of the alternate-construction patterns are quite interesting in this regard, but as of the end of March, I decided to make a simple Toe-up, Vanilla Sock, with an Afterthought Heel using Scarlett's Rainbow.

The yarn I chose was acquired at the Estes Park Wool Market last year and dyed locally by a new-to-me artist.

The colorway, Scarlett's Rainbow, is named after the artist's daughter and has a large number of colors in short succession.  Which means the color changes every few stitches.

This pattern should work nicely with this colorway, which I think lends itself to a pleasing set of Fraternal Twins, rather than needing to be Identical.  If I hold on to that idea, the stress of getting both socks started in the same place of the colorway goes away.... and I am always in favor of reducing stress, no matter how small it may seem.  :-)

I initially swatched with US0 needles, which yielded the recommended gauge of 8sts/inch.  However, I decided the fabric was too stretchy.  So I cast on with US00 needles.

As of this writing, I have two rounds completed per sock and the end-of-rounds are marked.

We are ready for being a travel project and will be Fraternal Twins.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Cozy Stripes Sweater, part 8

At the end of Part 7, I had decided to TINK and re-knit the Body Hem...

It took me 8 days to complete the TINKing.  Of course, had I added a Life Line I could have ripped it out in a few minutes.... but I wanted to preserve where the stitch markers were located and make sure I didn't drop any stitches... so TINKing is what I did.

I restarted the hem with the smaller (US3) needles on March 6 and was able to get 1 more row out of skein #5 at just over 12.

While the 24-inch circs worked for the hem, it was tight.  So I ordered a set of 40-inch circs which was much more comfortable on the Body Hem and will be necessary for the Collar/Button Band, which I will start next.

I have started thinking about my next projects.  It is unusual for me to have only one project on the go, and I have been dedicated to this project since mid-December 2024.

I think part of the interest is that the skeins are small, so I am changing them at a higher rate which helps to keep the interest high.  Also there has been just enough variation in the pattern to help keep me focused, even though it is a whole lot of stockinette.

Skein duration:

• #1 (11/2/24 - 12/10/24) 5wks 3days
• #2 (12/10/24 - 12/30/24) 2wks 6days
• #3 (12/30/24 - 1/6/25) 1 week
• #4 (1/6/25 - 1/18/25) 1wk 5days
• #5 (1/18/25 - 2/5/25) - 2wks 4days - 14 g remain

• Green (2/5/25 - 2/6/25) - 2days - 22 g remain (begin body stripes)
• Orange (2/6/25 - 2/8/25) - 3days - 23g remain
• #5 (2/8/25 - 2/9/25) - 2days - 11 g remain
• Orange (2/9/25) - 1day - 18 g remain
• Green (2/10/25 - 2/14/25) - 5days - 17 g remain (complete body stripes)

• #5 (2/14/25 - 2/20/25) - 6days (begin hem)
• #6 (2/20/25 - 2/25/25) - 5days - 20g remain (complete hem, bind off pending)

• TINK Body Hem (2/27/25 - 3/6/25)  - 8days
• #5 (3/6/25 - 3/22/25) - 2 wks 2 days (begin re-Knitting Body Hem with smaller needles, US3)
• #6 (3/22/25 - 3/23/25) - 2 days (complete and bind-off Body Hem)

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Cozy Stripes Sweater, part 7

At the end of Part 6, I had completed the body stripes and was ready to begin the body hem, with 11g of Brown Skein #5 remaining.

The 11g took me thru row 12 of the hem and I started Brown Skein #6.

I have decided not to finish the body out with black since the bind-off for the Collar/Button Band is a different technique and I think it will look weird.

That being said, I have also decided to TINK back the hem and re-knit it with the next size smaller needles, per the recommendation in the pattern.

I just think that the hem should be a slightly stiffer fabric... and now I know why this is often recommended.  :-)

The good news here, it that the over-all length is good.

Skein duration:

• #1 (11/2/24 - 12/10/24) 5wks 3days
• #2 (12/10/24 - 12/30/24) 2wks 6days
• #3 (12/30/24 - 1/6/25) 1 week
• #4 (1/6/25 - 1/18/25) 1wk 5days
• #5 (1/18/25 - 2/5/25) - 2wks 4days - 14 g remain

• Green (2/5/25 - 2/6/25) - 2days - 22 g remain (begin body stripes)
• Orange (2/6/25 - 2/8/25) - 3days - 23g remain
• #5 (2/8/25 - 2/9/25) - 2days - 11 g remain
• Orange (2/9/25) - 1day - 18 g remain
• Green (2/10/25 - 2/14/25) - 5days - 17 g remain (complete body stripes)

• #5 (2/14/25 - 2/20/25) - 6days (begin hem)
• #6 (2/20/25 - 2/25/25) - 5days - 20g remain (complete hem, bind off pending)

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Cozy Stripes Sweater, part 6

At the end of Part #5, I was planning to make one more row of brown and then begin the stripes as written on the right side of the fabric.

Upon beginning the stripes, I have 14 g of Brown Skein #5 remaining.

The body stripes are now complete and I have 11g of Brown Skein #5 remaining.  

I suspect that the remaining Green and Orange Skeins will be enough to complete the arm stripes.

Next up is the body hem.

Skein duration:

• #1 (11/2/24 - 12/10/24) 5wks 3days
• #2 (12/10/24 - 12/30/24) 2wks 6days
• #3 (12/30/24 - 1/6/25) 1 week
• #4 (1/6/25 - 1/18/25) 1wk 5days
• #5 (1/18/25 - 2/5/25) - 2wks 4days - 14 g remain
• 
  
• Green (2/5/25 - 2/6/25) - 2days - 22 g remain (begin body stripes)
• Orange (2/6/25 - 2/8/25) - 3days - 23g remain
• #5 (2/8/25 - 2/9/25) - 2days - 11 g remain
• Orange (2/9/25) - 1day - 18 g remain
• Green (2/10/25 - 2/14/25) - 5days - 17 g remain (complete body stripes)

I'm getting pretty excited about this sweater.  :-)

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Cozy Stripes Sweater, part 5

As I begin this post, I am embarking upon Skein #5 of Brown yarn.... and have 5 more remaining.

The baseline pattern says to begin the stripes at 5-inches before the end.  My goal length is 14-inches from the armpit, and am currently at 7-inches.  So I need to check and confirm the body length at 9 inches or about half-way thru this skein or ~13 rows.

I expect to need a bit more than one skein for the collar/button band.  The body hem will be about half of one skein.  Which leaves ~3 skeins for the sleeves... so I continue to feel ok about the amount of yarn I have.

As of this morning, (2/5/25) I am 11 rows into Brown Skein #5.  I have begin the hip increases and am getting close to my goal of 9-inches from the armpit.  So I decided to try the sweater on and feel very good about where I am.

I will complete one more row of brown, so I can begin the stripes on the right side of the fabric and then begins the stripes as written.

Skein duration:

• #1 (11/2/24 - 12/10/24) 5wks 3days
• #2 (12/10/24 - 12/30/24) 2wks 6days
• #3 (12/30/24 - 1/6/25) 1 week
• #4 (1/6/25 - 1/18/25) 1wk 5days
• #5 (1/18/25 - TBD)

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Cozy Stripes Sweater, part 4

As of last time (January 6, 2025) I had just completed skein #3.

My estimates for yarn needs for the rest of the body at that time was:

• Each row is taking a bit less than 1g
• Each Skein = 25g
• 18 rows = 3.5 inches of length
• Length goal = 14 inches from Armpit
• ~3 more skeins to complete the body

Now, at the completion of Skein #4, my estimates are holding pretty close.  Skein #4 added 4 inches and 26 rows to the length to the body.

The length from the armpit is currently 7-inches and the goal is 14-inches.  Meaning two full-skeins are required to finish out the body length.

At this point, I'm still waffling on whether to have stripes accentuating my hips.  lol.  So I am considering finishing out the body in the brown yarn and increase the striping on the arms.

In both cases, I am hoping to finish out in brown and trim in black.  The black I had for other reasons and was not part of the initial color plan for this sweater.

   

Apologies for the shadows in these photos.... but even with looking at the color order side-by-side on my bigger screen it's clear there isn't much value difference between these colors, so the stripes should only offer interest and not accentuate.  Which has me feeling better about including the stripes on the body.

And for the last several weeks, this has been my only project since ~Christmas (12/22/24)...  For example, Skein #3 only took 1 week to consume (12/30-1/6).... Yes, these are small skeins at 25g, but still... that's a pretty good clip for me.  :-)

Skein duration:

• #1 (11/2/24 - 12/10/24) 5wks 3days
• #2 (12/10/24 - 12/30/24) 2wks 6days
• #3 (12/30/24 - 1/6/25) 1 week
• #4 (1/6/25 - 1/18/25) 1wk 5days

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!