21 February, 2006

You've got to love super bulky yarn!

Yesterday was a holiday but I had to come into work for a little while anyway, after picking up Tink from the doggie babysitter. She was SOOOOO dirty! And exhausted! According to the people there she had a great time after she got over being shy. The girl predicted that she'd just come home and pass out and that's pretty much what she did. I knit all afternoon while she snoozed and finally gave her a bath around 5. She is now my pretty white dog again.

Since my big blue sweater is finished I was just chomping at the bit to try out that handpainted super bulky thick and thin yarn I got from Handpainted Yarns. I had swatched it Sunday night and, using The Incredible Custom-fit Raglan Sweater pattern, went to work. Since I only got 10 skeins, which is about 650 yards, I thought I should make it a v-neck. I did go online yesterday to try to buy a few more skeins but that colorway was gone! I bought four skeins of a green which will work with it. I am still undecided about the mohair trim. But anyway I got the whole front and raglan done, sleeves on holders and a few body rows! That is super fast! The gauge is 2.5/inch on size 15 needles. I am going to have to buy size 15 dpns. I hope I can find them at my LYS and not have to send away. I am going to try to get some extra cables from Denise Needles too. I hear that they made another size cord so that you can make a 16" round, or is it 11"? Anyway, you need round and/or dpns for the sleeves. It's a fantastic pattern by the way. I love the simplicity of raglan sweaters and I love doing it top down and picking up the sleeves. No seams! No grafting! And I have only a very few ends to weave in on the blue sweater and it will be the same with this one, because I have been felting the ends of the skeins together rather than leaving tails and weaving in later. 100% wool is so easy to felt. I just split the ends, intertwine them a bit and then using moisture and friction (or, saliva and my knee)just put them together. It's tidy and boy, that's how I like to do a sweater. Finish knitting and put it on!!

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