Okay here's the scoop

This is my latest project, the one done with no pattern at all.

Here it is on me. Admittedly this photo is horrible but it's the best I could do alone on a really dismal day.

Here it is laying flat on the floor. The colors are a lot nicer in person too.

Here you can see the nice seed stitch for the top 8 rows.

Here's the invisible 3-needle seam technique I love so much!


Okay here's how to make this sweater:

First, determine your gauge and how big around you want the thing, then CO the number of stitches you will need. I used a size 9 circular needle (24") because I wanted to knit this in the round. Not only does that make for tidier stripes (they can't not line up!) but it also lets you do One Row of a different color instead of two (one one way, the second the other way, to get you back to your other color yarn).

Okay so you cast on with C1 (the rainbow yarn for me) and you knit your first row. Then you join the work together and work in the round for 2 inches of K2 P2 rib in C1 (rainbow).

Change to C2 (green) and start stockinette stitch (which you will keep until the very end).

Here are the colors for the rows:

8 Rows of C2
1 Row of C1
6 Rows of C2
2 Rows of C1
4 Rows of C2
3 Rows of C1
4 Rows of C2
4 Rows of C1
4 Rows of C2
6 Rows of C1
4 Rows of C2
6 Rows of C1
3 Rows of C2
8 Rows of C1
2 Rows of C2
8 Rows of C1
1 Rows of C2
8 Rows of C1 in Seed Stitch

Here's what to do about the armholes:

When the piece is 13 or 14 inches high, you are going to separate the front from the back and stop working in the round. Put half your stitches on a holder (or if you're using Denise, knit halfway around and replace the needle ends with the stopper ends!) and keep the other half of the stitches on the needle. However you separate, You MUST secure the half that's not getting worked or you run the risk of losing it off the ends of the needle. If you put it on a straight needle, use a nice tight stopper.

Armhole decreases are done on the next three knit rows as follows:
K1, SSK twice, K to 3 from end, K2tog twice, K last stitch.

Continue even (changing colors as needed) until you reach the end of the color deal above. If the armhole isn't tall enough, keep going in Seed Stitch as many rows as you need. Once the armhole is high enough, do the next 15 sts in Seed Stitch, BO the center stitches, and do the last 15 sts in Seed Stitch. Transfer these stitches to a stitch holder.

Now do the other half the same way.

When you're ready to do the shoulder seam, get a book (HIP TO KNIT is great) or something that shows you the THREE NEEDLE SHOULDER SEAM. It's hard as hell to explain in words but it works great. Basically you put one set of stitches on one needle, the second on the second needle, then hold these two parallel right next to each other in your left hand as if they were one needle and bind off using a third needle in your right.

Put the pieces right sides facing each other and seam. Do this (duh) for each shoulder.

Hey, guess what? You're DONE.

(unless you count weaving in all the ends, but there's not much of that to do either on this, and I wholeheartedly support not doing it at all.)

Let me know if anyone tries this, and if so how it turns out!

[Interlude]

I did a whole 'nother sweater in my break from TSTWD and will get pics and comments up today I hope. It's a sleeveless boatneck number knit in the round with a combination of two double-stranded yarns. The first is a light green and white and the second is a kind of variegated rainbow and white.

I didn't have enough green/white to make the whole thing so I did stripes with the rainbow/white and I must say I'm very pleased with it. I "winged it" throughout and barely even wrote notes of what I was doing, let alone make a plan ahead of time. It came out really good (but a little short - I keep making them longer and they still manage to come out about an inch too short).

This one was started as a project for our short-notice Oklahoma trip, but all I managed to get done was the 2-inch K2P2 rib at the bottom. Not much knitting time on that trip, and we watched movies on the plane.

Virtually Seamless

Taking a little break from TSTWD but here's an update - right now I've finished the fronts and back, and seamed the shoulders. I have picked up stitches for the sleeve and have begun knitting the first sleeve in the round.

If it ever gets finished, this sweater will have almost no seams - just the shoulders - because I did the fronts and back together (one wide piece) until the armholes, then separated and did the fronts up to the tops. Picking up the stitches for the sleeves at the shoulder means no fitting/sewing the sleeves in, and doing the sleeves in the round means no sewing the sleeves together.

We'll see whether that's a good idea or not when I've finished it.

See what I mean about Peggy?

Peggy sent this pic of her now completed FIRST SCARF.

Please notice she's got textured stockinette stripes and crochet edging, plus fringe - all of which SHE TAUGHT HERSELF.

Pretty damned humbling, I must say....

But hearty congrats to Peggy!

(One of us, one of us!)

Worship at the feet of Peggy!

Can you even believe it?



I turned my back on her for like five minutes the morning after Jenny showed her how to knit, came back into the room, and Peggy says, "Oh I think I taught myself to purl...."

WHAAAA?

Well sho 'nuff she did- just look at this!


(what she did in the first hour or so)

(by the next morning)

I'm so thrilled I could jump out of my skin - can't wait to go to NYC and scour the yarn stores with her. In fact if anyone reading this can recommend any Manhattan yarneries, I'd love to know about them.