The Decorator Crab

Casting On: Amanda Jacket

In addition to certain ongoing projects, I have started my first sweater. I'm now knitting the Amanda Jacket (Ravelry) from A Fine Fleece, in Debbie Bliss Donegal Aran Tweed. Here are a couple of photos that I took from pages in the book.

and a close-up:

I love cardigans - I wear them all the time. Here is my swatch for the project:

My gauge was off prior to blocking, but after a warm soak the yarn bloomed a bit and my gauge is now bang on (suh-weet!). I'll be casting on for the 40" bust size, which will give me 5" of ease at the bust and 2" of ease at the hips (there is no shaping in the body of the cardigan). I think this sweater is meant to be somewhat boxy and "comfortable" looking, certainly not tight, so I am sticking with the "boyfriend sweater" MO. BTW - Lola is fully responsible for my desire to knit this cardigan. Lola's version turned out so well, still the best of the ones I've seen on Ravelry and beyond.

One last thing: for those who are impatient about drying swatches, I employed a new drying technique at the vacation cabin that we rented this past weekend:

That thing was dry in no time!

Ease on down the road.

So, I'm going to put up this here post as though it hasn't been FIVE MONTHS since I last blogged. Nothing out of the ordinary to see here folks, just a regular post.

Here we have my most recent FO, the Just Like a Peasant Cap (pdf) by Amber Daniels (Ravelry).

Yarn: Valley Yarns Williamstown, color 09, three skeins.
Needles: Inox circulars, size 10.5
Size: One Size
Notes: This is a fun, quick project and produces a jaunty little cap. The yarn is held doubled, so this really does knit up quickly. I loved the yarn, which I used for the first time in this project. I found it on WEBS for $4.99 a ball - a smoking deal! Here are some more photos, and then the notes from my Ravelry Project Page.

   

More notes:

I knitted the body of the hat flat for a couple of inches so that it would open a bit in the back and give the ties some room to move around. Then I joined and worked in the round until the piece measured 8” to the hem (not including the brim), and started evenly decreasing with K2TOG in 8 sections, every row until there were 8 stitches left.

For the strap, I slipped the first stitch of every row purlwise with the yarn in front, which left a very nice edge for sewing. I sewed the strap/tie thing on to the top of the brim ad around the edge of the hat to the back.