Mustard

So just about a week before leaving me for a year, a friend requests a sweater, a mustard colored sweater. I want to tell her that she's crazy and can knit it herself, until she picks out a nice chunky yarn. 

As you can see here, I chose to knit this in the round, rather than knit several pieces and sew it together, leaving seems, etc... Well once I got to the top of the body, I learned my lesson!! 

Knitting in the round was fast and easy, I got a nice uniform body and it was easy to slip it on to see how it was fitting (it helps she's a similar sweater size). It also gave me the opportunity to play with a new pattern, a spiraling openness, without having to deal with a purl side. 

But as I mentioned before, things got tricky when I got closer to the neckline and prepped the arm holes. Since the entire project was staying on the needles, I had to work it in pieces after all. Working the back wasn't so hard, I switched to stockinette (working in a straight line now) and cast off stitches on both ends. For this I had to learn to cast off in both left and right angles. After a while, I realized that I had started this process too soon, so there is a massive dip in the neck line and the arm holes are more like giant slots, but life is a lesson if nothing else. :)

Here you can see where I marked the beginning of the arm hole, it is also vital to mark the center of the neck line and to note how many stitches you cast off per row as you shape the neck. The first thing I did when I began the shaping process was cast off one stitch at each arm hole and two  in front, make sure this is tall enough before doing so!!!

Then, like with the back, I worked one side of the chest piece at a time. Since I had done most of the reductions for the arm holes on the back piece, I only cast off a few stitches along the front. I was mostly focused on the neckline and leaving a wide enough strip to connect with the back. Again, I had to angle my castoffs appropriately for both knit and purl. To the best of my ability, once I had castoff the back and the left front piece, I mirrored the right front piece. 

I am currently stopped just inches from completing the vest, most likely due to the fact that we wove a matching belt earlier on. Once I obtain a third skein of yarn, I will be finishing the vest and adding 3/4 length sleeves. Then I will have made my first, and possibly only sweater! :)

Knit Shorts?

Yes, I thought myself that knit shorts sounded like the strangest thing, but after reading the blog that sparked the commission, it all became clear to me. 

The concept behind these shorts is simple enough: cast on enough stitches that it will go around the legs; alt 5 rows of knit and purl; taper in slowly and evenly until you match the waist line.

What was not so simple was working out a formula to determine the number of cast on stitches. I eventually found a guide for knitting in the round sizes, which was very helpful!

The project itself was actually very fun and easy, but I would recommend doing it in a slightly thicker yarn than your standard dk, unless you are making them for a child, or have nothing but time on your hands. One thing I plan to change from the original blog in the next pair, is the number of stitches I reduce at a time. Rather than 10 per every 3rd purl row, I plan to do every 15. The way the first shorts turned out (only about hip high rather than waist high), I had to stop reductions in the last 3 sets of purl or so. This way, I can make the shorts higher without running the risk of them not conforming as evenly at the top. 

BIGGEST TIP:

CAST OFF AS LOOSELY AS POSSIBLE!!!

I had to go bad and redo the cast off. When I redid the cast off, I grabbed my 10s for the actually cast off, after having done the project on 8s (not highly advised). This left more of an open "chain" look to the top, but this way there is plenty of stretch to get over the thighs, but still enough tension to come in at the waist :)

Finishing touches:

I would advise lining the inside with some sort of stretchy material that closely matches the color yarn used. Although these look quite sexy with leggings, it still wouldn't hurt to have that extra layer! :)

***I'll try to get a pic of them on their owner soon***