Saturday, April 28, 2007

Ballerina

I love the thought of knitting Ballerina, but the more I think about it, the more I am persuaded that it isn't going to be flattering for me. Which is disappointing. I have the pattern, I have the yarn, but... I don't want to knit something and not like the way I feel when I wear it!

Has anyone made it and found it flattering?

Perhaps it is time to knit another Mermaid! Or one of her other patterns.

Monday, April 23, 2007

Ludo jacket - progress



Finally! Some progress on my son´s LUDO jacket.
I actually almost finished the first half before measuring gauge - call me lazy. And I´m spot on, to the millimeter! The reason for measuring were the super-wide arms, which are as they should be according to the pattern. I will probably try to narrow them down when putting the whole thing together, and if I´m feeling very brave I´ll even cut off the excess (after thorough sewing of course).

This jacket has really been playing a few games on me, as it seems what is referred to as the wrong side and the right side in the pattern seems to change throughout. This gave me an odd number of rows, and it just went horribly wrong. I ripped it several times before I finally understood that it was actually ok, it just ended up beeing backwards/opposite sides compared to the pattern.

Also, since the pattern is juuust boring enough to seemingly let me concentrate on watching TV or surfing while knitting, every now and then I would forget to knit two together every other row, alternatively forgetting not to knit two together in the pattern rows. Deeming me to more ripping. So even though it is simple, this project needs concentration!

This has been a bit of an irritating project, actually. But I seem to have the hang of it now, soon ready with the second and last part.

Sunday, April 22, 2007

Question on Ballerina spreadsheet for Amy

Amy,
I was reading the updated spreadsheet for Ballerina size m/l and here is my question. I notice that it ends with Row 1302 with only a single transition row being knit. Is this the final row or do I need to do a couple of more transition rows as per the first sleeve? Page 43 doesn't indicate that you knit any rows although row 1304 is partially filled out. I am thrilled beyond belief that you were able to provide this for all of us who would nevere have been able to knit this garment without your remarkable tool. Many thanks over and over again.

Saturday, April 21, 2007

Mermaid

I have finished the body of my mermaid and am now working on the first sleeve. Unfortunately too much knitting during easter break caused a tennis elbow. Sigh.
For the body (size S) I used a provisional cast-on and an I-cord bind of. It worked oút just perfect! I have reduced the lenght of the sleeve with 10 stitches as everybody seem to agree on them being too long.
I just wish I could knit more than 2 rows a day, this way it will take me a year to make the sleeves.



Tweedie

Hi everyone! It's been awhile since I've posted, but I've been reading everyone's posts and loving your HF knits. I finished my Mermaid back in March of 2006. I'm just now reading to think about starting the Tweedie kit I already have.

I took one look at the directions and I'm totally confused;

"Knit 3 rows from the same side....each row with a separate ball. Slide stitches back to other end of needle between each row. Then turn and knit one row from the other side of work using all three colors at the same time."

Is it just me, or is that totally confusing? Do I knit each row three times? Yikes! Has anyone started Tweedie or knit it in the past and do you have any clues for me?

Thanks in advance.

Annie




Thursday, April 19, 2007

Pagode Cast on


I'm new on this blog and new to Hanne Falkenberg sweaters. I bought a Pagode kit last year (there are some write ups on my blog here and here) and finally had a chance to cast it on this past weekend. So far I really enjoy the yarn. I'm making the smallest size, so as to avoid counting more than 386 stitches.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Pyramide

Hallo everybody who knows / and remembers the PYRAMIDE-chaos of last September!

After almost 7 months of knitting I'm really proud to present the 3/4 finished jumper and I would be even prouder if this piece of art would fit me.
the jumper is simply too short - it fits well at arms & shoulders but 5-8 cm more in length would be needed. Right now I'm finishing off the sleeves and the neck - and I hope to get some good ideas of how I can add some length.
Has anyone come across a similar probelm ?

Any suggestions welcome !

Gruss Eva

Mermaid spreadsheet question

I'm knitting Mermaid in size Large. did anyone adjust the spreadsheet to make a Large version?

Monday, April 16, 2007

Ballerina Finished

Here is the Ballerina. I actually finished this in early November, but I've been lazy about taking pictures. I thought I'd go to Petra and take pictures there, but I've not been to Petra once in the time I've lived in Jordan. Now, it's going to get hot here, so when I went to California last month I took the Ballerina and left her there. So, no fancy photos, but here she is anyway:

Here you can see the big panel of stripes that goes under the arm. What I particularly liked about this jacket is that the sleeves are knit as-you-go, which is good for me since I hate knitting sleeves.



Here is the detail of the sleeve and neck. I really like the way the different angles of the ridges come up to the arm and meet.



What I don't like about the jacket is how it just hangs off of me. It is pretty heavy, and it wants to pull back and make my shirt choke me while it just droops over the front of me. Still, I wore it a lot here this winter.



Here is the back. I love the shaping of this jacket. My husband picked the colors. I would have gone with one of the three color choices, but I'm really glad he picked these. For one, this jacket goes with most everything I wear, and the simple colors of this combination make me look more at the knitting than the palette, and I just love the shaping.



Here are my two Hanne projects. Less than a year ago I found her web site and declared I'd never pay that much for a kit, and, well, here we are. I enjoyed knitting both of these, and I wear them both often. I am an experienced knitter, but I'd never done such a large project with short-row shaping, and I enjoyed learning something new.


Lessons from the Ballerina:
1. Hanne’s patterns are not perfect. I used them as guidelines. It's important to have symmetry with her patterns, but it's not the end of the world if you have 200 stitches going into a sleeve and you're supposed to have 204. Just do the same thing throughout, and it will turn out.
2. Hanne thinks that women have arms that are no less than 2 meters long. I'm short-ish, and I shortened the sleeve lengths for both the Mermaid and the Ballerina. When I began the first Ballerina sleeve, I read in her pattern that there is the option to shorten or lengthen within her guidelines, and I shortened even more than her pattern "permitted." Still, they are quite long on me. Don't be fearful about shortening sleeves on her patterns!
3. There is no use for me in reading the whole pattern ahead of time; I have no short-term memory. But, I did find it helpful to read each section prior to knitting and asking myself if her directions made sense. The garments are beautiful, but the patterns are not user-friendly. Focus on symmetry rather than strict adherence to her pattern.

Thanks for letting me join your knit-along!

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Need Encouragement

I have to confess that I have been sitting on a pile of yarn waiting to become a Mermaid for almost a year. I agreed to knit a second Mermaid for a friend and have put if off by compulsively knitting socks. Many, many socks. I need to find the energy to knit something that takes more than a week to complete. Any suggestions?

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Ballerina Spreadsheet Update!

The much awaited Ballerina spreadsheet update has been sent out! This update includes the entire 2nd sleeve for both sizes. It was really hard to work through this part because the "mirroring" and the written instructions didn't always sync up, no matter what I did. So I had to take a few liberties to make it work out right, those are explained with the spreadsheet. With the spreadsheet, I could easily count ridges and stripes to see if it all mirrored up. I can't imagine how much of a pain it would be figure this out while you were actually knitting it.

Anyway, if you're on the list for Ballerina, you should have the update in your e-mail. If not, e-mail me.

If you are interested in the spreadsheets for Ballerina or Mermaid, click here to find out more.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Public Shaming, please.


Hello everyone! Since discovering this knitalong I've been motivated to begin work on what has become my #1 Most Shameful Unfinished Purchase. Clearly I am spoiled and/or lazy, to have this kit sitting on the top of my shelves in my yarn room for a year and a half after coveting it online for a year previously. That's two and a half years, people!

I have a swatch. It has been washed and is perfect! Seeing all the finished Mermaids and other Hanne designs will help. Anyone here can also make me feel guilty for having the money to spend on this and then just letting it sit around. Let the guilt be my motivation!

Monday, April 09, 2007

Diva

hi. I'd like to knit Diva. I have the pattern but want to knit it in my own choice of colours, using Jamieson's Shetland wool which is a good match for the wool Hanne Falkenberg uses. Does anyone know what the yarn weights are so I don't order too much or too little?

Mermaid 8 - the hot pink one







Here are some photos of my part-completed Mermaid in colourway 8 - cyclamen, brick red and thunder blue. I think the top one is more accurate in terms of colour but neither really does them justice. They are gorgeous!
Thanks to Amy and her wonderful spreadsheet, this has been remarkably straightforward so far. I made sure my tension was correct - not something I have always been rigorous about in the past, I admit. This time, I didn't want to risk it.

As you can see, I have nearly finished the body. Just need to do the sleeves and the i-cords. I have opted for Amy's idea of a provisional cast on which I will undo in order to make the two i-cords match. But I'll be saving that for a day when it isn't school holidays and I can have some peace and quiet!!! It's not always easy doing something like that with a 6 year old boy and a nearly 4 year old girl bouncing around me, asking lots of questions...

Modeling Mermaid

A few people asked me about how well Mermaid fit, my typical clothing size, etc. I've been wearing Mermaid quite a bit since spring seems to be delayed this year in Chicago and the weather has been quite cold (it's snowing today!). However, my personal photograher (otherwise known as my husband) isn't always handy when I'm wearing it. Finally, here are a couple photos of me wearing Mermaid. The details follow.

Me sitting and wearing Mermaid

Me standing and wearing Mermaid
This is a size Medium Mermaid. In my previous post about finishing this project, I noted that the sleeves came out a bit longer than I prefer, but otherwise it fits very well.

At this point in time, I typically wear a U.S. size 14 (*gulp*, I'm working on losing weight). This translates to approximately a 40-inch bust and 42-inch hips. At times I do pin the jacket closed and it still fits well, although the gussets are not as flared as they probably should be. I think this knitted fabric can be very forgiving and stretchy, and I'm sure it will look even better after I lose some weight.

Now...can someone who has finished Ballerina return the favor? I would love to make another HF design, but wouldn't dream of doing so without one of Amy's spreadsheets, such as she made for Mermaid and is in the process of making for Ballerina. However, I'm concerned that Ballerina may not be that flattering to someone with my body shape. I do not believe that women with larger frames and figures should wear boxy, baggy clothing. I think Big Girl Knits explains this very well and find their advice very applicable: curvy women need to draw attention to their assets and accentuate their curves. Does Ballerina do this?

Sunday, April 08, 2007

I-cord after provisional cast-on

After reading all the posts here I did a provisional cast-on when beginning my mermaid. But now I can't remember nor find how to make the I-cord !! Stupid me!!
Can someone help me?