Mermaid - up and running

Just wanted to publicly announce that, after 4 years of patiently waiting in my craft box, Mermaid is on the needles! I got the spreadsheet for the Medium size from Amy although after (too much) deliberation I have decided to knit the Small with a few minor changes. I needed spreadsheet initially to make sure I was on the right track but, having just finished the first arm gusset, I'm getting familiar with the pattern, even the short rows.

I've benefited from the information provided by all of you who have knitted Mermaid previously and am happy to share any info with you (apart from the spreadsheet, of course!) or answer any questions you might have about sizing, quantities of yarn and alterations. Hoping to keep my blog reasonably up to date (see the link to Tessa on the right hand side of the page).

Hi! Thanks for letting me join in your KAL. I have just recently freed Mermaid from exile island and am ready to tackle the second half of the body. I was discouraged by the instructions that read to just reverse the instructions for the second half. And if that wasn't bad enough, I also just purchased the Diva kit (forgetting how disillusioned I am by the instructions!). It's a good thing that I love the designs.

Tina in Houston

Mermaid Shawl Collar

I was asked (quite a long time ago, I'm sorry!) for how I did my Mermaid collar. Here is as best as I can remember. Ask if you have questions.

I did the provisional cast on for the sweater at the Color A stripe AFTER the decrease for the shoulder (23 sts for size medium.) I started knitting on the right side so it matched up on the other end of the sweater. I then knit the sweater to just before you cast on the stitches for the other shoulder. Pin or sew the shoulders together at this point. I picked up the stitches across the back neck (46 for a medium) and knit both sides at the same time. That eliminated the back neck seam.



I don't have exact information on how I did the shawl collar as it is in the hands of its intended victim so I can't look at it to reconstruct my method. I placed markers on both sides as deep as I wanted the collar. I started on the center 80-90 stitches and started doing short rows until all of the stitches between the markers were used up. That gave me a collar about 7 inches deep at the widest.

Mermaid #4

I started the body after the collar decrease with a provisional cast-on. I knit the rest of the body until the same place (I can check later and tell you precisely the start if anyone needs it) then picked up the stitches along the neck (instead of sewing the collar on later) and then picked up the front stitches from the provisional cast-on.

As you can see, I revised the collar as well, because I've not been happy with the collars, they tend to flip up instead of staying flat. So I went into SweaterWizard and used the information from that program to make a shawl collar. I knew I had more than enough yarn from the kit to do this.

Another long car trip provided the time/inclination/whatever to do the i-cord edging. (I hate i-cord, I really do!)

I just popped this in the mail for the Intended Victim (she is going to have to sew in the arms and the shoulder seams -- I was going to do it for her and realized that all of my pins are packed for moving.) This is Color #5, kingfisher, cypress and black.

Mermaid Help Needed

I'm confused about the directions for the shoulder edge. The directions say "work edge stitches along shoulder similar to the edge along the lower edge of the jacket". This seems to mean that the edge stitches and shoulder stitches are worked the same although when I do this, the shoulder edge doesn't look right.
I'm stopped - although I guess I will go on to a sleeve while I'm waiting for an answer from a Mermaid expert.
Gayle

Mermaid Completed

I finished putting Mermaid (kit 5) together last night. It's been washed, blocked and is now drying. It fit so well that even the sleeves were perfect preblocked. I hope the jacket doesn't "grow" now that I have "soaked" & blocked it.

The jacket was started on July 19th and finished September 25th. Not too bad...only took a few weeks break to work on some special socks and I did make my self imposed deadline of October 1st!

I know another jacket will be started soon....just have to pick out the colors which has proven more difficult than I thought it would be.

New Mermaid!

Hi, I'm new to this group. This is my new Hanne kit for Mermaid 7. I have 7 skeins of purple, 2 each of aubergine and lilac. I'll weigh them also, but I need to find my scale.

I'd like to start knitting the mermaid, but I have a large stash problem, so I'm going to rush to finish my current project called A Walk in the Woods as incentive to start the mermaid. Purple is my favorite color, so I'm pleased to have such a beautiful kit! When I start, I believe I will do a provisional cast on as others have suggested. I'll keep you posted here and on my blog.

Mermaid Body Done

I cannot believe it, but the body of my mermaid is complete! I'm beyond pleased with how it has turned out. The hairclips held it together well enough to try it on for fit and so far it looks good. Now all that is left is putting the shoulder seams and collar together. I then plan on doing an i-cord bindoff all the way around so I don't have the grafting behind the neck on the collar. At least it worked on a swatch and I have a circular needle long enough so what the heck I may as well give it a shot!

I hope to start the sleeves by the end of the week after I put the body together- just need to write out the darn pattern so I can understand it. I can't wait to compare Amy!'s sheet to mine and see how close- or far off I am to the pattern's actual directions. So far it fits so I'm pleased- the sleeves worry me a bit as to the length of arm so that need some tweaking.

Mermaid Shoulder Issues

I've started my mermaid and have reached the cast off section for the shoulder. Does anyone know at which ridge number I should start the dec for the shoulder? I feel like I should count from the cast off ridge 9, but now I'm not sure. Each time I read Hanne's directions I become more confused so now I've hit the wall & stopped knitting.

Any help or clarification would be great. I should probably just be patient and wait for Amy's spreadsheet to arrive, but I just couldn't hold off any longer due to itchy fingers. Love the yarn and the knitting- not so much the the directions as written. Thanks!

Ballerina Small or Medium

I bought yarn to make another Ballerina. I know, that will be #4, but I love this pattern so much! More Brown Sheep NatureSpun Sport, which I love. We were at the Brown Sheep Outlet on our vacation, and I just couldn't resist! You wouldn't believe the amount of yarn I decided to get! And then again, you just might!

Right now I'm trying to decide whether to knit a medium or a small. I'm a medium right now, but working on changing shape to a small. I'd love to have this fit when I reach my goal weight, I'd hate to put all the work into it and have it be too big at the end. But there is that niggling feeling in the back of my mind that says it is more practical to knit to where I am as opposed to where I'd like to be.

Anyone else in this situation? What would you do?

I also bought some new hand-painted Nature Spun Sport, there is a part of me that thinks it might be glorious with 2 other (solid) yarns in a Mermaid. Anyone else tried this?

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.




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?

Mermaid

I have spend the last couple of days reading just about every post in this blog, as I am about to start knitting the mermaid. I will order the yarn tomorrow when I receive the colour scheme -if I can make up my mind :-)
Hopefully I will be able to read the pattern (I have it in danish -being danish myself) but I am a little worried as I am not an experienced knitter.
However, reading the posts have been a great help so for, now I just wait for a copy of the spreadsheet as it seems to be a must have.
A friend of mine has made the mermaid, but she can't cope with the wool. Does any of you have experiences in making it using a different kind of fiber? I will be using shetlandwool myself.

Finished!

I completed my Mermaid a couple weeks ago, but my digital camera was broken and I couldn't photograph it until yesterday. This is the #3 colorway in a size Medium.

My one cautionary observation concerns the blocking: the sleeves grow in length very easily, so be careful! The sleeve length was perfect before blocking, but way to too long after blocking attempt #1. I had washed and blocked my swatch and didn't notice any difference in before/after measurements, so this isn't necessarily because of the yarn. I re-blocked and was able to reduce the sleeve length a bit, but I just can't figure out how to squish the fabric any more to shorten the sleeves.

BTW, Mermaid is only on the hangar for the photo. I do not store my handknits this way!

Thanks again to Amy for the fabulous spreadsheet. I never would have been able to complete Mermaid without her directions!

Linda in Chicago

My Mermaid update

I think I last posted shortly after I started Mermaid (#3 colorway) in October. Some of you are so fast at knitting Mermaid that I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that I'm still not done. I've had other projects to do, though, so I haven't been able to devote all of my knitting time to Mermaid.

As of today, I only have one sleeve left to knit. I finished sleeve #1 last night and then started on sleeve #2 immediately. I'm hoping to finish Mermaid completely by the end of this month. I didn't carry colors along through the gussets, so even though I wove in the ends as as I knit, I do have quite a bit of neatening to do besides the blocking and sewing. I'll be sure to post a final pic when I get there.

I have to thank Amy once more for the fabulous spreadsheet she put together for Mermaid. I couldn't have knit the pattern without it. For a while, I thought I would have to work out the sleeve instructions myself. After spending a couple hours trying to figure them out, I was quite relieved to find that a version of the spreadsheet with the sleeves was available.

There are several other Hanne Falkenberg designs that I like, such as Tivoli, Diva and Tweedie. However, I'm just not willing to give them a try unless I know the instructions are better than the ones that came with Mermaid. Are all HF patterns written the same way?

My Mermaid update

I think I last posted shortly after I started Mermaid (#3 colorway) in October. Some of you are so fast at knitting Mermaid that I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that I'm still not done. I've had other projects to do, though, so I haven't been able to devote all of my knitting time to Mermaid.

As of today, I only have one sleeve left to knit. I finished sleeve #1 last night and then started on sleeve #2 immediately. I'm hoping to finish Mermaid completely by the end of this month. I didn't carry colors along through the gussets, so even though I wove in the ends as as I knit, I do have quite a bit of neatening to do besides the blocking and sewing. I'll be sure to post a final pic when I get there.

I have to thank Amy once more for the fabulous spreadsheet she put together for Mermaid. I couldn't have knit the pattern without it. For a while, I thought I would have to work out the sleeve instructions myself. After spending a couple hours trying to figure them out, I was quite relieved to find that a version of the spreadsheet with the sleeves was available.

There are several other Hanne Falkenberg designs that I like, such as Tivoli, Diva and Tweedie. However, I'm just not willing to give them a try unless I know the instructions are better than the ones that came with Mermaid. Are all HF patterns written the same way?