NaKniSweMo 2009: Completed

I did it!

I finished my February Fitted Pullover in time for NaKniSweMo. The knitting was done on November 24, it was put out to block on November 26 and final seaming was done November 29. See? One day to spare!

And you should not be surprised to hear that I wore it the very next day...to much critical acclaim. (One friend declaring it "best ever.")

The fit is really nice; the wool is very warm but ok to wear every day because of the lace pattern.

I love the dark burgundy colour (even if it is difficult to photograph) and it will "play well" with the other things in my wardrobe.

I do need to find some shirts with 3/4 length sleeves to wear under it, but that'll just be a nice excuse to shop around for some clothing!

The lace is nice; the sleeve length is nice; the garter edging is nice; but I think the feature of the pattern that really sets it apart is the scoop neck:
Amy (the designer) did a great job of producing a very even and smooth scoop shape. You had to use a lot of markers (non-knitters, you can think of markers like bookmarks) around the neckline as you knit, but she made it clear as to what you had to do.

Here are a couple more shots that are a little over-exposed to show more of the lace detail:

As to modifications I wish I had made, I should have made it a touch longer before the waist shaping. I recall I went a little longer than the pattern called for, but it could have used more. Next time I wash/block it, I'll have to see if I can stretch it out a little more.

I'm also not terribly pleased with the waist shaping. The pattern removes a full lace repeat (7 stitches) on each side over the course of several rows. This allows you to cleanly continue the lace pattern as you knit about an inch even at the waist size. On paper, it's very elegant and appeals to the purist in me, but in practice it just didn't quite make it. Project Stats
Started: 1 Nov 09
Finished: 29 Nov 09
Pattern: February Fitted Pullover by Amy Herzog (free)
Materials: Manos del Uruguay Wool Clasica (colour 54), 5 skeins $32.50
The shaping is quite sudden and comes out blocky. I'm not sure how I would fix it though...maybe take the same idea but just do the increases/decreases over more rows.

The thing about the construction that bothered me the most, however, is that the pattern instructs you to start working the left and right fronts and the back separately as soon as the neck shaping starts. This results in having to sew about an inch of the side seam together.

Ok, so this sounds minor, but it would have been so easy to continue to knit all of these pieces as one while shaping the right and left front neck edges and then working them separately when the armhole shaping begins. I'm still kicking myself (a little bit) for not reading ahead and seeing the problem sooner. If you're knitting in the round, you shouldn't have to sew side seams. That's the whole point.

But these are just little things I can't help but look at as I evaluate the project and try to learn things for next time. In all, this pullover is a breeze to make and a dream to wear.

As to the 50,000 stitch goal, I didn't make it. This pullover took 26,967 stitches. I knew it would be low (bulky yarn, small size, 3/4 length sleeves, and large open neck were all working against me) but chose to focus on the Knit a Sweater in a Month part of the challenge.

I have wondered about stitch counts on previous projects, but have never had the tenacity to actually keep track or even to estimate it. I have to tell you the Woven Cables Sweater I'm working on for Troy would have several times that many since it's knit with DK (much thinner) and is much larger. But need I say it? The more time I spend counting, the less I have for knitting.

For the really curious, I have included a chart of stitches done per day:

It was interesting to keep track, but unless there's some good reason I'll take knitting over counting any day.

Ready...Set...KNIT!!

Today was the start of NaKniSweMo and I have left the starting blocks!

I did go with the February Fitted Pullover by Amy Herzog. I'm excited to have it cast on.

Having just gotten back from a trip (and more than a little lazy, to be honest), I did not feel up to a gauge swatch. So instead of casting on the front and back (it's worked in the round up to the armholes), I cast on one of the sleeves. There's less invested if the gauge turns out to be off.

But I got far enough on the sleeve to measure and my gauge looks to be right on. Love it!

All for now; I've got a race to run...

NaKniSweMo 2009

Ever heard of NaNoWriMo (think National Novel Writing Month)? I hadn't either but apparently it's a movement to encourage the writing of novels. The challenge is to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November. People participate in this every year. A lot of people. This year, they've got 90,000 previous participants on their email list. Wow.

How does this relate to my life? (Because I'm not writing a novel right now no matter how much Tom wants me to.) Well, a group on Ravelry alerted me to Shannon Okey's blog, knitgrrl (I haven't read much of it yet, but I hear it's good), where she spelt out the brilliant idea in 2006 to start a concurrent project.

While all those writers were writing, why shouldn't we knitters be knitting? Knitting big things with a crazy deadline? Well, why not? So she started NaKniSweMo with the logic that a sweater must have at least 50,000 stitches.

Ignoring all the projects I already have on the go and ignoring the fact that November should be consumed with the making of Christmas items, I decided to dive right in. First, I joined the Ravelry group (which itself has 380 members) and then I started looking for patterns.

Last summer, I bought enough of this beautiful reddish-burgundy wool
at Erica's sidewalk sale to make a sweater. (I briefly thought about using it for a sweater for Troy, but the DK weight I'm using for his woven cables sweater is much better.)

So there sits a sweater's worth of wool and then a sweater KAL comes along. (A KAL with the possibility of prizes.) Well, like I said, I'm in!

Then the search for a pattern begins. I first considered this sweater from Vogue Knitting, Winter 2008-09: I still love love love this pattern, but the yarn is not bulky enough. I looked at many others, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with the February Fitted Pullover from Amy Herzog at stashknitrepeat. I still have time to think about it, but it is very beautiful. The lace pattern is from the overpopular February Lady Sweater by EZ. Scoop necks have always done very well for me as well. I'm very excited!

I'm sure by the time November rolls around, I'll have some of these other projects off the needles.