A Warm Hug From Your Best Boyfriend

(Trying to take a selfie while giving myself a hug!)

That is how I feel about my new Ombre Yarneater sweater.

I have worn it numerous times and I can not get cold in it. (Nor do I get overheated, but I like it warm.) Even on the days when it's been a little windy outside, I can feel the wind as it makes its way through the knitted fabric, but it's not cold. (Contrast that to a nylon jacket where the wind can't get through but the nylon on your skin definitely feels cold.) It's very cosy. Mmmmm...excuse me as I snuggle for a moment.

Here you can see the full sweater a little better. I ended up with seven stripes as I made my way through the yarns. It's more striped than an ombre effect, but on the other hand it definitely progresses from a lighter, brighter colour to darks. I am happy with the balance.

To review the construction a little, the pattern starts with a big ribbed cowl neck:

Then the body is shaped with evenly-spaced increases around the yoke:

That's  my first handspun in the first few rows of the
second colour. It blends right in with the Malabrigo!

On the pattern sample the increases were more noticeable (little holes) but I wanted mine to be less visible. I used the lifted increase, lifting and knitting into the leg of the stitch below the current stitch. I don't think this type of yoke is the most flattering and I usually avoid it, but I thought it suited this sweater and since it is oversized, the fit is not as crucial.

After the yoke, the stitches are split for the body and sleeves. The body is worked straight with no waist shaping.

The body and sleeves are finished with 2x2 ribbing:

I had to make the ribbing a little shorter than the pattern called for because I didn't have enough yarn, but I don't think it hurts the sweater any. The sleeves also are a little shorter than called for, but I think that has worked out for the best. The sweater could easily look really sloppy and too-long sleeves would not help.

Another thing I worried about while working on it was the overall length of the sweater. Too long and it's a tunic. Too short and it's cropped. Plus making sure the stripe widths were balanced. I'm really happy with where the length ended up, and thankfully didn't have to work hard or finagle much to get there. :)

The only negative about the sweater is that it does make me look rather like a football player. The shoulders are wide and of course the whole thing has a very bulky fit.

My best impression of a body builder pose.
Ya, there's a reason I don't do this professionally...

But on the other hand, although fitted bulky items are fine when that's what you want, I definitely wanted a roomier bulky sweater in this piece. And I got what I wanted.

It took me a while to get pictures of this sweater once it was finished. With the long work hours and the shorter day length, it was hard to find an opportunity. But last Monday it was sunny when I got out of work and I knew the best of the fall colours had just passed, so I got changed as soon as I got home and ran outside to get these shots.

I mentioned before that I started collecting these various yarns well before I knew what I was going to do with them. I didn't think that they were colours that I wore much so I wasn't sure how that was going to work out. Of course, the first time I wore the sweater, I looked through my closet to see what I could wear with it and found a perfect green skirt with orange flowers and mustard-yellow tights. I am amazed how often that happens and it makes me think I have no idea what colours I wear!

I also wouldn't think yellow would be good on me but I think the warm tones of this sweater are fine.

That is a happy knitter.

Project Stats
Started: 19 Sep '14
Finished: 4 Oct '14 (I read on Ravelry that someone got theirs done in one week. I was hoping to match that, but it took me two.)
Pattern: Ombre YarnEater by Stephen West ($12 in ebook with 2 other patterns)
Materials:
1. Ella Rae Classic Solids, Heathers & Marls (601 yellow) 1 skein total ($0)
    Malabrigo Yarn Lace (35 Frank Ochre) 23g ($5.50)
    Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted (Sauterne) 59g (leftovers)
2. Handspun Fleece Artist Merino 50g ($10) alternating with
    Malabrigo Yarn Aquarella (c12 Palmar) 198g ($17)
3. Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted (37 Lettuce) 54g (leftovers)
    Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine (1292) 50g (leftovers)
    Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted Multi (40ns Sunshine) 36g (leftovers) alternating
    with Ella Rae Classic Solids, Heathers & Marls (601 yellow)
4. A few rows of Malabrigo Yarn Aquarella (c12 Palmar) to blend
5. Lana Grossa Olympia (417) 100g (€8.50)
6. Mystery handspun thick and thin 91g ($30)
7. Lana Grossa Olympia (040) 100g (€8.50)

Ombre Yarneater: Colours and Underarms

Truth be told, I've already finished my Ombre Yarneater sweater and worn it a couple of times. (Ok, more like every chance I can.) But before I have a chance to get pictures, I'll show you some progress.

Last time I showed you the sweater, I was just to the split for the sleeves and was working with multiple strands. After that I jumped to the next colour, one of the Lana Grossa Olympia balls.

But after working a number of rows, I really didn't like the abrupt colour change. So I ripped back the Olympia and worked a few rows with the Malabrigo Aquarella. I had two skeins of the Aquarella and just happened to start with the skein that wasn't as green. This was perfect as the greener skein blended nicely.

I'm a lot happier with the transition now.

The second thing I'm going to show you is how I do the underarm stitches. I used to do what patterns told me and cast on additional stitches to go under the arm, and then pick up off the cast on edge when working the sleeves. (And in fact some patterns have you cast on for both the body and the sleeves and then sew this short seam later--even crazier crazy pants.)

But I thought, how much better to do a provisional cast on so that there is no tight pulling at the underarm seam. And that's what I did for a long time--a provisional cast on over a piece of scrap yarn. When I was ready to do the sleeves, I just picked up the stitches and continued on.

But after doing so many socks toe up and realizing that it's easier to do a short row toe when I cast on over the cable of the needle instead of scrap yarn that I have to pick up stitches from, I applied the same idea to my sweaters. (I know--you realized I could do this when I started the explanation, but it takes me a while, people.)

So when casting on additional stitches at the underarm while working the body, I did a simple figure-8 cast on over one needle and the cable.

After knitting the body, you can see where those additional stitches are knit down one way, but patiently waiting for the sleeve to be done the other way. The stitches sit on the same cable that is holding the sleeve stitches.

I started knitting the sleeve half way through those stitches so that my end of round would line up with the side "seam" and when finished it looked like this:

View along the side "seam". Sleeve on top; body below.

Like any place that you cast on extra stitches there can be loose stitches or holes at the sides. You can leave a long enough tail when you start the sleeve to close these up and/or work the stitches with a needle or hook afterward to tighten the loose ones and spread the slack out over more stitches in the same row.

I'll try to get finished pictures up real soon!

The Yarn Eater is Hungry

...and it is eating up the yarn! It's also growing like crazy. I'm remembering the fun of doing a project in big, bulky yarns!

By Sunday, I had the collar done and started the yoke increases and the second stripe of colour. After the mix that I showed you in the swatch, I used my hand spun and a Malabrigo yarn that looked almost the same. (I didn't hold them together--I alternated them.)

My hand spun was not great to work with and was so overspun that I literally untwisted it as I worked. (Occasionally I would tie the yarn to the ball and let it dangle so all the trapped twist would spin out.)

When I had enough a wide enough stripe of that colour, I had to consider my next stripe. I wasn't convinced of the combination I was considering, so I actually swatched. You can see I tried a few variations (on the right in the picture above). I turns out the sock yarn I thought would work just had too much pink in it. Out it went!

Like in the turtle neck, I am stranding several yarns: green Malabrigo worsted, two strands of leftover brown sock yarn from my Anniversary socks, and the same pale yellow as in the turtle neck. Except I'm starting to run out of the pale yellow, so I'm alternating it with another scrap yellow I had. Hopefully I will have enough between the two of them to finish the stripe. If not, I will have to make something else up!

I am now down to the point of dividing for the sleeves (pictured above). This thing is going to be huge. Not so much oversized, but thick and plush. I don't know how often I'll wear it, but when I do, I'm sure I will love it: it is so big and cushy. Mmmmm. Like a big cocoon I can wrap myself up in!

Excitement is Starting a New Project!

I've been collecting up a group of yarns for a while now. A couple of years at least. I don't remember what got me started. Maybe just an excuse to buy yarns? I don't really think so, but wouldn't dare to say that I completely understand the mysterious workings of my own mind. :) The group certainly isn't in colours that I usually wear so it's hard to imagine how I got started.

This is the collection I pulled out last night:

I'll be using them from left to right. Some will be held together to make weight and to blend the colours. The bright yellow and green are Malabrigo that I had and threw in with the rest recently. Same with the yellow in the bag--that's some yarn I got at Squam.

Somehow I got the idea to make something from multiple yarns in different weights and types. Just mix it up in wide stripes of all these different yarns. The shape would have to be simple. I thought about a big rectangle folded in half with a neckhole and straight side seams. One thing holding me back was making a decision about what to actually do with it and the other was the thought of designing something--extra work and extra risk.

Then I saw this pattern:

It's another design by Stephen West who also designed the Mesa I did earlier this year. When I saw it, I right away thought of this yarn I have. I've been debating since the spring because I wasn't sure that I needed a big bulky turtleneck, but now that cooler weather is here it's not hard to imagine wearing it!!

I started swatching last night:

I really like the mix of colours--I'm knitting with all three of these yarns (two strands of the green lace). The resulting colour is nicer than any one of them.

That went so well (and quickly) that I cast on the sweater! Between last night and today I got the turtleneck done and have started the yoke increases, and the second colour. I'm using that little bit of my first handspun that I did during the Olympics.

This project has me just a little bit obsessed!