1 For 2

Oh, it was a week of triumphs and tragedies. Okay, I'm being overly dramatic. It was a week of crap work and crap knitting, so I'm relishing my sewing success.

Let's get this one out of the way:



Pattern: Puff- Sleeved Feminine Cardigan from Fitted Knits by Stefanie Japel

Begun: 7/3/07
Finished: 9/9/07
Size: S, but knit at a bigger gage to obtain ~40" measurement
Yarn: Knitpicks Merino Style in Fog, 7 1/2 skeins
Needles: #3 and #1 circulars
Mods: Gauge, of course and I did took out the mandarin collar. I also messed up and added two too many repeats of the waist decrease in the back. Oops.



I thought I was going to like this sweater. I should have read more into the fact that the collar was all floppy and ginormous (I think it should have been knit on the smaller needles). I ended up hacking the collar off and adding a couple more rows in reverse stockinette. If I had been thinking, I would have knitted the button placket in along with the body, like I've noted other people doing. One neat-o thing I did was think ahead and pick up two extra stitches under the arm and immediately decrease them away to avoid the dreaded raglan armpit holes.



Pros: I like the pinched waist and puffy sleeves in theory. I like the peplum (both the word and the sweater part) in reality.
Cons: Mr. Beagle said it best: "looks like a granny sweater [on me]". My body + this sweater does not equal anything good. My row gauge is obviously off and because of it, the sweater gives the illusion of saggy armpits. The waist drops waaaay below my actual waist and my arms look sausagey (this has nothing to do with the sweater, unfortunately). This sucker is slated for destruction. Deadwood is still cancelled and I'm beginning to doubt that the promised TV movies are going to happen. Those #%^@ing $%*#suckers.

Aaaaand the triumph:



It's Simplicity 4091 in herringbone (not houndstooth as I posted before and kicked myself about since it was listed on the bolt as houndstooth and I was all 'oh no that is not houndstooth, that is herringbone' in my head and then I came home and wrote about it and called it houndstooth) denim. It fits. I got compliments on it. 'I like your skirt, where did you get it?' compliments, not 'did you make that? It's interesting' compliments. Forgive the wrinkles, I ate breakfast in it before Mr. Beagle got up and took my picture.

Also, rick-rack makes me happy.



So, in summary, sewing good, knitting bad. Sew more, knit less? Hah. Who am I kidding? I can't (machine) sew curled up in a blanket, feet on the coffee table, in front of the TV. Nope. I will however say this:

No more sweater knitting in 2007. I'm not liking the sweaters, so I'm not going to knit them for a while. Besides, I need to concentrate on cold weather accessories, 'cause...