Friday, April 25, 2014

FO Friday - Big and Small

During the Easter vacation I managed to finish not one, but TWO sweaters!

First done was my September Morn sweater by Thea Colman. Unfortunately I'm slightly disappointed by how that turned out, as it ended up being slightly too big! The photo below is before blocking - even then it was a tad on the large side, but it grew another half-size when blocking! Really annoying as for the first time EVER I blocked my swatch, and that one didn't grow at all!
Fortunately I did only intend for it to be an informal sweater (rather than one I'd wear at work, I mean), and it's not so big as to be unwearable, so it wasn't a total loss. Besides, the yarn (which had been rather stiff while knitting it up) turned SO soft during blocking that I can almost forgive it growing too.

Besides, I haven't tried washing it yet -- it may just shrink down enough to fit me! Of course, with my luck it'll shrink down TOO far! ;)

Pattern: September Morn
Yarn: Lana Grossa Classic Tweed 100% Merino
Mods: None.

Fortunately my second FO was a HUGE success :) Prairie Fire was a testknit for tincanknits on Ravelry, and immediately I saw it I knew I just HAD to make it for my niece! Which one would depend on which size was available for me to test ;) Since I knew I'd be seeing my nieces for Easter I was very diligent in getting it done in time for it to block and be dry by last Sunday.
It turned out a tad big for its size, but my oldest niece likes oversized clothing, so my sister said it should be alright. She was right - my niece LOVED it! She immediately put it on over her top, and only took it off when she got too hot from running around :)
My sister texted me yesterday to let me know that she couldn't even get my niece to take it off to get washed!!! It's stuff like that that warms a knitty aunt's heart :)

Pattern: Prairie Fire (no pattern page on ravelry yet).
Yarn: Essentials Cotton DK by Rico Design 100% cotton.
Mods: There were a few errors in the pattern, but no real mods.

3 comments:

  1. How wonderful that she loves it soo much! As to your swatch, I learned from a class that small swatches are really not a good way to tell a yarns final result. You need to make a large swatch. A small piece of fabric with no weight will not react the same as a larger piece of clothing. I usually do a sleeve and see how it reacts. Not possible with all in one knits, but better than a small swatch. Really, I just hate making swatches! LOL. I think the sweater is lovely.

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  2. Great sweater, I totally get your frustration, though. Thanks for sharing!

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  3. Oh, I admire you sweater-knitters! Such fidelity. I actually love the way your sweater turned out and wouldn't want it any smaller.

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