A Long Overdue Finish

Men's Knitted Pullover Pattern | Whims And Fancies

 

A little self-inflicted toe mishap has me currently home-bound.  I am finding myself knitting a lot during the times when I would rather be outside hiking a beloved trail.  That’s not so bad, since I managed to finish this sweater for my husband before the passing of another winter.

Three years ago, while visiting a yarn store, I found myself buying a set of yarn to make a sweater for my husband.  A daunting prospect considering all I could make at the time were simple scarves.  A year and a half later as a more confident knitter I started looking for a pattern, but I couldn’t find even one for the amount of yarn I had purchased.

 

Men's Knitted Pullover Pattern | Whims And Fancies

 

Since a long time had passed in the meantime, I couldn’t just buy the extra yarn needed because of mismatched dye lots.  So I had to end up ordering another complete set of skeins with matching dye lots to make this sweater for him.  I learned a big lesson find a pattern first, then buy the yarn.

I have already found and purchased another pattern to make a sweater for myself with the original skeins.  I don’t mind at all since I was secretly wishing to make a sweater for myself in that colourway.

 

Men's Knitted Pullover Pattern | Whims And Fancies

 

I learned short row during this project.  It makes for a little higher neck line on the back of the sweater.  Short row on the round can be a bit confusing at first, but it worked out quite well in the end.  I was initially worried because it looked a bit bulging, but blocking the sweater removed the bulge completely.

 

Men's Knitted Pullover Pattern | Whims And Fancies

 

Although the majority of the sweater is knitted in stockinette stitch, there are two sets of cable design on two sides of the sweater underarms.  It’s an easy cable design that I could follow without paying too much attention.

 

Men's Knitted Pullover Pattern | Whims And Fancies

 

The sleeves were the hardest part.  Strictly following the pattern made for really billowing sleeves.  I had to frog the first sleeve twice before I figured out the rate of decrease to make a more shapely sleeve.  I reduced another set of stitches right before knitting the ribs to get a perfect fit around the wrists.

 

I used the Gamekeeper Pullover pattern that I found on Ravelry.  I had purchased DK weight yarn, while the pattern is written for worsted weight.  After quite a bit of trial and error, I figured out the right size for him that would work with DK weight yarn. The pattern was very adaptable.

The pattern itself is well written.  I like to learn as I work through projects, this sweater was perfect for that.  Other than the sleeves, I had no problem with the rest of the pattern.  I will definitely use this pattern again as a base for another sweater.

 

Ravi Sweater | Whims And Fancies

 

Once I finished making his, I started on a new cardigan for myself.  This is Ravi by Carol Feller.  The yolk is knitted sideways and the shape is created via short row.  I kept putting this one off because of the combination of short row and garter stitch.  Then I learned German short row.  It is so incredibly easy!  If you are interested, here is the video by Very Pink that I used to learn it.

My husband is all smiles about his new sweater.  Now that I can knit a little better, hopefully he won’t have to wait so long for me to finish the next one.

 

-Soma

 

I am also linking up on other linky parties on my Events And Links page.

 

 

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Two Of My Favourite Ladies

Pride And Prejudice Embroidery Pattern | Whims And Fancies

 

Purchase Pride And Prejudice – Fools In Love embroidery pattern

 

There are too many women from the stories that I love to list here.  I love the character of Ms. Elizabeth Bennet so much that I found myself needing to draw this Pride and Prejudice embroidery pattern.

 

 

Pride And Prejudice Embroidery Pattern | Whims And Fancies

 

 

I used wash-off stabilizer for the first time on this piece.  It leaves a tiny bit of starchiness after washing, which gives the whole piece a wonderful finish.  I used DMC perle 8 for the first time too, a navy thread.  I used three different stitches for varying thickness: chain stitch, stem stitch and back stitch, with chain stitch being one of my favourites.  I really love how it turned out.  At the moment I am not exactly sure what I will do with this block.  I may come up with a few more designs to make a small Pride And Prejudice quilt.

 

 

Doctor Who Rose Tyler Doomsday Mitts

 

 

This one is for Ms. Rose Tyler.  The tenth Doctor and Rose had such a sad ending.  I don’t watch it too often since it leaves me in a daze every time I watch it.  It always seems that happy and sad endings walk along side by side.

 

I wanted to make these mitts ever since the very first time I saw the episode.  The extent of my knowledge of knitting back then was basic cast on, cast off, purl and knit.  Since then I have learned how to make fingerless mitts, and from there I jumped straight into cable.  I am happy to say that once I started knitting the second mitt, I was already able to knit without looking at the pattern file anymore.  I love this pair of gloves so much!  I added an extra diamond to cover my palm a little better.  They not only keep my hands warm, they also make me feel warm and comfortable in a very nostalgic way.  This pattern by Christina Slattery can be found on Ravelry.

 

 

Pink Flowers | Whims And Fancies

 

 

My ageless cactus plant blooms only once a year.  Just for a couple of days all the flowers burst open together like a fireworks finale.  Every year the display is more spectacular than the year before.  The flowers are very much like these ladies I love so much, rare and beautiful.

 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone,
-Soma

 

 

 

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