After very little knitting time on the big trip, and no knitting of any kind during Fever Week, I’ve finally made some further progress on my (painfully) mindless grey cardigan. I still believe I’ll be happy to have this sweater when it’s done, but this is one of those projects that I’m so apathetic about picking up at night that it makes me wonder if I’ve fallen out of love with knitting. (I haven’t — I’m just bored by this. That’s how it is sometimes!) What is lighting me up, though, is my swatch for the upcoming Sloper Knitalong! Which I’m knitting with two strands of Kestrel on US13s.
I’m really excited about this little summer sweater. As you can see in my sketches, I’m making a few key diversions from the pattern: lengthening it a bit, adding a slight bit of texture (thinking chunky Andalusian stitch could be interesting), making it a V-neck instead of a turtleneck (all of which we’ll go over!) … and knitting at a slightly different gauge.
Speaking of Sloper gauge, though, MAJOR MEA CULPA: I gave out bad intel in that Sloper KAL intro post. I knew it sounded wrong when I was typing it, but that’s what my notes said — except I was looking in the wrong place, and realized it when I was working on my own swatch here the other night. The pattern gauge is 2.25 sts per inch, not 2.5, and that was achieved on US15 (10mm) needles, not US11 (8mm) as originally stated. The 11s were the ribbing needle, not the main fabric. To anyone who’s been swatching ahead and trying to get gauge, I am so deeply sorry for the error. It’s been corrected in that post and will be correct when I post the “pattern” on Monday. But we’ll also be talking about how to adjust for gauge differences, so hopefully I haven’t made anyone too totally crazy with this! Sorry sorry sorry.
Regardless, I hope a lot of you are excited about the whole Sloper thing, which will kick off on Monday! I’m so excited to see what everyone will make. And I’m wishing you a magnificent weekend in the meantime …
Cardigan pattern: Improv
Yarn: Balance by O-Wool in Talc
(Lykke needles from Fringe Supply Co.)
.
PREVIOUSLY in Queue Check: March 2017, a whole new queue
Boring knitting is hard, but you know if you keep at it, you will live the end result! And never being one to rush into anything, i cast on a top down, no pattern sweater this week. I loved your striped one, and have some yarn I love but it isn’t enough for a sweater. Light bulb finally came on, I bought some black yarn in a similar weight and I am off and running with a blue-green and black striped boat neck raglan sweater. We will see how it goes. Maybe in a year or two I will make a sloper!
Sloper is a piece of cake. But hooray for striped sweaters!
Hoping you’ll also include instructions for your original Slopes with the turtleneck. It looks fabulous on you!
Thanks!
Yes ma’am, that’s what it is.
Really looking forward to casting on the original Sloper, Karen. This will be my first basic summer knit of the season, and I can’t wait!
Yay!
I am loving the look of Kestrel held double. And I just happen to have several hours in the car this weekend where I’m not the driver–plenty of time to swatch and be ready for Monday!
It feels a tiny bit risky. I know from experience that Kestrel (and linen in general) stretches out considerably while you’re wearing it, and pulls back up when you wash it, etc. I’m not sure how chunky linen fabric will fare! But I’m willing and eager to find out. I do hope it turns out ok …
Hey Karen, could you explain using the rows of garter as an alternative for alternating skeins with O-Wool? I remember you mentioned it a while back, and I meant to ask then. How does that mitigate the potential color shifts of the O-Wool?
My idea there is that it’s just that creating a ridgeline is a way to disguise any potentially evident ball changes. Any color shift from one skein to the next should be subtle enough that you wouldn’t be able to tell when you’ve got this ridge casting a shadow at the transition point anyway.
I’ve knitted with this yarn before and not alternated skeins and it’s totally fine. (I’ve also held it double, which ameliorates any differences since they’re inherently blended together.) This is just a thought I had that seemed like a fun way to create a purposeful and randomized design element. We’ll see how it works out!
I think the grey sweater is looking lovely. Sorry it’s boring but I think it’ll be worth it.
I think so too!
Got it! Thanks for explaining—makes a lot of sense.
Love your idea for the Sloper! Had the same “are we there yet” moments multiple times while knitting Mike’s O-Wool cardigan. Probably my most boring knit to date, but then the end result is worth it!
Karen, I have some bulky in my stash that gets me gauge on 13s. I’m going with it! It’s black, my favorite. I think it will be a fall fav. Possibly early spring. Can’t wait! 😊
Pingback: Sloper: Basic pattern (and knitalong!) for a sleeveless sweater | Fringe Association
Pingback: My Sloper mods: Longer linen V-neck | Fringe Association
Pingback: Summer ’17 wardrobe planning, part 2: Closet inventory | Fringe Association
Pingback: Summer ’17 wardrobe planning, part 3: The make list | Fringe Association
Pingback: Outfits! : The Summer 2017 plan | Fringe Association
Pingback: 2017 FO-3 : Sloper as a linen V-neck | Fringe Association
Pingback: Queue Check — May 2017 | Fringe Association