Miette by Andi Satterlund - a two year project

I cast this on in Ukraine but realised the lace was too difficult at that time and stopped it.  I had considered using Malabrigo Rios (I ended up making my second simple sweater with it - here) but I thought the single colour that I had originally planned to use would indeed be nicer.  The yarn is Cascade Heathers 220, the colour is called iridescence, it is pale mauve from a distance but close up it's a rainbow and very beautiful. 

So I really cast on in 2016 while I was in Poland travelling with my cousin.  I got through the first 20 rows and then ran out of knitting time...until now.  I had progressed through increasingly challenging projects in Nepal and felt ready to tackle this monster!

This is a much harder project that the simple pullover I made before, and for that reason I'm glad I put so much time in between the two.  I had to relearn everything in Nepal - yarn overs, and ssk and all of it...maybe it will stick in my head this time?  The awesome thing is how my projects inadvertently were a progression of skills.  I started with the legwarmers, doing nothing new, but really needing my project to fit me.  Then I made the cowl which reminded me how to concentrate as you only have two rows of pattern but they are slightly offset.  After that I made the handwarmers and was really amazed how ok it was to do the thumb gusset and the thumb overall - plus those went into use RIGHT AWAY! The cables in my earwarmer made me more confident doing new things - so by the time I picked this back up my confidence had grown.

I picked this up at row 20, and with one week left in Nepal I was on a mission to get it done!!  I was a knitting machine!  I didn't finish it before leaving Pheriche - I had the body and one sleeve done and determined to finish the rest in Kathmandu.  As always with knitting, I have found that the minute you stop a project you doom it to potential eternity.

My colleagues in Pheriche totally laughed at the diminutive size of this thing.  They couldn't believe it was for me.  I made the XS and it's really small looking! But when I put it on, noting there were still no ribbing front bits, it seemed to stretch to fit.  So I guess blocking is when you really make something your size. 

I'm not sure what difficulty level people place this sweater at, but I believe it's relatively challenging for a beginner.  The lace rows mean that you are endlessly counting, ugh!  If you miss a stitch, you have to put it back into the right quadrant of the sweater.  I was totally mad at the single purl row at the bottom of the sweater, not realising it really is pattern!  And after that I didn't have the energy to figure out knitting and purling into my back loops, it was too hard, so I went with normal k2p2 for the bindings.  (During my last week in Pheriche I had no internet to check on things!)

 Also I thought the way the sleeves are continued makes it really hard to actually not have a hole in the armpit.  I assume this is beginner problems.  You only pick up two stitches at the bottom, then you knit those stitches together...on my first armpit that led to a massive hole.  I left a large yarn tail luckily so I kind of darned that thing shut while weaving in the ends.  I used a very short US 8 round needle for the sleeves and it was kind of a pain but I did the same with the second sleeve (not enough of a pain to switch to DPNs).  I didn't have a smaller needle for the sleeves so the cuffs were also done with US8.  I tried to be more clever about the second sleeve but even trying to pick up strategic stitches, there is a huge hole. It seems to me like you need to pick up 3-4 stitches to avoid having a hole.

I did get around to relearning purling in the back loops for my button bindings.  It is not all that easy and for some reason I had a real block at first but I got the hang of it.  However I don't think it looks better at all and it is *so much* harder than just purling, so I'm not convinced.  Or I'm doing it wrong?

The pattern read that I needed 7 buttons, which I already had gotten in Kathmandu, so I didn't double check.  It ends up you need 8 and I could have gotten one more!  I finally finished the bands after the holidays - didn't manage to finish it in Nepal, but I'm still really pleased it's done.  I feel more confident and ready to make larger sweater projects that will actually fill gaps in my wardrobe - I'm not really confident that I'll wear this much since it is best suited to going over dresses. 

Variations on a Colourway, Andi Satterland cropped sweater

While I was waiting to finish my first version of this sweater...I already started the second one.  I bought this beautiful Malabrigo yarn in Port Townsend, WA last October with the plan to make the same thing again.  I thought it must be like making a dress, that after the first time you have the hang of the pattern and it won't feel so terrifying.  I debated making something else and cast on the Miette, but my experience with the lace at the beginning was terrible so I decided to return to the original plan and garner some lace experience elsewhere (like with scarves and Craftsy lessons!)

Using this wool I could already see after the first piece that it would end up a lot bigger than sweater number one.  (Not a bad thing.) I didn't swatch anything, and I still made a size S, the second smallest, based on my measurements.

I had to stop it right after the first section, because I only had the one size US 8 needle and it was needed for another project.  Having limited supplies and nothing to do but knit was quite good for my skills because I had to finish each project before moving on - no more half-done socks lying around!  Also making things for people with imminent departure was good added the stress to finish my projects on time.  The bad thing is that I didn't think through this entire project from the beginning, colourwise, and my one colourway had a lot of variation.  

Anyway spring started blossoming so it was time to get on with it. I was completely shocked by how quickly it went.  I finished up the first ball of yarn and started on with the second, and then was a bit sad as the colour was so washed out.  After a few rows I switched to ball three, which had predominantly greens and blues rather than greens and purple.  I had bought a skein of the colourway Purpuras, which is purple and magenta, but I wasn't feeling it.  I also didn't want to do the wave-design at the bottom because my two-colour alternation technique is wrong (I assume) and the inside yarn kept attaching to my bra and making me worry that I was going to break my beautiful sweater.  I thought this yarn was busy enough without that detail.  I debated for awhile but realised my accidental yarn order had decided for me, as the final ball of yarn was deeper blue, purple, and green, and so I decided to try and do a colourway gradation.

I was less scared knitting this sweater so I made more mistakes as well as working faster.  I don't really understand when you put the sweater into the round and add stitches in the middle of your work - my thread tail stays stuck to the end of the round, and my new added stitches are on the other "half" of the work, taking a second round before it really becomes one unit and with this stretched out yarn tail in the way.  My ssk must be wrong as it creates a decorative extra line (which I just left in, whatever).  And the crowning glory was when I decided I should try it on, and naturally ripped out a few rows of stitches that I couldn't get back.  I got them on my needles but there was a big hole that I tried to weave shut later.

trying to block it smaller...

These are the before-blocking pictures

I realised too that this is the point when I'm ready to move on to different sweaters - to see how someone else does things.  This tutorial made the sweatermaking process feel less scary because each piece of instruction was far away from the next one, so you couldn't look ahead too much and get nervous.  When it's all written out on one piece of paper and you don't understand the abbreviations that you'll need in 10 rows, it seems too daunting to even start.  But now I'm irritated by things on this sweater that are NOT different than my first one - like binding on for the sleeves, should it always look a little...detached?  I'm finally ready to try something different.

The fit prior to blocking was good, but still had extra fabric around the upper chest and shoulders.  I was hoping that by blocking in hot water it would get tighter.  When I put it in hot water it actually relaxed and seemed soooo big...oh no!  I tried to block it smaller somehow. 

That didn't work!  It's still got extra fabric around the shoulders.  Unfortunately I made the short rows on the right shoulder really loose and it makes a big difference.  But I know it's really mainly noticeable to me!  Overall this sweater is more practical than the blue one because it's longer, but it's been an interesting lesson on how the same pattern can make really different sweaters. 

Andi Satterlund Cropped Sweater

When I started knitting this sweater (in October) it was with shaky hands because I had never bought so much such nice such expensive yarn for a project.  Seriously, I think I had high blood pressure for the first half of the body. 

Mind you, I've started a lot of knitting projects. I learnt to knit at 16 (my 12-year-old host sister in Finland taught me) and I made loads of those useless cotton squares, I made legwarmers for myself, I later made 1.5 socks.  That was in 2003 and I think the second sock is still on needles.  I forgot how to do the heel.  I knitted sad, anaemic scarves with the wrong size needles and that nobody wanted, because I couldn't resist buying beautiful wool...and thanks to New Zealand I knitted a bulky pullover sweater that shedded on all humanity, and which I gave to a friend who immediately lost it. 

So this project came with a promise - a wearable sweater.  That I would finish.  No matter what.  I cast on in Delft, put it in the round in Reykjavik (thanks so much to the Finnish lady in Storkurinn yarn store, without whom it would have stalled, permanently twisted.)  I knitted in Seattle, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Hawaii and finally cast the body off in Ukraine.  At which point I discovered that my short cable was missing and there was no replacement.  I used the interim time to make some scarves (as you may have noticed) and practice short rows.  I guess I could say, this sweater (+ Ukraine!) finally turned me from someone who loves beautiful yarn but can't be trusted around it, into a knitter.  For which I am eternally grateful.

The Tuts+ tutorial was invaluable.  I went one section at a time and didn't look ahead too much, so I wouldn't get panicky.  Only a few new things are introduced at a time so it doesn't overwhelm.  Youtube was a big help since I didn't have anyone around to ask for advice most of the time.

I was on tenterhooks to wait months for access to the short cable needles, but when they arrived I took a break from the endless red scarf to do my first shoulder and it was amazing. The short rows were fun - not nearly as terrifying as they had been in my head, especially after the shock at learning that you take up stitches at an armhole/neckhole in a very unscientific way. (Youtube said - fold in half, fold in half again, place markers, estimate your stitches per quadrant.  Really???)  There are lots of little holes in my first underarm to prove that I didn't do these things very well.  How can I get rid of these holes? Also my second shoulder didn't really improve because I guess I hold my knitting differently than everyone and so the youtube videos don't all make sense. 

This is after blocking the sweater, but I don't see any difference...

By the time I finished the sweater my excitement had dwindled.  I guess because unlike sewing it's very clear what you're getting before it's done.  Let's see...I really should have done the extra-stretchy bind-off on the hem.  It's hard to get on and off because I did a normal hem bind-off.  It's very short.  I don't have any dresses to go with it.  In fact, as I looked through everything I have ever sewn, I realised I never achieved the simplest of sewing landmarks: the tried-and-true woven dress.  So unlike my dreams where I threw this sweater on and then swanned off into the sunset, I'm not really sure what to do with it.  

There's one good answer!  Sewing holiday in Munich is coming up soon : )  How much can I sew in a week?  What dresses should I sew to match my sweater?  And is there any way to switch the normal bindoff for the extra stretchy one?  I think I have enough rust coloured yarn left.