05 January 2010

New Year, New Project

010409Sleeves

On New Year's Day, I cast on my first project for 2010. These are sleeves for a child's sweater I'm planning to send to my cousin Brian, who's stationed in Afghanistan for the second time. You may recall that the last time he was there I sent him a Baby Surprise Jacket. He gave that to one of their local interpreters, who had a newborn son. As with the last one, this doesn't necessarily have an intended recipient, but I'm sure it will find a welcome home.

As for details on the project, I'm making this without a pattern, but it will be a saddle shoulder pullover with the cables continuing into the saddles. I'm making the body fairly plain, but it will have seed stitch panels at the sides. I'm not entirely certain why, but I started the ribbing for the body in 2x2 as with the sleeves, then ripped it out and restarted in 1x1. I think that the thought running through my head was that the 1x1 will transition more smoothly into the seed stitch, just as the 2x2 transitioned perfectly into the cable panel. At least that's what I'm going with, since I don't want to start the body over again.

Anyway, this should be sized to fit a child of around 6-8 years old. The sleeve cuffs and the body ribbing are relatively long to accommodate for growth. The yarn is Lion Brand Fishermen's Wool, which I'd never used before. I've been surprisingly pleased with this yarn, which is a step above Lion Brand's usual ack-rylic fare.

It's certainly not Malabrigo, but it's still relatively soft with good loft. The singles are somewhat softly spun, but the wool has a relatively long staple length, which I think should help offset any losses in durability from the lower twist. I love the loft and spring the knit fabric has, and I expect it will make for a toasty warm garment. And at $8.99 for an 8 oz. (225g) skein, I can see making myself a nice cardigan out of it at some point.

Once, of course, I whittle away at my still-far-too-big stash.

7 comments:

JJ said...

I really like LB Fisherman's Wool. I've been knitting toys to felt for the Logan-monster, and I like the "oiliness" of this yarn. It certainly helps a bit with the dry, wintry hands.

Will the saddle sleeves be knitted on or sewn? I'm intrigued with saddle sleeves but haven't tried any yet.

Mel said...

I'm all about the seamless shaping. The sleeves will be attached to the body and everything shaped seamlessly from there, à la EZ.

Miss Trudy said...

The color is great because it is "unisex" and goes with everything. I would have loved, as a mother, a handmade sweater just like that for my kid! I am sure it will find a very happy recipient.

Sheepish Annie said...

Veddy nice! I love cables and I think they will work nicely with the saddle shoulders. And now I guess I'll have to go see about that yarn. The price is right and it would be nice to fail to knit a sweater in wool. ;)

that's J-O-S-H said...

How long did it take you to make those sleevez?! Looks soooo complicado! I love the twisty pattern running up the middle!

Anonymous said...

Well, it's looking good so far!!

Rabbitch said...

Like!