A Cardigan for Arwen KAL

Its Done!

2007-12-19T11:00:00.000-05:00

Stitched the zipper in last night. Finished just in time for giving on Christmas day. I'll have my daughter model it so I can get some pictures then.

Thanks to all of you for all of your assistance with this project.

So, in a couple of weeks I'll start thinking about what the sweater for next Christmas will be.

Happy Holidays to all of you!!

Almost done with the hood!

2007-12-07T09:55:00.000-05:00

I've been faithfully working on the sweater, working at least 3 or 4 rows every day, and I'm now only 10 rows away from being done!!

Now a question for anyone that put a zipper in the front of this (or more appropriately, DID anyone do that?)

How did you stitch it in? By hand? Did you do anything else special to that front edge before you did?

Would love to hear about anyone else's experience with this before I just dive in!

A question about seaming.....

2007-11-12T10:28:00.000-05:00

I've finally completed both sleeves and was wondering if anyone had a favorite seaming technique for these -- I'll be working with both edges as open stitches on holders.

Any ideas for something fairly easy that makes a good looking seam on both sides?

Thanks!

how to attach the sleeves to the back when knitting Arwen in one piece

2007-10-25T05:29:00.000-04:00

Well, one way, anyway. It's a little difficult to explain, but um. I joined new yarn at the right armpit (with a nice long tail, because the armpits needed some tightening anyway) and knitted across to the last stitch. I slipped that last stitch, then picked up one stitch in the selvedge edge of the back of the left sleeve and passed the slipped stitch over the picked-up stitch. I always slip my selvedge stitches, so I had a nice clean edge to work with.

As you can see, there is a visible line, but it's not nearly as lumpy as a sewn seam would be. Erm, a seam sewn by me, I mean. I'm sure y'all are much better at seam-sewing than I am.

Back to working......

2007-10-22T12:12:00.000-04:00

After a break to marry off the daughter I'm making this for and then to recover from all the flower preparation, cake decorating and general chaos, I'm back to working on this.

I'm knitting in the round, so at this point one front and one sleeve are complete and I'm now working on the other sleeve.

Can anyone that did this in the round tell me how they handled the back and attaching the sleeves to it? I'm guessing that I will be stitching up the sleeves and the back then going upward for the hood.

Something to think about as I work on this second sleeve......

maroon soon!

2007-09-15T16:30:00.000-04:00

Well, hm. I was going to do the hood, even though I don't usually ever wear hooded things, because I didn't want to go to the trouble of re-jigging the neckline. But I just happened to come to the end of a skein when it was time to start the hood, so I tried it on, and I'm okay with the neckline. So I did a bit of moss stitch and bound off, and once I get the ends tucked in, and the whole thing washed and blocked, I'm going to call it done! And be happy!

Oooops......Sorry!

2007-08-15T09:47:00.000-04:00

It hit me last night right before I went to bed that I posted just a picture of Arwen after blocking. Here is a finished picture. For moire info/specs. check out my blog.

It Is Done, hurray!

2007-08-13T09:07:00.000-04:00

OK, so, I finally decided last week that I needed to get over my block about blocking the Arwen sweater and just "git 'er done". So I got her blocked and sewn up and wore the sweater to a new group of spinner/knitter/weavers/ and other fiber crafters last Friday. More pics of the finished Arwen on my blog.

Color me maroon!

So far so good, pretty much

2007-08-08T10:30:00.000-04:00

Well, the weather broke, and it's damp and cold enough that I can face the idea of a lapful of merino, so I've made a bit more progress on Arwen. The second sleeve is done, grafted and seamed.

Someone else posted about a 6-foot wingspan, so I thought I could afford to shorten my sleeves a bit. I took off what I thought was about 3 inches, and maybe after blocking it will be, but at the moment, the cuffs hit right at my elbows. And if that's where that thick cable really hits, it'll be difficult to bend my arms while wearing the cardigan. No way I'm ripping back, after all that work: I'll try to block them longer, or learn to live with it.

So now I'm on the upper half of the back, and still hoping to avoid seaming. At the end of each row I slip the last stitch, pick up one stitch in the selvedge edge of the sleeve, and pass the slipped stitch over. It's a tad lumpy, but less lumpy than a seam would be.

Ok, its back to the drawing board {sob!}

2007-07-30T11:40:00.000-04:00

I'm admitting defeat and throwing in the towel on trying to correct the cuff edge.

Yesterday I tried to pick out just the cuff edge and "redo", but have succeeded in just creating a HUGH mess at the end of the sleeve, so for now I will be setting this aside to be addressed after my daughter's wedding....there's just too much to be done for that in the next 19 days!

And I think I'll be giving up on the idea of knitting both sleeves at once, its just more than I can keep straight (maybe I'll feel differently about that after the wedding)

Ok, I may be in over my head here.....

2007-07-27T10:08:00.001-04:00

while I successfully figured out the short rows and I'm moving along on the sleeves, I find that the cuff edge cable just doesn't look right.

So, folks, short of ripping out all of the rows and starting over AGAIN, is there any way to "re knit" just a section -- the cuff rows?

I'm guessing I know that the answer is NO, but I am not real experienced and I'm hoping someone knows more about this that I do.

beginning (sleeves) again

2007-07-16T10:48:00.000-04:00

Over the weekend I finally had the chance to run my rescue thread and rip back to where I really needed to begin the sleeves.

Yesterday I decided to have a go at knitting both sleeves at the same time, so I now have 308 stitches on the needle, and it takes a while to get a row done, but I'll only have to keep track of the pattern rows once this way.

We'll see how this goes....

OH NO! (why not getting gauge BOTH ways will come back to haunt you)

2007-07-14T11:59:00.000-04:00

I've been knitting blissfully along, smirking slightly and feeling superior that I was almost half way up the first sleeve, and it is a Christmas present, and it was going so well, etc., etc., etc.

Then the fact that I was only able to get gauge with this yarn and these needles in one direction caught up with me and bit me in the butt.

There I was, not even half way through the sleeve and finding that the front edge was already the full length it was supposed to be when finished....Uh, DUH!

Obviously there will be a trip to the frog pond (rip it, rip it) in my future here. Nuts!

I've now spent quite a bit of time recalculating all of the lengths of each section and converting them to my actual guage and figuring out how far back I'll need to take this.

So today I will be running a "rescue thread" in the row that I need to rip back to, making very careful note of the sequence of stitches in the cable section and letting it rip.....{sigh}

I am strongly considering working both sleeves at the same time when I start in again tho' at least then I can be sure they will match.

I figured out the provisional cast on!

2007-06-29T10:22:00.000-04:00

Ok, I understand for the experts of this group I probably sound like a real DORK, but until this project my knitting had all been very "old school" -- the most exotic thing I had done was knit a pull over sweater from the top down all of a piece.

A bit of explanation about the picture....the lavendar yarn at the top edge is my "stitch holder" for the left side and the back of the sweater.

The lavendar yarn in the center is my provisional cast on for the right sleeve. I have done about 3 rows on the sleeve and now realize that I must next figure out the much feared "short rows"....something I was NOT going to attempt at 10:45 p.m. after being up since 5:30 a.m.!

Perhaps today...

Can someone help me out here?

2007-06-27T09:43:00.000-04:00

I've been knitting right along, delighted with the cables, happy as a clam that I was going to avoid the part of knitting I hate most -- sewing things together --until last night when I realized its time to start the sleeves and I have no clue how to begin this with these weird shaped pieces!

Sooooo....surely in this big group at least ONE of you has done this that way, and could you give me some assistance here with how to go about it?

Thanks SO VERY MUCH!!

four skeins in...

2007-06-18T16:41:00.000-04:00

I'm trying to remember to take a picture every time I reach the end of a skein, so I can document my progress without having to do battle with a lot of long hangy-bits, especially since we have a very playful new kitten. So here you can see the waist shaping, the cable, the seed-stitch border, and the short-rows on the sleeve. Sorry about the curl. The sleeve looks quite short; I think the cabled cuff will be just below my elbow, which is good because it won't dangle in the dishwater or anything.

progressing nicely, thank you!

2007-06-14T10:58:00.000-04:00

I'm moving right along on the body of the sweater.

Now that I can actually see the "field" versus the cable, I really like this pattern (almost enough to consider making another one for myself!)

I will be adding 1 1/4 inch of length to the body, and I've decided to add it at the middle of the sleeve so the tightness of the arms that folks have mentioned being a problem will be taken care of.

Nonprogress report

2007-06-13T19:04:00.000-04:00

Maybe this will spur me on to finish Arwen! Here is a photo of the sum total of my Arwen knitting.

progress

2007-06-13T16:07:00.000-04:00

Oops, I promised to put up a picture of the seed stitch hem, didn't I? Here it is, I threw the sweater-in-progress in the scanner when I'd reached the end of the first skein. I've just started the fourth skein now.

Somebody wanted to know more about knitting in one piece: well, I cast on the back and both fronts at the same time, and worked back and forth for about 11 inches (with waist shaping). I've just knit across the right-front, and then provisionally cast on 60 stitches* and knit those (and put the back and left-front stitches on a holder). Cable set-up row on the return, and now I'm working the short rows.

* Sleeve notes: I know the pattern wants long sleeves, and it does look nice that way, but I have to take my own habits into account. I am perpetually shoving my sleeves up, and growling about it, so I decided on 3/4-length sleeves. I also noticed on my first attempt that the sleeve was too tight around the upper arm, so I've added another inch there.

All this means that the short-row scheme as written will not work, and if I try to add stitches evenly across the length of the sleeves, I'll wind up with a sort of bat-wing effect that I definitely don't want. So I'm knitting back and forth across the front, and with each row I knit two stitches further into the sleeve. Mr Husband is in Utrecht with the camera, but I will take a picture as soon as I can. I don't know how useful it will be, since I'm working with such dark yarn, but for you, I will try.

I think I've decided to include the hood. Now that I've shortened the sleeves I'll probably have enough yarn.

Knitting Emergency

2007-06-05T16:13:00.000-04:00

I have been knitting away like crazy. I was hoping to finish my Cardigan by the end of May, and I might have if I hadn't run out of yarn. More yarn is in the mail, and I'm anxiously awaiting it.
See pictures of the progress on my sweater on my blog.

The hem is now done

2007-05-16T11:07:00.000-04:00

I tried doing several rows of seed stitch below the edge of the cable band, but I just didn't like the look of it.

Instead, I have worked 1 row of knitting (actually just the row where I picked up all 190 stitches across the cable), then used a knit two together bind off on the WRONG side of the work to get this hem edge.

Part of the problem with the seed stitch was that when I started to bind it off, it looked like a ruffle below the cable band, definately NOT what I was going for! (my daughter is just not the ruffle type)

This edge I like. Using this bind off was new to me, and doing it from the wrong side was just serendipity, so as usual, my sweater knitting is a basically a "happening".

Now its on to picking up the stitches along the top edge and start knitting the body of the sweater.

I'm Maroon!! I'm Maroon!!

2007-05-14T23:20:00.000-04:00

Ignore the dorky face, I was staring into the sun, LOL.

Anyway, I finished her last week, seamed her up last friday, and then she took 5 days to dry. So I finally got around to taking pictures tonight, and I actually wore her to Kohl's. LOVE LOVE LOVE this sweater!! Especially because it is my first sweater I ever made!!

I obviously made some modifications, you can see the details on my blog!

Slow but still working.....

2007-05-13T10:47:00.000-04:00

I have finished the cable band that will be the bottom edge of the sweater.

Since I'm working on about 10 things at once, this seemed to take forever. The last 6 inches went much faster since at that point the pattern suddenly made sense to me and I was able to fly along through the cabling (that bodes well for the rest of the work -- I hope!)

So now I'm picking up stitches along the bottom for a "hem", tho' not the one the pattern has you do.

There is hope that this will be done for Christmas!!

back in blue!

2007-05-13T06:56:00.000-04:00

Well, teal, probably, but that doesn't make a good post title. Hi! Sorry I was gone so long, but my Arwen yarn was just not working out. Too thick, too pilly, wrong color. So I embarked on a massive search for the right yarn, found the right color in the wrong fiber, the right gauge in the wrong color, the right yarn on the wrong continent, etc. I finally settled on this Zara merino from my LYS which does not have the right gauge, so now I have to re-math everything, always fun. It is nice and stretchy - perhaps even stretchy enough to hide a miscalculation or two.

But I have finally cast on, and am making fairly good progress. Changes to this pattern thus far:

as you may recall, I hate, hate, hate seaming (never sew when you can knit!), so I'll be making it in one piece.
Also, while the finished sweaters all look just fantastic, I've decided I don't want the hem on mine, so I have an inch of seed stitch at the bottom instead.
I also decided to include some shaping, inspired by the math4knitters podcast.
That backward-loop cast-on made grafting the sleeve together a total nightmare. Provisional cast-on, from here on out.
And I am seriously considering leaving off the hood, but I still have some time to decide on that.

So! Again I apologize for my long absence, but there really was nothing to report, just a lot of teeth-gnashing. I've got about two inches knit so far, and will post an image of the seed-stitch border in a few days.

Hmmmmm

2007-05-10T19:23:00.000-04:00

Well I finished her, seamed her up and she is currently blocking. With and arm span of 6 feet. Ummmm isn't that a bit big? I mean I am 5'9 but 6 feet??? I am freaking out a bit. I blocked it according to what it should be for my size, except for the upper arm which I added 2 inches too. It is also 2 inches longer, which I did on purpose. But 6 FEET???

I am going to be worried about this sweater until it is full dry and I can try it on.

This is my first sweater ever. I have been working on her since January. If this fails I don't know what I will do!!!

Photo Shoot, Take Two

2007-05-04T02:14:00.000-04:00

I love my Arwen so much, and my earlier post doesn't show it off very well. I should have waited and taken pictures outside, but I was excited to be finished and wanted to let everyone know. So, I went ahead and took some more pictures on Wednesday, and they show my Arwen much better. I also posted more to my blog and gave additional details, including more about the i-cord neckline.

Nearly Ninety

2007-04-30T17:12:00.000-04:00

Nah, I haven't aged that much since I began knitting Arwen. I'm talking about the temperature today. Ah, what wonderful weather for a wool sweater! I'm thrilled to share my finished Arwen. A few more details are here.

Its coming along.....

2007-04-25T11:23:00.000-04:00

I have been working on the band that will be the bottom of the sweater, and so far I'm pleased with the way it looks. I've got 12 inches of the 36 1/4 inches I need, so I'm one third done!

Here's a close up of the texture....nice.

I am knitting this part on a larger needle than the rest will be, I want it to look like a finishing edge, but I can tell that I am still going to be picking up stitches on both sides of it because I'm not going to be happy with the edge that its making right now.

Color me complete too!

2007-04-19T17:08:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone!

Long time, no post!

It appears as though my Flickr uploader is acting wonky on me so I'm just uploading my image straight from my computer for this post. As you can see; I'm done with Arwen!

Just like Nadine, I used Mission Falls 1824 Wool, except I used a pink/purple color #025. I absolutely love this yarn. If you're looking to get this yarn for the cheapest price possible, check out Yarn Forward and their Mission Falls section. I'm too spoiled with how pleased I am with how this came out to want to try any other brands. ;-p

I must say that I love my Arwen! The only thing I would change is the bust shaping. I can barely get my Arwen to close in the front, and I knit the 37 1/2 inch bust size! (I techniquely measure 33 inches around, but I seriously think cup size has something to do with it as well.)

The only modifications I made to my version is that I knit two extra sets of short rows before casting off the sleeves. Other than that, I followed the pattern as written.

Sorry for the crummy pictures, I couldn't get anyone to take a picture of me in my new cardigan. (No one else in my immediate family understands my love of knitting and satisfaction over completed projects!)

Any further questions, let me know! Other than that, please color me maroon! ;-D

Lovin' my Arwen,

Anna of Anna's Yarn Mansion

In the homestretch...

2007-04-16T03:06:00.000-04:00

Okay so I am about 6 inches into the last piece!! I am really pushing through this, even though I have 2 shawls that are calling my name!! Anyone else want to join me in powering through to the end? LOL

I am loving seeing all the finished cardigans though, it is making me desire my FO that much more!!

Color Me Maroon, I'm Done!

2007-04-08T16:19:00.000-04:00

Here she is, along with me and my dog. The size came out perfect (a first for me) and I can live with the slightly iffy kitchnering on the wrists and hood. The wrists were due to my lack of skill, but the hood was an accident - the stitches came off the holder and I wasn't able to retrieve them all in just the right position. I figure most people won't notice and the rest will be too polite to say anything. Lucky for me, I'm not a perfectionist. I used a pale green Mission Falls 1824. It's soft and warm and really heavy. If I put this on a hanger it would grow 6 inches overnight. I'm new to knitting, but I can see that handmade sweaters are for drawers, not closets. I'm a slow knitter, it tooks me 5 months to make this, but at least that offset the price of the yarn. Next project will definitely have to be from Knitpicks or Elann fer sure. With Arwen done, I am eyeing the Venezia Pullover in the same issue of Interweave as Arwen. Anybody else considering it? I haven't found a KAL for it, but I think it's a good subject for one - lots of opportunity for knitting angsts and triumphs :)

Let me introduce myself.....

2007-03-30T10:29:00.000-04:00

having just joined you!

For a number of years I've knit my adult daughter a sweater for Christmas. Its gotten to be a family joke as about this time of the year I ask her what sweater she wants and what color, then I work on it through the summer in the car as I'm travelling to art shows.

This year Arwen was her choice, BUT, there are always things she wants me to change (one of these days I'm going to have to work my way up to just designing something totally from scratch!)

Here is the swatch after I finally achieved cables! I've never knit from a chart before, so this was a little challenging, but I think I've got it.

I'm using a Caron yarn, and in the St st I've been able to achieve guage in number of stitches but not in number of rows. I haven't the faintest notion how that can happen, or how to fix it, so I'm thinking I will just have to knit fewer rows to finish. (This yarn was chosen for color, price and the fact that my daughter absolutely can not wear wool)

So, here are the things that I'll be doing that will be slightly different to make this truly a good fit for my daughter:

1) put a zipper in the front ... basically this means I'll just be knitting to a size smaller for the pattern except on the lengths of things

2) make it longer ... she loves the cables, loves the "hoodie", but hates where this will hit on her

I'm considering knitting a band of the cables to the size the bottom of the sweater would be then picking up the stitches on the side of the band and knitting up from there, I just haven't figured out how the intersection between the two bands of cables will work. This would also mean I will be knitting all in a piece, and I'm not at all sure about the logistics of the sleeve and hoodie when I get there.

So, any helpful suggestions would be great.

I'm looking forward to "talking" to you all!

Minor Modification

2007-03-27T17:02:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to show one thing I've done differently from the instructions. I doubt I am the only one to have done this, but I thought I would share for those early in the process. I knit the hem together with the body of the sweater rather than waiting and sewing them together later. I learned to do this when knitting from the book Hats On! (an excellent book with great patterns and techniques) by Charlene Schurch.

I am still working along on the right front. My progress is a bit slow as other projects keep jumping in the way. It's nice to keep a gentler pace on this. For speed knitting, I have Sock Madness.

Greetings & Salutations!

2007-03-27T14:31:00.000-04:00

Hello All!
Another newbie here to let you know I'm truly excited to contribute to this- my first KAL! Thanks for having me. I'll be starting my CfA soon with some Berrocco Touche in a pale blue that matches the one featured in IK. I look forward to knitting it in one piece, like alala. My fingers are crossed that it will go well. Thanks for all the postings so far. It's really inspirational to see the FOs as well as find out the scoop on how the pattern is working for different people. Good luck to all who are still in the process!

sleeve length

2007-03-27T14:29:00.001-04:00

I'll be blocking and sewing up my Arwen over the next few days with final picture coming soon, but in the meantime I made an accidental discovery that may help folks who are concerned about the sleeves being too long. (I'm a new knitter, so excuse me if my discovery is obvious to everyone but me.) You can control the length of the sleeves by how tightly you bind off the sleeve stitches. I accidentally bound off my right sleeve a bit tighter than my left and it came out over an inch shorter! Happily that's an easy fix :)

Nadine

sleeve length

2007-03-27T14:29:00.000-04:00

Hooray!

2007-03-27T13:19:00.000-04:00

I've just done a bit of (overdue, again... sorry!) maintenance, sent out a batch of invitations and updated the list of finished Arwens. Should YOUR Arwen be on the finished list? Let us know and we'll make sure it appears there.

My own Arwen continues to languish. I've been determined to knit this sweater from stash yarn, and I think I've finally found one that will get me gauge (Briggs and Little 2-ply) but I'm unenthusiastic about the color. Sigh...

Done!

2007-03-27T11:24:00.000-04:00

My Arwen made her debut in San Francisco this past weekend, here modeled in Chinatown by my friend P. There are more photos and pretty detailed notes on my blog about my process, including my modifications to the sleeves and hood. I enjoyed knitting this sweater a lot, but am even more pleased that it fits P. well and that she really likes it.

Cheers,
Elizabeth

Almost done!

2007-03-17T12:24:00.000-04:00

The finish line is in sight for my Arwen - I've got about 9" of the hood, so only 4" and the grafting to go:

I'm not a big fan of finishing, so I decided to seam it all up and knit the hood in one piece. All the ends are woven in and I sewed the hem in place, so once I graft the hood seam, I'm done!

I'm giving this sweater to a friend when I visit her next week, so I'll (hopefully) post some finished shots of her wearing it after that.

Progress

2007-03-12T15:31:00.000-04:00

Just thought I'd drop by and update. I've got nearly 13 inches done of the front panel. I want to finish up the sleeves and front panels soon so taht I can start the back. I have been getting tips from my sister Jessica for the tree design that I plan to do. It looks complicated, and it's much larger than any of the charts I have worked with so far, but I think it will present a good challenge.

Becki

Arwen pics

2007-03-09T18:07:00.000-05:00

Back from vacation, so I decided to post my pics. Though I'm happy with the outcome, I really suck at seaming, so I have to twist the sweater around a bit, everytime I wear it, so it doesn't look lopsided. I even made a matching Apres Ski Kerchief from Handknit Holidays, since I have so much yarn left over.

Rethinking Arwen

2007-03-09T16:34:00.000-05:00

Well, I've run into a few problems, and Arwen's on hiatus until I resolve them. I think I may have mentioned that the half-merino, half-plastic yarn I bought for the project is just not working out. It's too heathery, it kind of hides the cables, and the cables are also much too thick. It'd feel like I'm wearing armor. Plus I suspect it will pill like a crazy... pilling... thing.

So I bought purple yarn at Wolle Rödel, but it's not a good purple, it's much lighter than in that picture. I took that back today. The yarn lady and I scouted the store and I found a nice dark bluey-green in something like the right size (for size 8 needles, or 5mm), but it's half-cotton, half plastic, and I'm trying to get away from the plastic. The Yarn lady said the cotton-plastic won't pill, so I bought one ball of it, and am re-swatching Arwen.

But the gauge isn't exactly right, so I'll have to re-math the whole thing. And if I'm going to re-math it, I might as well just buy the bluey-green 100% merino at my LYS, which wants size 6 (3.5mm) needles, and not have to deal with plastic yarn. Argh, this is difficult.

Maybe I'll buy the 100% merino, knit the pattern without re-mathing, and then send the sweater to whichever of my nieces it turns out to fit.

Done!

2007-03-08T14:49:00.001-05:00

I finished the seaming last night! There are a few things I might want to tweak as time goes by (the hood seam, for one) but...well, she is DONE. I've got an extremely blurry mirror-picture on my blog. I'll get some good pictures up soon! Thanks for the KAL, it has been inspiring. I look forward to seeing some more finished Arwens.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Arwen is OTN!

2007-03-02T13:32:00.000-05:00

I have finally been able to get gauge with my second yarn of choice, Aurora 8, and have cast on! Yee-haw! I am a slow knitter and have lots of other things going on, both knitting and non-knitting related, so this will be slow-going for me. I'm glad that there are other newbies joining to keep me company.

I am very impressed with everyone's progress. Some of you are just spitting this sweater out! Are you speed knitters? Do you forgo sleep to knit? Do brownies come work on Arwen while you sleep? Wow, you guys are fast!

You can read about the saga of the gauge for Arwen and other fascinating items on my blog.

And yet another newbie...

2007-02-26T21:18:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone! It sure is exciting to see pictures of everyone's finished , or semi-finished cardigans. All those cables look great, and I am trying not to get too intimidated. I hope I haven't gotten in over my head! I finished the back of my sweater, and hope to cast on for the front tonight. I have never done short rows with wrapped stitches before and will take advantage of a tutorial that was mentioned on a previous post by alala.

I know it isn't very exciting but here is a picture of the back of my sweater. It is Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, color #300005. This picture is pretty true to the real color.

I hope to have a much more exciting picture soon!!

Done.

2007-02-26T20:56:00.000-05:00

Finally finished, blocked, and seamed it together. Made it just in time for my vacation in Colorado, so I don't have a picture yet; will post when I get home.

A newbie and a question...

2007-02-25T20:49:00.000-05:00

Hi there!

I have the entire left front and back done on the cardigan. I am using Knitpicks Andean Silk in cornflower, and I am LOVING the way the cables look on it, and I just love the yarn in general.

ANYWAY, I just grafted the cuff together, and as you can see while it isn't seamless, it isn't horrible enough to rip apart and redo (btw what a PITA grafting this thing!!) so what should I do for the second cuff. Do the same and make them match or do a provisional cast on and kitchener the two together way easier and just have them not match?

I honestly don't know what to do so I thought I would ask you all!!

Oh, here is the cuff:

Thanks for all your opinions!!

Nessa

Tinkering

2007-02-24T17:36:00.000-05:00

I've done a little overdue maintenance on the blog today (didja notice?) Please let me know if I've overlooked any changes that needed to be made: names added to the sidebar, personal webpage links added or edited, any finished Arwens indicated in maroon, etc. And there are still a handful of invitations outstanding! If you've been waiting for one and haven't received it, drop me a line and I'll reissue the invite.

Meanwhile, I'm still trying to get gauge! My last attempt (with stash yarn, that is) will be with some old Bovidae Farms worsted weight I've been wondering what to do with. If that doesn't work out, I'm going to have to order something, which I was hoping to avoid...

Newbie's first post

2007-02-24T15:52:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone -

I just joined the knitalong and started Arwen about a week ago. I've finished the back piece (quicker than I thought) and am working on the left front. I've just finished the first set of short rows on the sleeve and am working the loooong rows even at the moment. After reading on this blog that a number of people found the upper arm too snug and the cuff too big, I decided to add an extra set of short rows to try and alleviate this problem a bit. We'll see how that works out... did anyone else try that, by any chance?

Here's a progress photo:

I'm using Cascade 220 in a lovely heathered teal color. This sweater is actually going to be a birthday gift for a close friend. I'm hoping to finish it by 3/23 so I can give it to her when I see her. I'm not blogging much about it, which is why I'm grateful to have this knitalong!

Cheers,
Elizabeth
from A Mingled Yarn

Left Front

2007-02-23T00:21:00.000-05:00

I knit the back first, but I'll spare you a pic. Here's where I'm at on the left front. I wish the color and cabling showed up better in the picture. I'll try to do better next time. I didn't make any more progress tonight. I got a new drop spindle. Playing with the new one and my current spindling project occupied my evening. I'm finally closing in on this piece and my decisions on what to do with the hood. I might knit my Arwen without a hood. I should have a good bit of knitting time Friday, provided I don't have a relapse of the crud. I hope to finish the left front and get a good start on the right front. I would love to finish this before the start of spring. However, I signed up for (assuming I did it correctly) Sock Madness, so that will eat into my Arwen time.

MAROON at last!

2007-02-22T16:19:00.000-05:00

Actually, Arwen's blocking day was a week ago yesterday and I began wearing her February 15. Then I left for vacation in Atlanta so she's been around! I am very, very happy with it. I am proud of the hood graft, comfortable with the sleeve grafts though dismayed at the sleeve length. NEXT TIME I plan to measure my own arms a bit more carefully. I had made her a larger size for for the body and should have kept the sleeve length for the smaller size. The next time I block her I am really going to try to perform magic with water!
Yarn: Berroco "Pleasure" Cast on: January 1st, 2007 during the Rose Parade! Cast Off: February 13, 2007. Special thanks to whomever it was in the knitalong who mentioned the Knitty.com article about mattress stitch. My seams look darn good for having reviewed that article first. I look forward to seeing my name in MAROON!

Gauge failure but willing to try again

2007-02-20T15:52:00.000-05:00

I spent a significant amount of time in the past few weeks trying, unsuccessfully, to get gauge with Brown Sheep Co. Cotton Fleece. I have finally come to the conclusion that I need to try another yarn. I ordered Aurora 8 and am hoping that I can get gauge and finally get started on my sweater. I'm glad that there are newcomers to the KAL. It should be fun, and helpful, working on this together.

Details about my swatching adventures are on my blog. Take a look, if you have the time. Any suggestions or comments are welcome.

Congratulations to all those who have finished. Your sweaters are beautiful.

Casting On

2007-02-18T23:29:00.000-05:00

Well, I've finally gotten to a point in my previous projects that I'm okay with starting this one. I just knit up my swatch. The yarn is the Queensland Collection's Katmandu Aran in light green- a very pretty aran weight yarn.

Can't wait to get this started!

Congrats to all who have finished.

Becki

Another finished Arwen

2007-02-18T12:24:00.000-05:00

I finished yesterday morning. It took me about 5 weeks:

I find it a little snug around the very top of the arm which is annoying but otherwise I'm happy with it. It's been fun!

P.S. The yarn is Berroco Ultra Alpaca

Done! Sort of.

2007-02-17T16:13:00.000-05:00

Finally got the rest of my yarn, and I've finished the knitting part of the scenario. Now comes the part I hate the most - blocking and seaming. I did get some great tips from a friend, about how to seam (thanks, Melissa!), but I don't have a 'formal' place to block. Any suggestions? Don't wanna just put it on the floor.

Another Completed Arwen

2007-02-16T17:16:00.000-05:00

I just finished sewing up my Arwen. I used Elann.com's Highland Wool. It took me just under 3 months to complete (with several projects in between). Check out my blog if you want to read more. Thanks for hosting the knitalong!

Newbie post!

2007-02-15T18:29:00.000-05:00

Hey folks! I'm complainr, and I'm delighted to be Arwen-ing along with all of you!

Here's a bad picture (wow, do I need a new digi cam) of my progress on the left front (finished the back, but that's kind of a boring picture). I'm using Knitpicks Shine Worsted in Wisteria:

I chose a cotton blend for various reasons; mostly so I could have something a little more year-round appropriate for sunny So Cal. The cables aren't popping as much as they could with a wool yarn, but I'm not completely unhappy with that.

I'm inspired by all the posters who are seaming as they go...I think I'll certainly be doing that. Seaming is the bane of my (knitting) life.

one sleeve done

2007-02-15T08:55:00.000-05:00

... and nothing else, all yesterday or today, agh. First there was the matter of removing one pattern repeat from the cuff, because it was too big, but NOT removing a whole inch from the upper sleeve, because I didn't want the back of the sleeve to be shorter than the front of the sleeve. I solved that by knitting to five before the last wrapped stitch in short rows 5-12, and then repeating the whole sequence again, if that makes sense. So now, lady lynx, you can see the little puckers along the seam there? Those are the knitted-in wrapped stitches, and the puckering should disappear when the sweater is blocked.

Grafting the cuff? That's probably how I'll spend my time in purgatory. Yes it is lumpy and strange, I ripped out and started over oh, probably five or six times. It was awful. So even though it will make the sleeves not-exactly-alike, I'm doing a crochet-chain cast-on for the left sleeve. I want live stitches to work with, oh yes I do. Kitchenering a backward-loop cast-on is bad enough; when it's been cabled too, well, egad.

... whew.

short-row close-up

2007-02-14T16:39:00.000-05:00

Right, well, fortunately (cough, cough) when I started grafting the sleeve (at the cuff end, hoping to get the worst over with first) I realized it was too big. So I ripped out all those short rows and 8 even rows (one pattern repeat), and was midway through re-doing the short rows when I got lady lynx's request for the close-up of the short rows.

Now, my digital camera is a sad and sorry digital camera, and unblocked knitting is all curly, so yes, those are my fingers holding the knitting flat in my scanner. I don't know what happened to the color. However, the point is, you can see a wrapped stitch at either end, where the fingers are: that's how it should look, before the wraps are knitted in.

After the wraps are knitted in, it should look just like plain jersey fabric. I did make a scan of the short rows at the bottom of the sleeve, to illustrate this, but I can't find my wrapped and worked-in stitches in the picture. Yes, they are that invisible. Cool, huh?

Also, some people are working with nice light colors and less-fuzzy yarn, and could probably supply clearer pictures. Any volunteers?

Edit: here's a video tutorial on short rows.

about to kitchener the right sleeve

2007-02-14T09:47:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been an eventful few weeks, and Arwen's been neglected lately, but I've just managed to finish up the right sleeve today, so I thought I'd throw a picture up there. You can see my working (bamboo) needles at the top there, then the right-front stitches on an aluminum needle, and the body stitches on a ribbon - it's quite unwieldy, and long, rolled-up sections keep falling off my lap as I knit. I'm not sorry, though. It's still better than sewing seams.

So this sleeve will have to be kitchener-ed along its entire length, which isn't really much better than sewing, is it? Oops, I should have started it with a figure-8 cast-on so I could do the bind-off seam, but it's too late to go back now.

Also, even though it's miles too late for second thoughts about the yarn, I'm having them. It's the right size, the gauge works (more or less) on size 8 needles, which is what the pattern called for, but gee these cable panels sure are thick. Are they supposed to be? Will I feel like I'm wearing armor when it's done? Other people's Arwens look so... delicate. Refined. Elegant.

Well, I guess we'll see.

So close

2007-02-13T18:58:00.000-05:00

I'm near the finish line and I'm wondering if anyone has any resources or tips on sewing the hem on the bottom of Arwen. I've sewed down picot edges before but I've never been overly happy with the results.

Thanks!

New poster & cardigan progress

2007-02-12T19:16:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone! I am Anna of Anna's Yarn Mansion and I decided to go ahead and post my progress today.

Like Nadine, I'm using Mission Falls 1824, but I'm knitting it out of color #025, a medium rose/lavender color. I completed the back panel last Thursday and I have since started on the left front panel.

Here's a wide shot of my progress on it as of this morning. And here's a close up of my cabling in this colorway...

I'm really enjoying how the cables pop with this yarn. I am also noticing a slight halo to my fabric, but I figure it comes with the territory of merino. My swatch washed and dried perfectly, so I'm not too worried about this yarn holding up to the test of time.

Other than that, I just wanted to say hello to everyone. I'm so excited to be a part of this knit along! :-) Can't wait to post more progress pics and check out everyone elses' progress as well.

Happy Knitting!

Find the boo boo

2007-02-12T16:20:00.000-05:00

Here's a picture of the front left of my Arwen, taken after I first noticed the boo-boo. (She has since grown a sleeve.) Can you spot it? I suppose any knitter will find it easily. I'll go to my LYS and see if it can be remedied by stitching over somehow. A few other small oopses have cropped up - fortunately they're not bad enough and I'm not perfectionist enough to rip 'em out. I'm Netflixing Buffy the Vampire Slayer while I knit and I get a little distracted sometimes, thus the occasional lapse. I think this sweater will get me through all seven seasons of the show. I'm a slow and self-taught knitter. My Arwen is pale green Mission Falls 1824. This is luscious yarn! Thick and soft, although loosely plied. Mine is developing a slight haze, but I kinda like it that way.

One back, some front

2007-02-12T09:25:00.000-05:00

I finished the back of my Arwen last week and started on the front. The cables are good fun! This sweater is growing on me - I'm pleased with how fast it knits and I keep marveling at the reversible cables. How do they do that?!

The color is more like the picture on the left - a gray with a little brown; the pic on the right looks a little blue. Hopefully I'll get to an arm by the end of this week!

- onepotato

Sorry, no more pictures

2007-02-11T18:17:00.001-05:00

Thank you for all the kind comments. I apologize, that I can't provide more pictures. On the spur of the moment, I gave Arwen away.

Our friend has three girls, and often has us over for dinner. She insists, as it is more trouble for her to round up her three than it is for us to grab our one. Her size and coloring suited the Arwen I made better than it suited me. We were going to her house for dinner last night, so I grabbed the just a little damp Arwen on the way out.

We had steaks, and it did get a little cool in the evening, so friend put on her new sweater. It does suit her far better. I enjoyed admiring it on her while we played Cranium. I was pleased also, to see her daughters inquire about it in a "why do you get something nice and we don't" tone of voice. The girls are age 13 to 17, and I wonder how long friend will be able to enjoy her sweater before one of her daughters tries to make a grab for it.

Enjoy your knitting out there, and cheers!

My back.. and Iseult

2007-02-09T22:21:00.000-05:00

cI all, my back is finish, but my batt. are dead so no pics for now. The color is dark blue and my boyfriend told me it goes with my eyes (they are blue). I'am using Galway 100% wool. Anyways I will post picture of front later on, since it's more interesting.

Done!

2007-02-09T12:24:00.000-05:00

Just grafted up the hood, and we're calling this girl done. She still needs a bath and block, but I'm smiling.

My only complaint about the pattern I've mentioned before. The sleeve depth is just too narrow. I used 13 yarn overs, more than double on the sleeve in order to get the sleeve to have enough ease. I don't have skinny sticks for arms, I expect most of you out there are more like me.

A few more comments on my blog.

Thanks!

a thousand words

2007-02-09T00:06:00.000-05:00

It took me most of yesterday but the left front and back are seamed. The sleeves are a bit long - probably due to the fact that I knit the next size up. But I'm hoping it'll block to the right length. If not, oh well.

Worst Co-Host Ev-ah.

2007-02-08T15:49:00.000-05:00

Last weekend, I did two lousy rows on the Arwen sweater. I'm the worst KAL co-host in the world. At this rate, it'll be 90 degrees outside before I finish it.

front

Oh, and did I mention the mistake I made on the back of the Arwen cable? For some reason, it doesn't appear on the front. Strange. I'm still trying to decide if I should rip it out, which might explain the languishing. Any thoughts?

back

Hello!!!

2007-02-05T18:22:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone - I'm yet another new member to this lovely knitalong and I'm actually super excited. Besides being my first KAL, this is my first sweater. Ah! AH!

Anyway, I have no pictures yet as it is dark and dreary in New York... but to give you an idea I'm using elann's Peruvian Highland Wool in Victorian Violet and I like how the cables are turning out. Crisp without being overly defined.

Like I said, it's my first sweater so I'm going to need all the help I can get! :D

ETA: I made a happy little button for this KAL... go ahead and steal if you'd like. Just remember to put it on your own server.

Progress

2007-02-05T16:27:00.000-05:00

I started Arwen back in late November, but I kept putting it down, to finish other items. I am finished with the back and left front, and I would have been done with the right front, had I not run out of yarn! I'm using Knitpick Wool of the Andes in Lake Ice Heather. I ordered some more, so it should get here soon. Kinda worried about dye lots, since they can't guarantee that I'll get the same lot.

New member

2007-02-05T13:05:00.000-05:00

I've been lurking around this blog and am excited to now be a member. Thanks for the invite! I am having gauge issues with my yarn of choice - Brown Sheep Co. Cotton Fleece. I'm also cramming for an exam scheduled for Thursday so knitting/blogging time is limited. By this weekend I should be done swatching - swatch number 6 is on the needles now (grrr).

Looking forward to working on Arwen together with all of you. Have a good week.

Linda

Back to the drawing board

2007-02-05T12:24:00.000-05:00

I'm so happy to have made it to the new Blogger! Finally I am able to knit along with all of you again.

Not all the news is good, however. One day not too long ago, I reached the end of a row, and when I was about to turn my work, I happened to notice that Arwen was looking a bit wide. And sure enough, when I whipped out my trusty tape measure, the back of the cardigan was several inches bigger than it was supposed to be. My gauge had relaxed as I knit, and I was getting four stitches to the inch instead of four and a half. I don't know why I didn't notice this until I had half the back done, but there it is. I have to start over.

I really like the fabric I'm getting at this more relaxed gauge, so I'm considering just casting on the next size down, and hoping that gauge will make up the difference. But I know that would just be asking for trouble, so I'll be good and swatch with another yarn before I make any decisions. I have some Dale Sisik in the stash that might do the trick. It's a little thinner than my Beaverslide yarn, and it's a singles, which might make the cables pop a little more. We'll just have to wait and see, I guess. Wish me luck!

My progress

2007-02-02T00:29:00.000-05:00

I have finished the left front up to the base of the hood. I am going to seam the back to the front, the side and underarm before knitting the right front. Then I'll finish the seaming and knit the hood in one piece.

I am losing steam on this project. I still love it but I'm just really busy...

Arwen's back is covered

2007-01-29T17:00:00.000-05:00

I finished the back, seamed, hemmed, and worked in most of my ends. I like to do a lot of finishing before the end of the knitting. Sometimes, it takes me forever to finish if I don't have the finishing started.

INFORMATION TO ALL

This may be a blinding flash of obvious to most, but when I was hemming, I was unhappy with the big lump where the side seams lay, one on top of the other. I decided to pick out the seam for the hem, and begin the side seam at the purl stitch which forms the fold. I then hemmed each section in between those seam lines, and to the selvage stitches. Thus, no lumps at the side for the hem.

I'm not sure the picture actually helps, but here it is anyway. Make sense?

Progress

2007-01-28T18:45:00.001-05:00

IMG_0894
Originally uploaded by behold_the_muse.

Here's the closest I could get to true color. I'm using KP Swish Superwash in Jade. I love this color!

I'm thinking about buying a reproduction of the Elven pins the guys wear in the movies for this sweater. Any thoughts on that?

Getting my act together

2007-01-26T09:38:00.000-05:00

Hello all,

After a long time lurking around this knit-a-long I am finally going to start Arwen. I've been swatching, and hope to cast on this weekend. The yarn is Karabella Aurora 8 in a gray/brown sort of color. Neither of these pictures is quite right, but you can get a vague idea.

Has anyone added waist shaping?

There's a more extensive post about my yarn choice on my blog.

New Member

2007-01-23T13:55:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone! This is my first knit-along. I'm very excited about this sweater, as I generally am about Kate Gilbert's work. I used a bit of the cable chart as a swatch and I was stunned. Reversible cables? I didn't know that was even possible! I'm in the middle of the back piece now, but I'll post pictures as soon as I get to something more interesting.

Disaster!!!!!

2007-01-23T13:22:00.000-05:00

What a terrible picture of me. That is my 1st thought. My vanity gets the better of me a lot. I still think I am a size 6/8 and 17 years old. It is always a SHOCK to see the truth. But this post is not about my body image..... It as about ARWEN!!

As I informed you a couple of days ago. I finished Knitting Arwen. Then, I ATTEMPTED to sew her together. My experience with sweaters is limited at best and with all the 'clever' knitting construction and, IMHO, unclear directions on how to put it together...... Let's just say, I could get the sweater on, but it looked strange. I don't even know what I did wrong!!!!

Well.......... I was fully prepared to live with her the way she was, but, I had put too much emotional energy into her. So, I thought I would go visit my friend Robin F. and see what she thought. I ended up NOT doing that and am glad I didn't inflict that on her because I went to my local LYS and found Brenda. She ripped out all my seaming and puzzled it back together. At first, Brenda thought it was my cast off that was too tight. However, I HAD SEWN UP THE NECK INTO THE HOOD. Zounds. I am so stupid. I had been prepared to rip out co's and re-co, but this was much easier. It took 2 hours just to pull it apart and figure out how it should be constructed. Then she pinned it in place and I went home and spent an hour and a half mattress seaming. The results were blissful!! Arwen is beautiful!!!!! I have never had a sweater her equal.

................... you'll have to wait for the unveiling tomorrow when dh can take a picture of it with me in it.

So now I am snug in my home wearing Arwen. Me and the kids have finished school for the day and room time is only 1.5 hours away. I need to find another project that has captured my attention like Arwen did. I had the best time with her.

Arwen update

2007-01-22T22:04:00.000-05:00

Here's the left front so far. I spent all of Sunday working on the really long front/sleeve rows. I am knitting the back of the sleeve now. I feel like I'm at least halfway done. Yay!

Fronts are finished.

2007-01-22T16:51:00.000-05:00

Two fronts, looking for a back. The back is on the needles. and moving along. I plan to do the hood in one piece at the end, rather than follow the directions.

Off the Needles!!!

2007-01-21T18:25:00.000-05:00

ARWEN IF OFF THE NEEDLES. REPEAT. ARWEN IS OFF THE NEEDLES!!!!!

I can hardly believe it!!! Yesterday at 6ish pm, I finished the last cable row of Arwen and began the kitchener stitch for the top of the hood. I have a confession to make. I don't know how to block OR put a sweater together. You see, that is why I knit sweaters in the round. No stitching up. Well....... Arwen is special, so I thought I would figure out how to do her right. Thank God for the internet.

I did a steam block with a wet towel and iron. I chose that method as I don't have the tools for the pin it out method. It worked OK, but I think I am going to get some of those cool T pins for another project.

Then, I tried the mattress stitch on my newly blocked sweater. %$#^%$#$^#@^%
It didn't work on my 1st try out, so I made something up for the underarm of one sleeve. The results were pretty bad. Back to the computer, this time with Arwen in my lap. I sort of got it, and it is beautiful. Like magic. You would think there wasn't a seam there. The wrong side even looked like the article pix from Knitty. I stopped last night at 10pm because I needed to figure out how to attach the shoulders to the back. It's not straight forward as the hood, sleeves, and fronts are all knit in one piece and I needed to go to bed.

So let's review...... reversible cables, backward co, kitchener stitch, short row shaping, blocking and mattress stitch..... I have learned a lot. Sorry no pix, I need to take a shower before church and no time with all the mattress stitching I am doing.

Praise the Lord!!! catie

Arwen in one piece

2007-01-21T17:05:00.000-05:00

Right, I'm about midway through the first set of short rows on the right sleeve, and so far so good. That's both fronts and the back on the gray needles, and then the right front and sleeve on the bamboo needles - none of my needles are really long enough to accommodate everything comfortably, so I decided to use one set as a holder and another set for working the sleeve. I have some thin white ribbon I bought at a quilting shop to use as a holder, and um, I may get around to using it at some point, but for now the gray needles are fine where they are.

All righty then. Excelsior! I'll post another pic when the right sleeve is done, or when disaster strikes, whichever happens first.

cuff ponderings

2007-01-20T13:11:00.000-05:00

I cast on the left sleeve and I've finished all the short rows. I have knit 2 repeats of the chart for the cuff and casually checked the gauge. In the magazine photos, the cuff just fits around the model's wrist. By my calculations (and the chart in the magazine), the finished cuff will be 10" around. I held the measuring tape around my wrist and I'm going to end up with a really loose cuff. So does the model have thick wrists or does the knitted sample have a cuff smaller than 10"?

I have a cast on question... When you do a backwards loop cast on, do you cast on with the needle in your right or left hand? The glossary shows the needle in your right hand. Does it matter? Which way are you doing it and how does it look?

per request

2007-01-20T12:26:00.000-05:00

Here's a scan of the seed-stitch edge FemiKnitMafia requested - yes, I couldn't hold the camera still enough to get a non-blurry shot, so I stuck my knitting in the scanner. Still a bit lumpy, but I think blocking will fix that.

Also, awhile back, some people asked me to write more about knitting Arwen in one piece. At the time there was nothing to write, because you just cast on the front-right, back, and front-left stitches, then work even for the first 12 inches. Which I have done. And now it's time to take the leap.

Right. So. I placed blue ring markers where the side seams would be if I weren't so averse to sewing, so the next thing to do is knit across the right front, slip the blue marker, and backloop 90 stitches. The back and left-front will just sit on the needles until they are needed, I suppose, or I'll put them on ribbon.

Wish me luck. Here we go!

Another Newcomer

2007-01-19T17:45:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone!

I too have jumped on the Arwen train, albeit accidentally. I bought all the yarn to make the Provincial Waistcoat from the same issue of IK but I couldn't even figure out the gauge swatch. I liked Arwen a lot and my gauge was almost the same so away I went. This is not necessarily the yarn I would have chosen for this sweater but you got to work with what you got. It's Berroco Ultra Alpaca. Here are some pics:

I've finished the back and started in on the left front. Please excuse the junk on my dresser. I meant to crop it out and forgot in my rush to post here. I'm really venturing out of my purple comfort zone with this project.

The cables aren't looking quite as crisp as I'd like them too but I'm sure a little blocking will help that.

You know people who complain about having to do rows and rows of stockinette? I never got those people. You can watch all the movies you want and never screw up, I thought. I was wrong.

Man, I found this soul crushing for some reason. Perhaps because there were no increases or anything.

Still, I'll take it over my last major project, the Marseilles Pullover any day. THAT was a lot of cables

Hey! I'm here

2007-01-18T08:56:00.000-05:00

Many thanks to our hostesses for putting up with this Blogger upgrade. I started this girl on Christmas, and hope to be complete by the end of January. We shall see.

I am amused by this "reversible" cable. It never occured to me that purl side crosses would look like regular purl background to the casual observer. I was not amused to discover that the crosses could look correct on one side of the fabric, but wrong on the other side. Spent some time figuring that one out.

Well, I'm almost done with the very long row section of the right front. The left front is done, and you can see that on my blog. The back is waiting for a business trip next week.

Another Arwen, imagine that.

2007-01-17T19:00:00.000-05:00

Here is my beloved Arwen coming along in Berroco Pleasure (66% Angora, 29% Merino and 5% Nylon) which is an aptly named yarn. I was on the mend last week and found that knitting this while watching a LOTR home marathon was a great way to recuperate. I started with this piece and am saving the back for last. I'm so glad that our hosts, or one of them anyway, were able to move this over to the new blogger because I feel as if I've been knitting in a vacuum and am absolutely thrilled to be able to show this off! My kitty agreed that the cable shows well in shadow and helped out with the second shot. I found that the cuff was tricky to graft only because I did such a sloppy job with the backward loop cast on. When I did the extra cast on at the hood I reviewed the directions for that sort of cast on and had an "Ah-HA" moment realizing that I didn't do it quite right the first time. A little fancy needlework ensued on the cuff (something like crewel embroidery) and it's not bad. But you're not seeing a picture of it!

The Contest WINNER!!

2007-01-17T16:28:00.000-05:00

Since my co-host Beth is out in BloggerSiberia* and completely unable to participate (grr Blogger grr! get it together, will ya?), she asked me to post the following:

"I am stuck on the wrong side of Blogger for the time being, but I haven't forgotten about our contest! The winner of the drawing is ...

Dotty.

Congratulations, Dotty!

Please drop me a line (beth95 at gmail dot com) with your address and your favorite color(s), and I'll check the stash for something suitable."

*Siberia is a rough place. If you leave a comment about how beautiful her new Swallowtail Shawl is, she might feel a little better. [hint, hint]

I'm making great progress now

2007-01-16T12:33:00.000-05:00

I've got about 6" of the left front done now (the colour in this picture is more accurate than yesterdays). I've almost got the cabling memorized so it's going quite quickly. It was a bit of a rocky start - I must've restarted the cable part 4 times because I read the chart wrong or... I'm working this afternoon and Tuesdays are supposed to be quiet at the store so hopefully, I'll get more knitting done on the front.

Oh - I've figured out that I don't need to make modifications to the sleeve. If I knit it using the printed instructions, I will get the right width for my upper arm because my row gauge is 22 rows/4". One less thing to worry about.

mistake

2007-01-16T11:57:00.000-05:00

My dh and I took a trip to see my mother in New Bern, NC this weekend. I took Arwen along with me. I am currently working on the right side and am about done with the sleeve portion. Late yesterday, as we were driving back and the light was fading...... I noticed it. I had made 2 HUGE mistakes in the cabling. I must have gone cf instead of cb and in tandem too. The thing about me is, that I have put so much work into this thing, that I won't fix it. It will just become part of the story of Arwen that I tell people when they comment on her. Hope y'all are cabling along. Have a great day!!! catie in roanoke

progress

2007-01-16T09:07:00.000-05:00

As promised, here's my progress on Arwen's left front. I have a few more inches on the hood and then it will be complete. Before I knit the right front and block, I'm taking a break from Arwen to do some quick knits from my stash.

I have a question about blocking: since the cuff is already knitted for the sleeves, how do I block the sleeve? I don't know how to block something that cannot be flattened and pinned.

Finally, I'm onto the good part

2007-01-15T19:17:00.000-05:00

I finally finished the back today - took me long enough. The colour in the picture isn't very good - it's Cascade 220 in lavender heather. My cat, Ricky is modelling it while snoozing on my clean laundry (yeesh). I have cast on the left front. I understand why people don't like the cast on row of the cable section. But I don't care...

I love them cables. It is just so slick that it's reversible. I have already finished 2 repeats and am doing the math to figure out how many extra short rows I want to do to widen the sleeves. My row gauge is off a little so I need to take that into account. I am also planning on changing the way the hood is constructed (i.e. picking up sts from the back neck and knitting both the left & right sides at the same time and then grafting the cable at the top and using the 3 needle bind off for the stockinette).

Back to my cabling...

Purling in Princeton

2007-01-15T12:46:00.000-05:00

Arwen continues to grow, albeit at a slower pace (I threw a couple of scarves into the mix this weekend: all Arwen all the time was getting to me, although I generally prefer to practice project fidelity.) C'est mon chat Lucy avec l'Arwen.

I'am finally in

2007-01-14T22:32:00.000-05:00

Hi all,
Me too I'm so excited for my 1st KAL... and it's from Kate Gilbert a girl that I saw few times at Montreal yarn boutique l'Effiloche.
I started the back in superwash wool. I'll show you pics when I'll start front since it's really a more interesting design. Really happy to be in finally.. because of transition fron old to new blogger.
See you see with fresh pics soon.
Birana

hi y'all

2007-01-14T17:14:00.000-05:00

I'm new to the kal - glad to join your group!

I've finished the back and am almost done with the left front (I had to frog twice in the first 5 inches of the left) - smooth sailing for now.

I'm using DB Cashmerino Aran in red and love the yarn. Next time I'll post a photo.

Cheers, Jana in NC

New to KAL

2007-01-14T08:35:00.000-05:00

Hello!!! My name is Catie and I am sooooooooo excited to join my very 1st KAL!!! I have been knitting Arwen since right after Christmas and am about 3/4 finished. I usually enjoy the process of knitting, but I want to WEAR Arwen so badly, that I am like speeding as much as I can thru her. I tried to post some pix of what I have so far so you could see her, but, blogger didn't like me today and as I am leaving to go see my mom, I'll try again on Tuesday. FYI, the color I am using (since you can't see it) is the color of these letters. More later and can't wait to read all of y'alls blogs. Very sincerely, catie

Arwen Progress

2007-01-11T09:02:00.000-05:00

Here's where I'm at - nearly to the sleeve on the left front. The cables don't show up that well in the photo - but I love how it all looks! Using Wool Ease - Chestnut Heather. Planning to add a zipper and have made the body longer. I will need to make the upper arm wider - have a few ideas on how to do it, but it's my very first cardi so I'm gonna give 'em a shot and see how it goes!

Upgraded to New Blogger

2007-01-10T15:10:00.000-05:00

As soon as I got the invitation to migrate to the New Blogger (today), I switched the Arwen KAL over to its new home. As I understand it, there have been problems with invitations and posting and and and. We apologize for all the myriad problems that you've encountered and seriously hope that this administrative change will minimize the disturbance so we can focus on knitting. Blogging for free is a wonderful option, but these growing pains have been tough.

Everyone happy? If not, please email us at acardiganforarwen AT gmail DOT com with any difficulties you face, and we'll try to find a solution. Or leave a comment to this post.

[fingers tightly crossed]

Smooch!

Before the Frog

2007-01-10T12:33:00.000-05:00

I copied an idea I saw on the Yahoo group, and decided to put a tree on the back. This is the picture before I frogged it though. The woman who did it on the other group put less purl stitches before the pattern, which I really liked a lot better than the way I was doing it. You can't really tell from this picture, but I have 12 st of stockinette, followed by 10 st of purl before the roots begin. I have frogged it, and now have 22 stitches of stockinette, then the pattern begins. It looks a lot nicer. I am using Malabrigo Color Marrongon #270 (I think). I love the way it is knitting up and I love the color. It is varying degrees of brown with a bit of red. It will take me a while though to really get moving on it, as I still have leftover xmas knitting to do, a sweater for my LYS that I HAVE to get done first, as well as miscellaneous smaller projects. Hopefully it won't sit waiting for too long though!