The Sea
Sweater is finished at last! Phew! Handmaiden seasilk
has such a fine gage that I had to knit this entire cardigan on size 1 &
size 2 needles. As a result, it took me 4 months from start to finish to complete
this project.
However, I feel that the time was worth it. Because of the fine gage, the silk cardigan looks polished enough to qualify as a work sweater. It has a lovely drape to it, and I love the shimmer of the silk/seacell yarn. I also like the fact that I can wear the cardigan both open or closed:
As I had hoped, the silver edging I
created, using Rowan’s Shimmer, did
create the effect of foam glistening at the edge
of an ocean wave. The rhinestone buttons also compliment the sheen of the
silver yarn:
I did add quite a bit of extra
waist shaping to the pattern, as well as vertical and horizontal bust darts to
ensure a better fit. I think the one thing I could have done better was to
create even more waist shaping than I did, as it feels as if there is some extra fabric in the middle. For that reason, it probably will look better worn open, then buttoned all the way up, as in the photo above. At least the cardigan fits well in back:
It has definitely been a learning experience, approaching my
knitting with the expectation of creating a finished-looking garment that I can
wear out in public. I have found that my overall sweater production has gone
down, but that the sweaters I am creating are more successful and getting worn
a lot more often! So I think I am probably moving in the right direction.
The only thing that I regret with this cardigan is the edging in the Rowan Shimmer yarn, which has a distressing tendency to deteriorate. I am worried that, over time, having the Shimmer so close to my buttonholes will create snags. In retrospect, I wouldn’t use this yarn to do a garment edging again. It’s just not stable enough.
I’m afraid that recently this has
been less of a BLOG and more of a NOG, as in NGO (nothing going on) over the past month. That’s because I
entered into my first publishing contract (yay!) In early December, giving me a little more than 6 weeks to produce a story ready for
publication to go into an anothology!!! My story, “the Panchaamabhuta,” is a romantic mystery about the theft of
an Indian Star ruby from a dashing military widow. It was great fun to write,
and I hope it will be great fun to read as well! I have finished the story, and
celebrated by finishing off my cardigan! I will update you all when the
anthology of stories is due to come out in print. The book will feature amusing
romantic stories by some established regency authors, such as Barbara Metzger.
In the meantime, I’m happy to end the year wearing the seasweater! It is time to think about resolutions for 2010, and perhaps to fantasize about buying more yarn!