Dune Progress

I have been making progress on Dune, one of my design class sweaters. I've been enjoying working on this so much that I haven't picked up the Rebecca sweater at all. All of that lace and figuring out how to maintain the lace pattern with the armhole decreases just has not sounded like a fun thing to do at all since I've had a stressful week. Next week is spring break for me, so that should be good time to get back on that horse.

Anyway, here's what I have so far:



I'm about 4 rows from starting my armholes, which means I need to figure out how I want to shape them! This is two balls of yarn. I have 9 to finish the sweater and I hope it's enough. Plus, three of them are from a different dye lot and I haven't seen them yet (J was gracious enough to search for some in my color and send them to me). I have anxiety issues about them being a totally different texture or color or something awful. Hey, I could always been a glass is half full kind of a person and say that everything is going to be alright, couldn't I?

Problem Solved!

Sometimes, the solution to a problem comes to you like the much cliched lighbulb turning on. I have been thinking about what to do for my second sweater for a couple of days now, and I had sort of an idea planned out. Then, Dis emailed me this morning saying that my Classic Silk yarn from WEBS had come in (we did a joint order a while back). I was sitting here thinking how it would be absolutely perfect to make Dune from Rowan 33 (it's kind of like Summer Tweed, but a totally different gauge and a TON softer). I'm planning on making a slew (how many is a slew?) of modifications, much like Fathon Harvill describes here. Isn't hers lovely? Then, I started thinking what a bummer it was that I couldn't start it for a while because I had these two other sweaters to make. Only then did it occur to me - what a perfect class project! Except for the lace detail, everything else is really plain, so customizing the shape will be an excellent exercise. The yarn is totally different (going from Aran to DK), too. Yay! Problem solved! Well, not all of the problems. I didn't order quite enough yarn :( So, I'm going to do a very small order from WEBS to get a couple of more balls. With shipping and paying full price, it should suck, but I'll get a fabulous sweater out of it.

Anyway, I have been doing knitting, in addition to all the mulling. Here's my progress on my first class project, the Rebecca lace sweater:



So far, so good, but I'm concerned about how small the rib section turned out (luckily, it's really stretchy) and how long the sweater will turn out to be.

I've also started a scarf for Joe - the Architect's Scarf from Greetings from the Knit Cafe.



I thought I had the color scheme fully worked out, but it looks like the color I eliminated is actually perfect for the next stripe, so what do I know? I think the one color I insisted be in there because I've had it in my stash for ages is the one I'm going to end up NOT using. Figures, doesn't it?

Also Remembering Honey is almost done. It's seamed up, but still needs neck extensions and a good washing. It's very stiff at the moment. It seems to fit pretty well, though. The beret has been done forever, but I haven't blocked it yet because it's been too hot to wear it. All in good time.

Two Sweaters At the Same Time

The latest installment of our Sweater Design class was a real eye-opener for me. I thought the Rebecca sweater that I'd chosen to upsize was going to be a no-brainer. Wrong! Since the lace repeat is 18 stitches wide, getting all of the shaping to fit around the lace pattern turned out to be a real challenge, especially working the sleeve increases into the lace pattern. That actually has nothing to do with upsizing so much as it has to do with the fact that Rebecca simply left out how to do that, even though they clearly somehow figured out how to do it because in the photo, there isn't a 22 stitch stockinette panel running up her arm! At any rate, I can see why they only wrote the pattern for one size.

The reason this kind of sucks is because I'm not able to practice designing the perfect armscye or neckline or whatever. I'm a slave to this lace pattern and I feel like I'm not getting out of the class what I should. However, I do think doing all of this is a valuable learning experience, too. Dis had a great idea, though. Why don't I just make two sweaters, one simple and the other one this lace Rebecca sweater, she says. I knit fairly quickly and the class doesn't end until June, I think, so I have plenty of time.

So, I sketched out some ideas, looked through some magazines and came up with a couple, but this one is the most appealing, I think.



I have the pattern for this, but I want to use a different-gauge yarn and a different stitch pattern on the body. That would leave me free to basically redesign the proportions. I think I would learn a lot and I could wear it this summer, which I can't say for the angora lace wrap sweater that I also designed. I still want to make that, but it's so H-O-T here today that I can't even think about it or anything else wool for a while. Quick question for you designers out there: are the seed stitch peplum pieces at the bottom actually narrower than the body so they angle outward like that, or will they just do that automatically? They seem to meet up with the main body portions evenly, and I don't see any decreases on the side, but I'm really not sure.

Another option is this one without all the colorwork and with a set-in sleeve:





Not that I don't love the colorwork (something of Kaffe Fassett's that I actually like), but I don't feel like spending a lot of time coordinating colors. I really like the simplicity of this sweater, though, and it would definitely allow for a custom fit. I would also add waist shaping as the boxy cardigan look just isn't for me.

What do you think?