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January 20, 2006
That Must Have Cardigan is going to be one dirty sweater
Because I have hardly taken it off since finishing it.
I've got the half-crazed Columbo eye going on in this picture. Sex-ay!
Excuse the crappiness of the photo, I was in too great a hurry to set up the tripod and do it right. I finished this for Tuesday just like I said I would, but it's been a crazy week, too crazy to take the time to shoot a decent image of it, let alone post it here. I'll try to get a better one over the weekend.
Specs: the Must Have Cardigan from the Patons Street Smart booklet. I think I made the medium size, but it may have been the small (if I could find the leaflet right now I'd know for sure, but I've lost it somewhere, and had to make up the button band on my own). At any rate, it's quite fitted and a little short, because I made it as small as I could to save yarn. It doesn't have the buttonband gappyness I feared, but comes close. I'm never going to do up all the buttons anyway, and so far have just been closing the top two.
The yarn is a two-tone orange lambswool, recycled from a men's sweater bought secondhand. I should just save myself some typing and come up with an acronym for that, since I almost never buy new yarn for anything. I had just barely enough yarn to finish, and actually had to go digging in my garbage pile of little scraps and ends to find a 15" piece to spit-splice into my bind off row on the buttonband. I am very, very lucky. As it is, the bind off ought to have been a tad looser, but I think I can block it out. If I can't, it'll just have to curl a little, because there is NO YARN left.
The buttons are vintage wooden ones that I've been saving for around ten years, waiting for the perfect thing to put them on. This is definitely it. (a close up of the buttons to come).
My other exciting new acquisition of the week is one of these, and I've been playing with it during all of my little scraps of spare time this week (there hasn't been much of that, so I may also have played with it when I was supposed to be, um, reading stuff for class. woops.). Tonight I'm taking it home so that I won't be tempted to use it in the studio when I should be doing my real work; I'll have some pictures of my first batch of buttons tomorrow.
Posted by jodi at January 20, 2006 06:00 PM | categories: sticks and string
Comments
Great sweater!
so...you never buy yarn? You always recycle yarn from sweaters and stuff?
Have fun with the button maker.
Posted by: Sarah Hb at January 20, 2006 06:08 PM
Yay for YOU! I was just talking to Stephanie and told her that's my unofficial goal for the Knitting Olympics -- get going on my Must Have. I really REALLY want that sweater, and I love the yarn I'm using and everything. Why it's just been sitting undone is a mystery. I can't wait to get going on it again.
Have you posted on the Must Have blog? Geesh, is that thing dormant or WHAT?!
Congratulations on a wonderful sweater. I'm so happy you love it enough to not have taken it off since you finished. Bonus!
Posted by: Norma at January 20, 2006 06:13 PM
Beeyootiful! Can't wait to see your new buttons. See you soon girly!
Posted by: Sandy at January 20, 2006 06:17 PM
Are you going to take some of the buttons you make and sell them in your "shop"??. Actually, I'm still waiting to buy one your shrinky-dink bracelets! Whatever happened with that?! ;-)
Posted by: bonnie at January 21, 2006 01:31 AM
I have that exact badge maker, from that very website. It's so much fun. :)
Posted by: crumpet at January 21, 2006 08:28 AM
Nothing beats an orange sweater.
Posted by: cari at January 21, 2006 09:49 AM
another winner, jodi! i lurve the colour :)
Posted by: brenda in toronto at January 21, 2006 12:14 PM
That is a kick ass sweater! Nice nice nice work ( as per usual)..
Posted by: korin at January 21, 2006 02:11 PM
Wicked sweater! I would have a hard time choosing from that Patons booklet- they're all great!
p.s. what did you use to dye Alice the Camel's yarn? (I have mucho alpaca to dye)
Posted by: Meem at January 21, 2006 03:03 PM
Now I see what it's the Must Have Cardi, because it's gorgeous in that orange. The cream was a bit too bland to really set me on fire. It looks smashing. I do love that you were digging through the trashbin to salvage yarn for a bind off. Classic recycling to the highest degree!
Posted by: Gina at January 21, 2006 08:10 PM
woohoo! it's goergous! really. I think I'm gonna do a hybrid of that and the hoody one from the same booklet. I'm swatching cables for the next 2 days and then it's go time baby!
Posted by: insubordiknit at January 22, 2006 04:55 PM
FanTAZmic sweater!!!
I love how you wear your cables - they always look great on you! And the Orange? Also perfect. :)
Posted by: amped! at January 26, 2006 02:05 AM