September 7, 2015

F.O. Lake Effect

Have you ever looked at a pattern for the first time and knew you had to knit it? That's what happened to me as soon as I saw Lake Effect by Amy Miller.  

Sweet Fiber Super Sweet Sock in Chartreuse
I knew exactly what colour I wanted: Sweet Fiber Yarns Super Sweet Sock in Chartreuse. I fell in love with this colour after I knit my Cladonia.  It is a hard colour to capture on camera but, trust me when I say, it is gorgeous.   

Cladonia

I joined the the Very Shannon Summer Sweater Knit Along and got knitting. This KAL began at the end of July and ran until Labour Day Weekend.  I love this annual KAL as there are many enthusiastic participants and it is very motivating for me.















The pattern was easy to follow. Knit from the bottom up, using a 3.5mm needle, I used markers in between lace repeats which helped me spot my errors easily. 


When knitting the sleeves I went up a sleeve size as I always knit so much tighter when using dpns.  Unfortunately my first sleeve still came out tighter than I would have liked.  My friend Judy suggested I try knitting the second sleeve in the round.  That triggered an idea.  Instead of trying Magic Loop I decided to put the second sleeve on two circular needles....half the stitches on one circular needle and the other half on another.  Then taking a third circular needle I started knitting the sleeve.  Not only was I able to knit faster using this technique, but when I measured the width compared to the first sleeve, the second sleeve was turning out wider.  I switched back to dpns at this point as I didn't want to have two different sized sleeves.  However, this was a lightbulb moment for me as I realized that I would definitely use three circular needles for sleeves in the future as it would prevent me from having tightly knit sleeves and would speed up my knitting. So thank you Judy! 

One sleeve to go!












I love the comparison of the photo above pre-blocking and then the photo below after blocking.  Do you see how the lace just opened up?  Blocking is the best part of the knitting process for me.

All blocked






Now the weather just needs to cool off so I can wear it!  I hope you all are having a wonderful long weekend and are getting excited about the fall knitting ahead.

14 comments:

  1. This is gorgeous! I'm glad you included photos from before blocking, compared to after. It makes such a difference. The colour is beautiful and the fit perfect. Thanks for including the link to your blog on the VeryShannon page.

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    1. Thank you Sarah! I really enjoyed the KAL, it kept me motivated.

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  2. It looks so fantastic!! That colour really is dreamy, and I love your solution for loosening up on your sleeve gauge.

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  3. What a beautiful sweater and the fit is perfect. Great trick for the sleeve knitting!

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  4. What a beautiful sweater and the fit is perfect. Great trick for the sleeve knitting!

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  5. Thank you for your kind comments...and the sleeve knitting trick really solves a problem for me!

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  6. It looks gorgeous on you and I love your sleeve trick. I'm getting ready to swatch for this sweater, so I really appreciate your advice.

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  7. Hi Joyce! Thank you! The sleeve trick really makes a difference if you are like me and knit tightly in the round.

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  8. Cladonia is beautiful! I love those stripes side by side with lace! You must be very happy with your new sweater! It's gorgeous!

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    1. Thanks Maryse! I am finally getting to wear it and despite the lace it is surprisingly warm.

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  9. Cladonia is beautiful! I love those stripes side by side with lace! You must be very happy with your new sweater! It's gorgeous!

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  10. Thank you Maryse! Both will be getting a lot of wear : )

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  11. that knit up so beautifully! I absolutely love sweet fiber. My next door neighbour who is a nothing-but-socks knitter gifted me a skein and now I lust over more. And the other great part is that it's Canadian.

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