Finished: Lucy in the Sky Cardigan

Pattern: Lucy in the Sky by Laura Chau - from cosmicpluto knits
Size: 35, but blocked a little larger
Yarn: Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted. I bought 6 skeins, but only used 5.
Needles: Size 7 (size 8 for the sleeves)
Yarn and buttons are from Windsor Button in Boston. Thanks, Annmarie, for helping me pick out buttons!

This took me 4 and a half months to knit, which is actually not terrible considering that I knit some other things during that time as well. It fits perfectly. (I deliberately made the arms a little long.) While I was working on it, the bottom band kept flipping up and I was worried about that, but it blocked out very well. I like the stitch pattern a lot, and tried to get buttons that didn't stand out too much because I want this to be a versatile garment that I can wear with anything.

What I would do differently if I were making it again:

- Paid more attention to the relationship between the stitch pattern and the raglan decreases. I think pattern designers give us all a little too much credit for being able to figure this kind of thing out on our own. By the time I figure out what I should have done, I'm way too far through the thing to change. My raglan seams look fine, just not perfect.

- On the collar I would have done the decreases at the 2nd and 3 markers as indicated (which I didn't understand from the instructions). I think it would have only been one more decrease, but that may have helped. As it is, the collar doesn't sit quite right, though it may only be noticeable to me.

- I would not have used whip stitch to attach the collar. It doesn't look good, but I don't know what else to do. I can't figure out what the designer actually did. The only other way I know to attach pieces is mattress stitch, which creates a seam. That doesn't work here - it eats up the edge stitches so the collar isn't the same width the whole way around. I don't know what I would have done, I guess, other than pressed the designer for more details or maybe posted something on Ravelry.

- Again with the collar - I would have knit from both sides of the neck to meet in the middle because the kitchener is visible and I would prefer it on the back of my neck, not the front of my shoulder. Perhaps there is a way to kitchener the seed stitch to make it invisible but I don't know how, so I should have done this differently. I wish I had thought of it earlier. (I still could have ripped back and done it, but I am lazy/impatient.) I don't think it's visible to the lay person, but I can see it.

Overall, I am quite happy with the pattern and the project. New sweater, just in time for fall!

Troublesome Collar

My Lucy In the Sky cardigan is SO close to completion, but I've run into some confusion near the end.

I worked the raglan and neckline decreases as indicated until there were 9 stitches left before the first marker. There were a total of 4 markers. The next part of the pattern reads: "Discontinue raglan decreases at first and last marker, and work neck decreases ONLY four times or until raglan is the appropriate length." This would just not compute. Work neck decreases only? That would mean I should also discontinue decreases at the 2nd and 3rd markers. Perhaps it means neck decreases should be worked four times ONLY, but then why say "or until raglan is the appropriate length"? I checked Ravelry and Craftster and I googled and in the end I stopped all raglan decreases, but only knit a few more rows anyhow, so I don't think it make much difference. (As it turns out, the intention is to continue neckline decreases and continue decreases on 2nd and 3rd marker, which makes sense. I'm still not sure what the "ONLY" is for.)

Then I got to the collar. There is a seed stitch border along the button bands, which extends up around the neckline. As I'm knitting, this means that the first and last 6 stitches on the needles are the seed stitch. The instructions say to knit the first 6 stitches (seed stitch) and put them on a stitch holder, bind off stitches all across, and then place the last 6 stitches (seed stitch) on a holder. Ok, got it. Then you are supposed to rejoin yarn to one of those sections (the right, but I'm never sure which right is intended) and then continue the seed stitch band, to be attached to the bound-off neckline later. Instead, when I got to the end of the row rather than putting those stitches on a holder, I started knitting the neckband from there. I don't know why I was supposed to put them on a holder and then just rejoin yarn, but perhaps it will become obvious in some way, like I will suddenly have an extra sleeve or something...

Now I am here:


I am instructed to sew the band to the back neck "using slipstitch" and then graft the live stitches to the one on the stitch holder. None of my knitting books provide instructions for seaming in slipstitch. A Google search revealed this, but that doesn't seem right since it results in a bulky seam. I also couldn't find instructions for grafting seed stitch. So I posted a query on Ravelry for help. I really thought the instructions should have been more clear on these matters. But to her credit the designer responded to my query within two hours, which is pretty awesome because I am nothing if not impatient.

She says that when she attached the neckband she used "more of a flat sewing stitch where you go into the neckband and then the edge of the sweater, keeping both flat and edge-to-edge." That sounds kind of like whip stitch to me, so that is probably what I'll use. As for the grafting, she grafted in the normal way and then duplicate stitched the appropriate purl bumps on. Clever.

I really hope I finish this sweater sometime today. It is so close I can almost taste it!

A Cause for Great Excitement!

A sleeve has been completed and joined to the body. Behold!


I realize it doesn't look like much right now, all squished up and misshapen like a fourth-grader's art project. I've only made a couple of sweaters with this sort of bottom-up yoked construction, and each time I have a moment upon joining the sleeves where I become convinced that I've made a horrible mistake and the sleeves will be jutting out from somewhere along the bottom part of my ribcage. But it is not so. It is simply an awkward stage, much like adolescence, in which everything is just a bit twisted and out of proportion and you must just endure it until it is outgrown. As I progress up the yoke, it will all come together neatly, and the result will be a lovely sweater with sleeves where my arms are and a hole where my head is. Magic!

More cardigan

I planned to show you pictures of the knitting needle case I sewed for my friend Annmarie's birthday but it appears that I did not, in fact, take pictures of it before giving* it to her. I can't even ask her to take pictures for me as she is busy working on the crew of the Komen Breast Cancer 3-day this weekend (to which you should totally donate, by the way.) That project will have to wait for another day. But trust me, it's cute!

Instead I will show you my sleeve.


Isn't it sleevy? You might even call it sleevelicious.

It is basically a gray stockinette tube with a wee bit of seed stitch on the end. I'm sure it is hard to contain your excitement right now, especially since it's mid-July and the thought of a long-sleeved wool garment is probably extremely appealing. But I'm kind of excited, because at this rate I may actually have a new cardigan by the time it is seasonally appropriate to wear one. Which should not be until November, given how late our summer started, right?

(*That's right, I didn't "gift" it to her, I gave it to her. Just sayin'.)

(Also, I just looked at the word "gave" for so long it started looking wrong, and I had to look it up to make sure it was a word. Wtf?)

Cardigan check-in

My Lucy in the Sky cardigan has grown quite a bit since I last shared it with you, so it's high time for an update.

First a close-up, because it's just so satisfying.


It was difficult to get a good shot of the whole thing as it is so wide, but this was the best I could do.


It is a little boring to knit and also involves a lot of counting so in a way it's good movie-watching knitting, but not movies that you need to pay attention to. I've found that it's ideal for re-watching episodes of the Simpsons I've seen many times before.

Also, is it dorky to admit that I love the criss-crossing diamond pattern just because it somehow looks so neat and orderly? I guess you can take the girl out of the library, but you can't take the librarian out of the girl. Or something like that.

New projects

I'm still working on my first Leyburn Sock and seaming the Marseilles Pullover, but I've also started some non-purple projects.

Here is a plain stockinette sock made with Knitterly Things Vesper Sock yarn in the colorway Algae.


The light today is terrible for photos. You'll see it in all its prettiness when I'm done.

I've also started the Lucy In the Sky Cardigan from cosmicpluto knits.


I'm especially excited about this cardigan. I need more cardigans and I'm using one of my favorite yarns, Lamb's Pride, and I'm happy to be working on something less uncomplicated after the Marseilles Pullover. Which is not to say that it's easy - in fact, for every 4 or 5 rows I've knit, I've probably ripped back 2. It's just a series of knits and purls, but there's a chart and counting is involved which never goes well for me. It's coming out quite lovely so far though, isn't it?