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Thursday, June 09, 2016

That Was Not What I Had in Mind

I've frequently said that I wouldn't mind not having to go to work because it would be great to be able to spin and knit all day. Well, I got to do that today, unexpectedly, though not necessarily for a good reason. A sort of freak thing happened yesterday. I was at work and feeling a little lightheaded, like I was going to faint. I remember sitting down in my office chair and trying to breathe slowly, and the next thing I knew, I was face down on the floor. Seems I did faint and fell out of my chair. I managed to scrape up my nose, my forehead, and a bit under my eye and (as I found out hours later in the ER) fracture my nose. Some luck, eh? So, on doctor's orders, I stayed home today and spent some quality time with my wheel and my yarn.

In more pleasant news, look what's done! (And you can thank me for sparing you photos of my face -- it really doesn't hurt much, but it looks pretty horrible.)


Pattern: Hitofude Cardigan by Hiroko Fukatsu
Yarn: my handspun, 100% Polwarth from Bee Mice Elf
Needles: US 6 (4.0 mm) ChiaoGoo Red Lace circs
Started/Completed: March 23/June 6
Mods: worked fewer repeats for the sleeves; added length to the body

Sometimes it felt like this project was in progress forever, but in reality it really took less than half a year -- not an unrealistic amount of time to spin more than 1,100 yards of yarn and knit a lace sweater, if you ask me! I probably could have finished it sooner had I worked on it more consistently, but it was a pattern that was fairly easy to put down and pick up, especially as I'd had the lace pattern memorized from about the second repeat.

I only made two modifications to the pattern. The first was to work one less lace repeat on the sleeves; I probably could have eliminated two, as they were still a bit big before blocking, but I solved that issue by stretching them horizontally when I blocked the sweater. I also added two additional lace repeats to the body, in part to make the body longer but also to use up more yarn to get to the last color in the sequence.


I blocked the finished sweater fairly aggressively, and the result is that the sweater is a little loose and has a lot of drape -- just as I wanted. It's a bit wild compared to what I usually wear, but I'm immensely pleased with it. It was a fun knit and a really interesting construction, and it was definitely a great use for my handspun!

Since this project came off the needles, I've been working on my LYS's newest shawl knitalong, Waiting for Rain. I decided to go with the lighter gray for the main color and use the darker gray for the stripes and lace portions.


I did the first lace section today and really enjoyed it. Short rows and lace sounds like it would be really challenging, but once you get the hang of it, it's actually pretty fun. I don't know that I can do it late at night or while watching the Stanley Cup finals, but I think if I can manage it a day after whacking my face on the floor, it can't be as complicated as it would seem.

6 comments:

  1. Your cardigan is gorgeous! I'm sorry you ended up with a broken nose, but a day at home with your yarn had to be lovely. :)

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  2. so sorry about the nose, but your cardi is fabulous!

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  3. Oh geez! I hope you feel better!
    The sweater came out gorgeously, of course. Well done!

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  4. Oh no! So sorry to hear about your nose, but the sweater is lovely!

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  5. Hope you are healing well. So sorry that you had to go thru that to take a break :-( Your card is awesome...from the handspun to the knitting.

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