Daily Archives: Friday 19th February 2010

Knitting Olympics – Day 7

Body of sweater

*waits for fanfare*

Yep, the whole body is done. :-D It looks like the neck opening is absolutely tiny, but that’s because the back and front neck stitches are on holders and the front neck steek is only 11 stitches which pulls it in. Once they’re cut, it’ll be easier to see the shape.

For Marji and Vikki who asked (and anyone else who’s interested), I’ve put a 30cm/12 inch ruler next to the body to help with scale. I’m knitting the smallest pattern size, but on the specified needles. I knit looser than almost everyone in the entire world, it seems, so the sweater will end up slightly bigger than the smallest size, which is perfect. I was concerned that it would be too small otherwise, and I’m sure Rose will get plenty of wear from it in the next few months, knowing what the British weather is like!

Lakaya asked what steeking is. The short answer is a pained scream. ;-) The long answer is that it’s a way of knitting fair isle in the round to avoid having to work the wrong side – you just insert an extra strip of stitches which are cut to make an opening. I will write a post with my favourite steeking resources in at some point. I’ve gleaned bits and pieces from all over the place and they all come in useful at various points.

So all I have left to do is:

  • Crochet the steeks
  • Cut the steeks
  • Pick up the neck stitches and work the neckline
  • Pick up the sleeve stitches and knit a sleeve – twice
  • Knit steek facings (possibly)
  • Wash and block the whole sweater
  • And there’s just 10 days left? So much for relaxing! :-P

    Five months

    Rose, 5 months

    A quick, in the car seat, photo for Rose’s five month update. :-)

    The recent growth spurt is over, thankfully, though it won’t be long before there’s another. It also won’t be long until she starts getting to taste different things other than milk which is quite a scary thought; it was only yesterday that she was a tiny baby, surely?!

    She’s discovered that she can blow raspberries now, as well as being quite a nifty little mover. Put her on her play mat, and she’s turned 180 degrees in a matter of minutes. And she’s had her first “proper” laugh, a real chuckle. I don’t know what triggered it – I was getting her dressed and suddenly she laughed. Now of course it’s a favourite game of her brothers to try to get her to do it again. :-D