Thanks to those who commented via the comments and Plurk. As you can see, I did start the sleeves. The first one is getting close to being done, but alas I have admitted to myself that there is absolutely no way that I can get the sweater done by the baby shower next Sunday. It’ll be close. As long as I can get it done by September 1, which at the moment seems more reasonable, I should be ok!
I’m glad now that I have two pairs of each size of smaller needles in Harmonies. I actually had the sweater on the 24″ needles, but also had a pair of 40″ needles. I knit the sweater body onto the 40″ needles and started the sleeve in the round with the 24s. I incorrectly stated the other day that I was using size 2.5 mm needles; I was wrong. They’re 2.25. I like the nice, dense fabric I’m getting, which despite the light weight of the fabric should still make for a fairly warm sweater. I don’t think I’ll be doing a baby sweater with really thin sock yarn any time again soon, though… this one is taking me forever!
Oh, and in case you’re interested, here’s a closeup of the cables:
I didn’t like them at first but they are growing on me. It’s a simple braid, over 12 rows, crossing on row 5 and row 11. It’s a much more relaxed braid than the 8 row variety that is my usual favorite, so the relaxed look wasn’t doing it for me at the beginning. But as fussy as this yarn is I wanted to spread the cable crossings out a bit so that the yarn would be easier to work with. Did it help? Not sure, but I bet it probably did. I found the cables fussy to do as it is, and had to fix them several times during the process. I’m not quite done with the body length yet, so there may yet be more fixing up of this sweater as I near its finish, but I do think I’m finally getting the hang of it. We’ll see.
The title of today’s post is a nod to my favorite podcast, Cast On, and its wonderful host, Brenda Dayne. She seems to be struggling a bit with a podcast format/frequency schedule that works for her. I just wanted to give a shout out and say to Brenda that I love Cast On, and will take it in whatever way works best. Just please don’t go away. I need Cast On for the connectivity to knitters, much the same way that you say you need it. I’m glad you’re back and can’t wait for the next one, whenever it happens to be.
Over and out… I actually have to put the knitting down for the night and make some progress on some writing I’m doing. Yuck. I’d rather knit.
tonight, and let me tell you–if you’re interested in knitting tams, this is the book to get! I really wanted to learn how to make my own designs, rather than follow someone else’s. And this book gives me enough tools to send me well on my way. There’s even a basic blank chart showing various gauges, and an explanation of how to chart the wedges to achieve various shaped designs on the top. I’m going to have fun creating something fun and colorful.