Recently in Cabled and Ribbed Sweater Category

I started Paul's cabled pullover using a Drops pattern last month.

Gauge issues forced me to frog it though. I had knitted about 400 yards at that point but it was just too wide.

That sweater below is another I made for Paul and since then he's lost a few pounds so bigger wasn't my goal for this sweater.

The thought of reknitting all that wide rib wasn't very appealing. Then I remembered Elinor's Point Gammon in the latest IK. Once I had a project in mind I ripped the Drops project and did a gauge swatch for Point Gammon right away. I was afraid if I didn't pick it back up quickly that I'd lose steam on it and the project would end up on my 2011 goals.

After the sizing issues on the Drops sweater I was nervous about selecting the right size for this pullover. After a few emails with Elinor I decided to knit the larger size. The ribbing is so accommodating - just what I needed coming off of a botched sizing project.

I'm enjoying knitting this a lot more than the almost-stockinette rib of the Drops sweater and I think it will make for a more impressive FO too.

I'm still ruminating on my Rhinbeck sweater choice so I'll get more of Point Gammon done in the mean time. Time is getting tight for my 2-sweaters-before-Rhinebeck knitting goal though. I'd have a hard time making up for another bigtime goof before then. Here's hoping.

If you're newer to reading my blog (meaning, within the past 8 months or so) you may not even recognize this sweater. It's my oldest UFO.

I cast on for this on January 1, 2004 -- almost 2 years ago. I have a history of working on this sweater in fits. I'll pick it up for a few weeks and finish a piece, then leave it be for 10 months. I'm not sure why, it just isn't able to keep my constant attention.

On Friday I decided I should finish it for Christmas. All that's left are 2 sleeves, a neckband, and the seaming. The front and back have already been blocked (that explains why the body looks so different from the sleeve I propped on top of it.

I'm trying something new and doing 2 sleeves at once. So far I like it. My biggest beef with doing 2 at once is dealing with the extra ends, but I stuck both balls in a ziploc to keep them from rolling around each other and that's made all the difference. Each time I finish a row I give the bag a half-turn and it's completely detangled.

You may notice the sleeve has a bit of navy at the bottom of it. That's the way the pattern was written but I wasn't sure I wanted to do it. Now that it's done I'm really glad I did. The Araucania looks so nice with the added color in there at the bottom. It even got me thinking that striping Araucania for another sweater would be really nice. For now though my focus is on finishing this sweater.

Where have I been?

End of year is my work's most busy time -- leaving me almost no knitting time during the week. Since I'm not fond of those "I'm here but really busy" posts you'll only see a few more posts from me until the 20th (my last day of work for the year!). I am here though (and I'm fine) -- just busy and trying to tie up all those loose ends so I can take time off without worrying too much about what's going on while I'm off.

Next week's goal -- a completed back!