FO: wee Envelope
I mentioned in my first post that I have no idea what I'm doing technically with the blogging. Knitting and not shutting up about it, I got. Fortunately, my friend Jeni from The Blog Maven graciously set up the website for me in her spare time and continues to answer my questions. Jeni is due to have her fourth child very soon, so as a thank you, I knit her a wee Envelope, designed by Ysolda Teague.
Like how my knitting matches my shoes?
I have both positive and negative things to say about this pattern. Without giving away the details that make it special and original (because if you want to know them, you should purchase the pattern yourself here), I can first say that I love Love LOVE that there was no seaming. None. The sweater construction was ingenious, and that's something I seek out in knitting - new ways of doing things. I'm convinced that as long as I keep knitting complicated patterns, I will not get Alzheimer's.That said, I'm no slouch when it comes to knitting, and I had a day of serious knitting on this thing that, by the end of the day, I had less sweater than when I started. There is a part where you connect the back yoke to the front yoke. I followed the instructions, looked at it, and thought, "That can't be right. It doesn't match the other side of the yoke."
One of these neckhole sides does not match the other.
I ripped.I read the instructions about connecting again and knit it.I ripped.I went on Ravelry (which I should have done in the first place, because as I've mentioned before, if you find something confusing in a pattern, odds are, someone else already has, too) and found that, buried in the Ravelry wee Envelope page comments, there was a link to a tutorial on the yoke section. I followed the tutorial and knit it - exactly the same way I'd done it three times before.I ripped.I looked at the tutorial again and discovered that my front yoke was twisted. This would have been easier to notice if the pictures on the tutorial had not been so cropped. I straightened my yoke and knit it.It still didn't match the other side of the yoke. I ripped.Only THEN did I discover that what had actually happened was that I had rejoined the yokes correctly EVERY SINGLE TIME - it was that I initially connected them wrong on the other side. So the reason it didn't match the other side of the yoke was because the other side of the yoke was wrong. The entire back yoke got ripped. Thus, at the end of the day, I had less sweater than when I started.Turns out the tutorial had a section on starting the yoke, and I had just skipped it, thinking I'd already successfully done that part.
Ahhh. Much better!
Now, while I'm grateful the tutorial exists, here's my opinion on it... if your design is a downloadable PDF and not in a printed book and therefore able to be updated at a moment's notice, why not include the tutorial in the PDF for future customers? Not only that, but the tutorial is not listed on the design's home page on Ravelry - it's buried in the comments section. I admit I should have read the notes of previous knitters on Ravelry before starting (Seriously. Need to do this. Could have saved me time and angst on multiple projects.), but it would have been nice if the detailed explanation was in the pattern itself with well-cropped pictures, not in a separate tutorial on a separate website. Rant concluded.Tutorial issues aside, there were MANY things I loved about this pattern. No seaming: check. Fascinating construction: delightful. Frequent updates on how many garter stitch rows you should have at any given point: brilliant. Beautiful use of I-cord edging to make a polished neckline: lovely. All I had to do to finish it was weave in ends and sew on buttons. Additionally, because of the way the sweater was constructed with picking up and binding off and reattaching at random intervals, there were a few holes to close up, but that was no big deal. All in all, I love the wee Envelope - and I'm pretty certain I'll knit it again. And this time, it should take me one less day. :)
Closing up the holes
I used size 6 dpns (sleeves and yokes) and circulars (body) with Cascade Yarns 220 Superwash Sport in the 802 Green Apple colorway. I've used Cascade 220 many times before, but this was my first experience with the sport weight. I found the yarn to be a bit splitty, but I'm sure some of that came from my repeated ripping of the back yoke. Both yarn and the ADORABLE wooden giraffe buttons were purchased at Knits by Nana in Baton Rouge, Louisiana (LYS review coming soon!).
On its way to Jeni!
Jeni, hope your sweet baby enjoys the sweater. I know you could knit it yourself, but I really wanted to show my appreciation for your help. Hope this goes a little way toward doing that.