Completed

Here's the finished Avast sweater, modeled by B. I think it turned out pretty well. This is the first sweater I've made for him that actually fits. I thought it was perhaps a little too large, but he likes things a little roomier and it's about the same size as his jackets. As I was blocking the sweater, I noticed I had dropped a stitch, but luckily it was near the top and I was able to pick up several stitches and then blend it in with the sleeve decreases and then weave the ends in with the collar facing.

Zipping Along

I purchased three different zippers yesterday to test out with the sweater. There were no navy or midnight blue options to choose from, so I opted for a mustard yellow, gray, or black. I ended up going with the black since it matched the most closely. I sewed the sweater closed with a contrasting yarn and also sewed some bias tape along the edges of the sweater for a more finished edge. Next I'll mark the sweater and the zipper for placement and then baste it in place before handsewing with backstitching. Lastly, I'll sew down the collar facing. B will have a new sweater to wear this weekend! Photos to come!

PS Zipper tutorials from ChicKnits and not martha were very helpful.

Heavy Knitting

Sorry for the lack of posts during the last week, but all I've been working on is the Avast sweater. Since I've got the entire sweater on my circular needles, it's been some heavy knitting on the hands. Needless to say, after knitting for a couple of hours, my hands are pretty sore. I'm almost done with all of my raglan sleeve decreases. Just a little ways to go before I can start in on the collar.

Connected

I knit nonstop this weekend, so I could finish the sleeves and attach them to the body. Knitting the sleeves is a little tight right now because there isn't a lot of leeway in the small area that was bound off on the body. Hopefully, once I start doing more raglan decreases, things will get easier.

Stockinette Marathon

I finally finished the 16" of the Avast body on Saturday night while watching La Vie En Rose and 3:10 to Yuma. It didn't seem to take too long since I was occupied with the stories of the films (both thumbs ups!). Last night, I cut out the fabric for the Amy Butler Lotus top. I'm in the process of sewing that up right now.

A Long Road Ahead

Here's my progress so far with the Avast cardigan. Once I got the cabled band finished at the hem, I had to pick up 221 stitches! Needless to say, all this stockinette stitch is taking forever and it looks like I'm only halfway to the required 16 inches before starting the sleeves.

Cabled Border

Here's the cabled border of the sweater. I have two more pattern repeats to do before it's finished. Then I will pick up stitches on one of the long sides to knit on the body.

Another Cardigan on the Horizon

I've decided on my next knitting project. It's the Avast men's cardigan from the fall 2006 issue of Knitty. It's a nice raglan-sleeved zip-up sweater with a subtle cable design at the hem. The sweater is for B and will replace a holey, ratty cardigan that he constantly wears now. I am going to use some Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride in a super dark navy called Bulldog Blue.