The "JOAN" Sweater

Last Summer, I knit this "Carmine" sweater, designed by Belinda Boaden.  It was a dream to knit, and I have really enjoyed wearing it.  My Mother loved it too, and decided she would like to knit one.  Although she is the one who taught me to knit, she was confused by the pattern, as she has difficulty reading knitting charts.  She asked me to simplify the pattern for her, so she could create one of her own.  Thus the "JOAN" sweater was born.  Many thanks to Belinda for her inspiration and encouragement, as I knit my "Carmine".  I have made significant changes to the pattern, so as not to infringe on Belinda's original design, and beautiful fit directive.

Named for my Mother, she did the first test knit of the pattern for me.  She decided to shorten the sleeves and lengthen the body, for this perfect fit.  Her sample was knit in Fyberspates - Scrumptious, sport weight, in Gold.

Joan knit Pattern Version II, to create this lightweight, airy fabric.  The raglan sleeve shaping was created by knitting in the front and back of two stitches at the shoulder line, along with one increase stitch on every other right side row to create the neckline.

She knit the sweater in the Size Small.  Waist shaping was used and she only added 3 inches to the sleeves.  An additional 6 inches was added to the bottom, to make it tunic length.  Wearing the sweater with a long-sleeved t-shirt or turtleneck, will make this sweater useful in both the Summer and Winter, and the gold color will blend nicely with many accent colors. 

Thanks Mom for all of your hard work, and for all of the suggested changes you made to my original pattern.  These suggestions will really help, as others attempt to knit this sweater for themselves.

Version I of the "Joan" sweater was test knit by my dear friend, Cheryl.  She is a beautiful knitter, and quickly figured out that I had written the lacework pattern in-the-round, making it confusing to work flat, which is wear the sweater begins.  I was surprised that my brain worked this way, as I thought I had written it for flat knitting.

Adding directions for knitting the lacework flat and in-the-round, will definitely make the pattern more understandable.  This close-up shows the variation in the lacework for Version I.

Version I was also knit in Fyberspates-Scrumptious, Natural.  It is a beautiful soft taupe with a slight sheen.  Cheryl loved the yarn, as did the rest of us.  It is so nice to knit with.  The same body and raglan sleeve shaping was used.

Cheryl knit the Size Medium.  The final fabric of the sweater is so stretchy, that her sweater ended up being too big for her.  This is her daughter, Carissa, modeling her sample, and I think it is a bit big for her too.  Be sure to take this into consideration when knitting this pattern.  If you want a close fit, go down a size.

Cheryl knit the 3/4 sleeve version, and wants it to fit closer to the arm than the pattern calls for.  She is planning to rip the sleeves back and add-in more decreases.  Since I have never had stick-type arms, I like a looser fit to the sleeves, especially with a 3/4 length. Something to think about when getting that perfect fit.

She is also planning to use the leftover yarn to add to the length.  The sweater is currently unblocked, which would help to lengthen the sweater, and open up the lace pattern, but I think a few more inches would look nice as well.  Thanks Cheryl for all your help and suggestions.  You really helped me to work the bugs out of the written pattern.  Your sample looks beautiful!  The pattern will be available at Knit-Zilla Ravelry Downloads in the next few days.  You can also read about the "Joan" sweater on Cheryl's and Joan's Ravelry Project Pages.

As a continuation on my post about the "Nola" sweater, I find that I have learned a few things about yarn selection.  The sample pictured above, was knit in a cotton blend yarn, which did not have a lot of stretch and recovery.  Besides the fact that the test knitter is new to the process, and didn't do a test swatch to assess gauge, and that she knits quite loosely, this sweater was almost too big for the person it was knit for.

As you can see, my sample is back on the needles for some corrections too.  It was knit of a merino wool blend, which provided a much stretchier fabric.  However, although I did swatch for gauge, I guessed on sizing.  I should have taken some simple measurements of the person the sweater was meant for, before selecting a size and making adjustments to fit.

The sweater length and arms were both too short, and the hood needed some extra room, to make it more comfortable to wear.  In addition, this little boy is growing FAST, and I thought some extra room would add to the years he could wear it.  So I have been doing some frogging, to make these adjustments.  You'll note from the picture, that although I re-knit the same yarn, the fact that it was kinked from previous knitting makes the additions quite noticeable.  I won't make this mistake again!  Hopefully, some wet blocking will help the newly added stitches blend-in with the original stitches. Too bad that we always have to learn things the hard way, or at least I DO.  You can find the pattern for the "Nola" sweater at  Nola Sweater Pattern.

In addition, to frogging and re-knitting, I've written a new pattern this past weekend.  My daughter will be test knitting this one from these fabulous yarns.  They are Knitpicks Swish Tonal, in Canopy and Summer Blooms.  The pattern is for a Toddler Size cardigan and hat, which look like strawberries.  Thus the pattern will be called, "Strawberries".

 My photography and sketching abilities still need some work, but this will give you the general idea of what the final product will look like.  Carissa will be casting-on for this test knit in the next week or so.

Don't forget . . . . . . a drawing of the "Followers" of this blog will be held on July 1, to win this little back-zipping hooded baby sweater, in a 3-6 month size.  Get signed up, if you are interested in winning.

It is FREE, and you don't have to actually be a knitter to win!   HAPPY KNITTING!

The "NOLA" Sweater

Believe it or not . . . we now have chickens!  Steve is determined to live on a farm, even if it is our small 1/3 acre in the heart of West Jordan.

I wasn't too excited about it, but we are now the proud owners of three hens.  They are pretty good at laying the daily egg, so we have plenty to go around.  Most of the eggs we get are usually too big to allow the egg carton to close properly.

Oreo is growing by leaps and bounds, and the others all received their yearly shearing (pictures to come).  This was Steve's first time to shear them, so they look really funny.  He wasn't able to shear their legs, so they all look like they are wearing fuzzy legwarmers.  Regardless of how they look, I am sure they are all feeling a lot cooler.  Especially Waffles, he was so puffy that he now seems to be 1/3 the size.

Alivia is growing too.  She is finally up 6 oz. above her birth weight.  She is such a sweet little baby, and so healthy.  We are all so grateful.

The test knitting of the "Nola" sweater is finally complete, and the pattern is ready for publishing.  You can find it at:  Ravelry.

"Nola" is knit from the top-down, with a rounded yoke and a pointed hood.  I test knit the above version from Knit Picks - Swish.  The varied color of "Kindling" was a perfect match to Zeek's pretty brown eyes.  He is growing so quickly, that I'm going to have to quickly add to the length and arms, or he won'te be able to wear it very long.

This is Nola herself.  She is the namesake of the pattern.  Her version was test knit by her Mother, Carissa.  So cute in Knit Picks - Shine.  Shine has a lot of cotton in it, thus adding to the loose nature of knit fiber.  Peapod was the perfect spring color. 

Nola has stayed so small, that I'm sure she will get several seasons of wear out of her sweater.   She is the only one in our family who could get away with wearing these lifesaver-striped leggings.  The rest of us, with the exception of Emery and Easton, have "thunder thighs". You'll note the pattern offers two variations on the yoke pattern, with fly-away styling and toggle buttons.

We had such a good time at the park, taking these photos.  My niece, Annie is the photographer.  She does such a great job!

I took some photos of my own, to keep the other kids occupied, so the posted photos are some mine and some Annie's.  I'm sure you'll be able to tell the difference.

It was so fun to have all of my grandchildren in the same place, even though it was a challenge to keep them away from the water, where Nola was enthralled with the baby ducks.

Great shots of the Coats Family . . .

. . . and the only second that Easton wasn't running around like crazy.

. . . and a great tree to climb in . . .

. . . and get stuck in.  "Halp, halp, I stuck!"     Anyway . . . Happy Knitting!

"Poor Baby" Give-Away

These two little "Poor Baby" sweaters just flew off my needles.  The pink one has Alivia's (my new little grand-daughter) name all over it.  The white one could be your's!  All you have to do to win, is register as a "Follower" (see Followers to the right).

I had the same "Give-away" last year.  This is the cute little baby that won.  Isn't he soooooo cute in his "Poor Baby" sweater?  You don't have to be a knitter to win.  Camille is a former Home Ec teacher/stay-at-home Mom, who is really good at everything she does, but knitting it not really her thing.  You can see all of her great ideas at:  Camille's Casa.

The "Poor Baby" sweater has a backzip, so it is easy to put on any newborn.  The tassle is how the sweater got its name.  Everytime I add one to a sweater, my daughter says "poor baby", meaning "the poor baby who has to wear THAT!"

A drawing will be held on July 1.  So be sure to check back and see if you are the WINNER.

I have a few "almost finished" projects to share with you.

This is the diaper cover that will go with Alivia's new dress.  A free pattern will be posted soon on Ravelry.  The dress and matching shoes are finished, along with her sister's dress, but the embroidery work is not completed.  So . . . I'll save those to show you on another day.

The "Nola" jacket is coming along nicely, despite the cup of coffee that fell into my daughter's knitting bag.  She is test knitting the pattern for me, and after giving it a pre-completion wash, is almost finished with it. 

I've decided to add a variation to the pattern (above).  I am knitting the "Nola" jacket for Nola's cousin Zeek.  I couldn't imagine him wearing any color but brown, so I chose this tonal brown in KnitPicks - Swish:  KnitPicks Yarn. 

Zeek has the most beautiful brown eyes.  The pattern for the "Nola" Jacket should be available on Ravelry, soon.

The "Joan" sweater test knit is nearing completion too.  Here is Cheryl's version in a soft taupe.  Her sweater looks beautiful.  She is just adding a few inches to the length, and we'll be ready for a model.

This is Joan's version, in a bright gold.  Joan is my Mom, thus, the name for the sweater.  She decided to lengthen the body and shorten the sleeves.  It turned out beautifully.  As soon as we can get together to take some pictures of both versions, and make all the necessary corrections to the pattern, it too will be published on Ravelry.  My needles are ON FIRE, and several new projects are swimming around in my head, and on my sketchpad.  We'll talk about those on another day.  Happy Knitting . . . . .