Swatched the weekend of January 21 and cast on January 27. Have done 5 rows of the first welt. Doing this project as a knitalong with mfuesel. Woohoo! If you want to see her sweater, it is here. As this is my first “real” sweater, I am keeping a lot of notes here so this gets quite long. Sort of a blog of my experience…

1/31
On row 4 of welt 4. So I started the decreases and have seen almost two color progressions from the Amitola. Watching the colors change is addictive! I am pulling from the center of the ball so it is even more suspenseful to see what color comes next and how it looks. This is what I loved about spinning and so far it is making this knitting really fun!. I am using two circulars instead of one. Thirty-two inches as called for seemed too small and I was afraid of mangling my yarn as I coaxed it around the needles. Both yarns are softly spun singles. So now using two circulars as I used to do with socks. Pretty soon I think I will be putting it back to just one.

2/16
Bound off about half the stitches at welt 19 and am now starting the flat knitting. Very interesting construction. Requires a little faith and blind following of instructions (not my strength!). With the variegated yarn it is quite the “potato chip knitting.” I keep wanting to see what comes next. Tried it on, but it is hard to tell what the fabric will look like until it is blocked. <3 this project!

2/22
Finished the increases to the full sleeve length and now starting the first cuff welt. The picture at the top now (12th from bottom later) shows it stretched out similarly to the look when blocked, I think. A million ends to deal with at the end will be the only thing between me and a finished sweater by the end of March…maybe….

3/19
Finished all the welts for the sleeve and I can see that it is too narrow to wrap around my wrists. Added two more welts and I think it is still too narrow. The actual sleeve is more stretchy than the cuff, but I don’t really want a tight sleeve. So I think I will add two more welts. It will lengthen the back and collar, but at this point I can see this isn’t going to be big and saggy.

3/22
Didn’t realize that when the section entitled “Cuff” was done, the ACTUAL cuff wasn’t done. I will be ripping out the extra two welts I put in. Because…there are more welts that will be part of the cuffs but they also contain the neck cast off and so are in the next section of the pattern. :-( Oh well. Live and learn. It does comfort me that the gauge isn’t as far off as it appeared when I thought I needed to add at least two welts. Also, the instructions do say to read through the entire pattern…

4/1
Sleeve cuffs are done and so is the bind off of the sleeves. I have about 6 more welts to go and I am down to about 70 stitches per row! However, the weaving in of all the ends will probably take until next fall! Then there is sewing together and blocking…

4/8
Finished the knitting and have started the weaving in of the million ends. I am keeping track of them--have done 12 so far. ;-) Beware…if you are planning to use two colors it might be best to choose a pattern that is planned for alternating color welts. I think the author plans differently when the welts are alternating colors. Since I chose my pattern based on the gauge I got with the yarn, I wasn’t able to follow that guidance and all these ends are the price I pay!

4/15
Over 85 ends woven in and about 20 left. (Decided to forgo the fringe!) I have been very carefully using a crochet hook and doing duplicate stitch. I’m also trying to keep the woven in end very loose so I don’t tighten the gauge. Blocking should happen this week!

4/21
mfuesel called with a question about inside out sleeves. To make sure we were right, I basted my unblocked sweater together and tried it on. See the pictures! Unfortunately, her sleeve cuffs are inside out. As are mine. Not sure what we did wrong. She is ripping, I am not. More on cuffs after blocking--I need to know if mine got shortened too much.

In the pictures the sweater continues to look frighteningly small. I am actually only worried about the sleeves. I know the rest will block to be right. This will NOT be one of the “bag-lady sweaters” I am so famous for loving and wearing!

5/13
Sweater is blocked and I think the sleeves should be fine! It all looks so much longer/bigger now! The fabric has a lot of drape. Just need to sew it together now.

6/9
Done! I really like it! I tried to sew it together so that I could wear it with either side out. I couldn’t do it. One tip that I would mention is that if you are using different yarns for the two welts, don’t change yarns on the back neck bind off rows. I should have just figured out a way to bind off with the same yarn. It would have made for easier seaming. Perhaps if I had read through one of the patterns that had different weight yarns on the two welts (like sheer beauty) I would have been able to get some tips about this.

I can see why people make more than one!