(U)FO: Darth Sweater
I have returned from the Dark Side: Darth Sweater has been conquered and here it is (ominous music swelling in background):
(I put the paperback there to show you the scale of this black monster. It's huge!)
Yes, my MIL is in proud possession of the world's largest, most evil black sweater ever. She's very happy and I'm even happier! It's done, it's done!!!! It looks great on her because she's very tall and statuesque (yes, I envy her that greatly--on me the sweater looks like a three-man tent.)
Much as I complained about this project (and you had to listen to it), I also learned a lot which I will happily share with you.
1) Zippers are not that hard. I got it in on the first try and I was a zipper virgin. The two tutorials Dallas and Cindi recommended were fantastic. They demystified the process and took me through step-by-step. What would I do without you guys on this blog? Here are the links again:
The other thing I learned about zippers is that it's difficult to find one over 14 inches that doesn't separate at the bottom. So I had to fudge a bit by sewing up the zipper opening to fit the zipper. (You can see my zipper results below.)
2) My Lovely LYS Lady showed me how to graft the folded down edge of the collar to the inside of the knitting with a sort of modified Kitchener stitch (my first time for that too). This created a nice smooth join (see below). However, I have to admit that it's incredibly tedious to do.
3) Basting with a contrasting color (red in this case) is hugely helpful. I used it for the zipper and for the grafting line of the collar. It's really hard to see stitch lines in black yarn and I needed to keep the collar line even so it met up on the other side exactly in the right place. So I basted a guide line through the black and it kept me on the straight and narrow.
(Below is one of the pretty Italian buttons I chose for the pocket.)
4) Blocking before you sew the pieces of the sweater together makes finishing vastly easier. I made sure to block the sleeves and the front and back even with each other so my seams matched up almost effortlessly.
(Anotther up-close view of D. S.)
(I put the paperback there to show you the scale of this black monster. It's huge!)
Yes, my MIL is in proud possession of the world's largest, most evil black sweater ever. She's very happy and I'm even happier! It's done, it's done!!!! It looks great on her because she's very tall and statuesque (yes, I envy her that greatly--on me the sweater looks like a three-man tent.)
Much as I complained about this project (and you had to listen to it), I also learned a lot which I will happily share with you.
1) Zippers are not that hard. I got it in on the first try and I was a zipper virgin. The two tutorials Dallas and Cindi recommended were fantastic. They demystified the process and took me through step-by-step. What would I do without you guys on this blog? Here are the links again:
http://claudiasblog.net/2006/03/everything_i_know_about_puttin.html
http://www.unwindknitting.net/archives/2005/09/a_successful_zi.php
One thing I will note: I used Claudia's suggestion NOT to baste the two sides of the sweater together before I laid in the zipper, mostly because I wanted the zipper teeth to show since it's sort of part of the sweater's decoration.
The other thing I learned about zippers is that it's difficult to find one over 14 inches that doesn't separate at the bottom. So I had to fudge a bit by sewing up the zipper opening to fit the zipper. (You can see my zipper results below.)
2) My Lovely LYS Lady showed me how to graft the folded down edge of the collar to the inside of the knitting with a sort of modified Kitchener stitch (my first time for that too). This created a nice smooth join (see below). However, I have to admit that it's incredibly tedious to do.
3) Basting with a contrasting color (red in this case) is hugely helpful. I used it for the zipper and for the grafting line of the collar. It's really hard to see stitch lines in black yarn and I needed to keep the collar line even so it met up on the other side exactly in the right place. So I basted a guide line through the black and it kept me on the straight and narrow.
(Below is one of the pretty Italian buttons I chose for the pocket.)
4) Blocking before you sew the pieces of the sweater together makes finishing vastly easier. I made sure to block the sleeves and the front and back even with each other so my seams matched up almost effortlessly.
(Anotther up-close view of D. S.)
Does anyone else have a project they couldn't wait to be done with and give away?
Labels: blocking, Darth Sweater, fo, grafting, MIL sweater, zipper
posted by Nancy Herkness at 6:04 PM
5 Comments:
Nancy, it's beautiful. What a nice job you did. I can see why your MIL loves it.
The sweater us beautiful! Great job.
Beautiful, Nancy, just beautiful. And to think you did so many new things at one time!
Wonderful Nancy! What a great sweater. You must feel lighter just having it out of the house! It turned out beautifully.
Thanks, guys! I do feel lighter now. It was taking over my knitting life (and at the end, my WHOLE life!). Now I have a sense of accomplishment and the freedom to knit whatever I darn well please. :-)
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