sweater progress

Updated sweater pics:

Irish Moss for the maple man:


and up close:


I keep knitting and I keep looking at the ball of yarn (ball 9). It doesn't seem to want to run out. It goes on and on. Lots of yardage per ball is overrated.

And mom's sweater:


The white bastey stitches show where the balls run out. There's no real point to it but it helps me see how long a ball is lasting.

There is a provisional cast on (96) at the beginning which is somewhere on the back of the sweater. Doesn't matter at this point, where on the back, as I intend to unzip the provis. and knit on, hopefully in a manner that will be transparent to the user (using a phrase I hear often). The back of sleeve stitches (40) are on hold. Then I decreased 4 more (k2tog) during the next 8 rows two stitches in from the edge. After a few plain rows (I should count), I increased 4 over the next 8 rows (used a m1 bar increase... I tried a lifted increase and it didn't look right in garter). The total underarm section is about 4 and a half inches. There is a lifeline at the end of the underarm rows in case I need to get back to that point easily. Then I added back the front of sleeve stitches with another provisional cast on (40). If it turns out that the armhole is not deep enough (I'm pretty sure it is), there will be a shoulder saddle.

Yes, I'm kind of a provisional cast-on nut. The maple man has heard me talk about them and seen them in projects enough that he feels left out because he has no provisional cast ons (or is it casts on? what is the plural of cast on?) in his sweater. I told him he could have a provisional cast on in his next sweater.

progress

There is progress on Irish Moss for the maple man:



I knit a bit on ball 8 on the front, and noticed how long the sweater front seemed. I knit another row or two then matched it up to the "model" sweater. It is an long as the front, up to the neckline ribbing. The maple man thinks it could be an inch or so longer, but it's on hold pending bloom analysis.

I still have the swatches but I don't know the exact swatch size prior to swimming. So my idea is that since I have two similarly sized sleeves, I will swim and block one and see what I gain in size, then I'll know what to expect from the front/back. Proportionally, of course. The sleeves are still on holder cables waiting for the saddles to be knit. Which are waiting for the basted-test-try-on.

In the meantime, I've cast-on with ball 9 and made my way through 23 rows of ribbing, a row of complicated increases, and most of the first chart set. I knit the ribbing with my new knitpicks harmony circ (size 3us) [link]. The options style only goes down to size 4. The harmony needle made for much more enjoyable knitting than the first rib which was knitted with a size 3 almost-antique plastic straight. The main body of the sweater is being knit on size 5 kp options (the original nickel plated ones).


And there is progress on Mom's sweater:



Back to my knitting...