October 8, 2021

This Week at The Studio

Wanda Eichler, Graywood Designs

The maples are tinging red here in Michigan's Thumb. I'm pushing to finish a Nuss cardigan that is a gift for my daughter-in-law Wendy's October birthday.

There’s a thrill that spurs me on as I get into the home stretch of a knitting project. This week I’m finishing the sleeves on Wendy's cardi. This sweater has been a part of my knitting world since May of 2019. It’s an awesome accomplishment to be so close to sewing on the buttons and wrapping up the details in my knitting journal.

I knit the sleeves down from the armholes on the cardigan that I’m finishing and, wow, did Flexiflips come in handy! With yarn that’s about 5 stitches per inch and 50 stitches around a sleeve, a 16” circular felt stretched. Flexiflips with their clever combination of a DP needle and a circular, saved the day.

What’s next? We knitters and crocheters ask that question a lot. I’m itching to start a Felix Cardigan in Simplinatural. The top down raglan design caught my eye on Ravelry a while ago. Since then, Addi has come out with Rocket Squared needles that will be a welcome addition to this cardigan project.

A design by Amanda Mannas,“Ripple as You Go,” uses Zauberball Starke 6 and a 3.75 mm/Size F crochet hook to create an enchanting scarf or shawl in circular motifs. Amanda's crocheted pattern is called "Ripple as You Go" and is available on Ravelry.

Where did the sleeve and shoulder shaping that we call raglan come from? It’s named after Lord Raglan, a British army officer. Baseball fans know this sleeve style as a popular style.

Studio knitter Kathy K brings key lime pies to our little studio gatherings. A variation of her recipe is all over the internet. Here's one that's almost spot on. Our Graywood Studio Crochet and Knit group really likes this pie!

The Saga of Six Sleeves

That cardigan that I mention in this email will have six sleeves by the time I'm done knitting. Six sleeves! How can that be?

Sleeves #1 and #2 were knit flat as the pattern was written. I screwed up on the ribbing and ended up with two very different pieces of knitting. That happened in the third month of the pandemic and I decided to go rogue.

I sewed the shoulder and side seams together and embarked on a Sleeve #3.

Two things happened. First, I could see that I was running out of yarn. Second, Sleeve #3 was WAY too big. I had not considered the curve of the armhole and it was bulky and awful.

Etsy solved the first problem of not enough yarn. I ordered two skeins (the skeins are 40 grams, really small) and when those two came, by luck they were the same dye lot as the original skeins.

For the second problem, I let Sleeve #4 hang and began Sleeve #4 by picking up fewer armhole stitches. Ah, my design strategy worked until I realized that the upper arm was too small.

So, I ripped back Sleeve #3 and began Sleeve #5. That’s the one that you see in the photo and while it isn’t perfect, it’s much, much better.

Soon both Sleeve #5 and Sleeve #6 will be completed. The buttons will be attached. The cardigan will be done

Wishing you happy knitting (and fewer sleeves on your cardigans)!

Wanda