Sunday, February 7, 2010

Demi


She's done! I've been plodding along on this since Christmas... really enjoying the process, a unique experience for me, since I tend to be a product knitter. This is kind of landmark for me. It's the most complicated cabling I've ever done, and I conquered my fear of twisted stitches. For a long time I hated twisted stitches because they seemed to take forever, but I learned that they are like anything else - practice makes perfect, or if not perfect, at least faster.


Pattern: Demi by Kim Hargreaves
Yarn: Lion Brand Fishermen's Wool, all but a few yards of 2 skeins
Needles: US 6, 7, 8
Mods: Just a few tiny little things. I lengthened the body and arms as I usually do. I used slipped stitches on the side seams to help with seaming (so much easier to seam cables and texture this way!). Like many others, I used a three stitch bobble instead of five. The biggest change was that I moved the waist shaping which in the original decreases quickly and soon after the ribbing. This would have been supremely unflattering on my body, so I moved them to a more usual place in the vicinity of a high hourglass.

I'm proud of this knit, but I don't know if I'll love it as a garment. Though you can't see it in the pictures, the sleeve caps don't fit very well. This may be the fault of my gauge, but when I move my arms up or down, the caps seem to want to "lift" out of the armhole. Also, I think that I may have sewn them in too tight. I feel the seam around my whole arm. The other thing is, this seems to be an almost see-through knit, though warm. The cables look great at this gauge, but the reverse stockinette in between is very loose. I was wearing a black cami underneath, and though you can only see it a bit in the pictures, it's much more obvious in real life. I feel like this sweater screams "BOOBS" which makes me a little uncomfortable. Maybe it will relax a bit after wearing?
Anyway, I made these brownies for Creative Night last night. They're from Smitten Kitchen and they are supremely chocolately and chewy. I'd much rather have a chewy brownie than a cakey one. I added 1/4 teaspoon of orange extract and some zest to make them pretty on top. Next time I'd add 1/2 teaspoon and forget the vanilla altogether. I cut them in tiny little squares, and they went over big. You should make some. Tis the season for chocolate, after all.

1 comment:

shandy said...

What a great sweater! I am sure that it will relax a little in wear, but perhaps you won't wear it if the sleeves feel odd? It certainly doesn't look as if it draws attention to your bust, because it is such an elaborate pattern.