Tagged: Inishturk sweater

Inishturk Sweater

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After almost 6 months of knitting (with a few projects in between) I’ve finally finished the Inishturk Sweater! The cables turned out beautifully and while there are definitely some spots that I messed up on, I’m really proud of it. This is definitely the most difficult project I’ve ever done.

I still struggle with my finishing techniques so I’m going to focus on improving them on my next project. And I’ll actually knit a swatch this time… I’m lucky this sweater fits so well. I’m also hoping blocking will help keep the shoulders from being as poofy as they are here.

Overall, the pattern was well written with plenty of helpful diagrams. The finishing section could have been more detailed though. I ended up liking the yarn (Lion Brand Fishermans wool) more than I thought I would. I didn’t have any problems with splitting but there were a surprising number of knots in the skeins. So far the sweater’s still a bit scratchy- especially around my neck- but I’ve heard it softens up after a bit

I can’t wait until its cool enough outside to wear this sweater!

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Inishturk Sweater: The Turtleneck

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Well, I finished the second sleeve and I’m on to finishing up my sweater! Over the past couple days, I sewed the shoulder seams and knit up the turtleneck. The neck was 2×2 ribbing so I had to find a cast-off method that would help retain its elasticity. I settled on what my Principles of Knitting book calls a “Grafting cast-off”. The pictures and descriptors in the book were hard to follow since this is a fairly complicated method so I turned to youtube. I found this video which helped a lot although I still had to watch it ten times. I’m pleased with the result- this method is fairly elastic and it looks pretty clean (when done correctly- which I didn’t really do in the back…).
I’m so excited to be almost done! I just have to sew the sleeves and body and it’ll be finished!

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Inishturk sweater: the final piece

Since I finished the front of the sweater, its on to the final piece: a sleeve. This has been going relatively fast since it isn’t as wide as the body but I’m still starting to feel a bit burnt out with this sweater. I really want to be done with it- and I want the weather to cool off so I can wear it!
I’m about halfway done with the sleeve (the pieces are short because the shoulder hangs down a bit) and after its done, I just need to sew the pieces together and knit the neck!

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Inishturk sweater: another piece done

Well, vacation definitely has its benefits- I’m done with the front of my sweater! All I have to do now is knit up a sleeve and stitch it together. I’m really excited to be done, and I’ve already started researching yarn for my next sweater. Too bad it hasn’t started cooling off yet. I’m really ready for sweater weather!
Here it is:

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The airplane problem

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So I’ve been working on the front panel of the inishturk sweater for the past week and a half and although its getting big, I decided to take it along on a trip to Savannah, GA with my boyfriend to visit his family. We flew in so as to avoid a 12 hour drive.
Everyone always complains about the size of airplane seats and I’ve always hated how my knees hit the seat in front of me since I’m so tall. Knitting on a plane brought up a whole new problem. Since my sweater is fairly wide, I’m using extra long needles. Unfortunately, they don’t fit in airplane seats! Thankfully I was sitting next to my boyfriend and we were on a baby plane (1 seat on left and 2 on right so no middle seats) so I only hit him with my knitting needles instead of some random stranger but it was still kind of annoying.
Have you guys had any problems knitting on airplanes? Or anytime during a commute?

Back to the sweater

Now that I’m done with the socks, its time to go back to knitting my sweater. After using size 1.5 double points for the socks, the extra long size 6 needles for my sweater feel really clumsy. The yarn is so thick too! I finished the back and a sleeve a few months ago and Im 6 inches done with the front.
Just as a reminder, here’s the pattern I’m using for the sweater

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Inishturk sweater: Sleeve #1

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I started on the first sleeve a couple of days ago. I love how quickly it goes compared to the back panel. I can already see how much better I am at knitting since my first sweater- my increases are actually pretty even this time compared to before. I know I’m not even half way done with this sweater but I’m really excited to wear it!! It’s so much more fun to have cables to do instead of endless stockinette stitch…

Starting on the sleeve

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Well, I’ve started on one of the sleeves for my sweater. The pattern is similar to the back panel but the shorter rows make it go faster (although it took me two hours to get this far). Unfortunately, I can’t find my row counters so I’m trying to increase every third row by memory. So far its ok but I’ve already had to pull out and redo a row or two. I’ll post an update when I get further- it’s finals week though so I’ll be studying and not posting (except during procrastination breaks where I knit and watch 30 Rock or Mad Men…)
Have a good weekend everyone!