Old Fashioned Cardigan Progress
Hard to believe it's a week already since I started my top down cardigan! My only complaint is that it's a cardigan, not a sweater in the round so every second row is p-u-r-l . (sorry, no swearing on this blog so I spelled the word!) Otherwise, it seems to be coming out correctly, the right size even and I'm very very pleased with the colors - no pooling!!
Now I realize this pic looks really strange ... like the sleeve is twice as wide as the body but it isn't really. The body is just all squished up because it's still on a 24" circular. The other sleeve is on a 16" circ and hasn't been started yet. The pattern says to finish the body before the sleeves but I know from experience that it's easier to turn the sleeves as you knit when you don't have the weight of the entire piece in your lap. The second issue is one of yarn. I've only spun so much yarn, right? I'll finish the sleeves then knit the rest of the body. When I'm out of purple it will be time to knit the bottom hem! I think ....
Which brings me to the latest wild adventure I'm thinking about ....... knitting from the top down is like knitting a toe up sock in that regard - running short of yarn is not a really big issue because you can simply knit until you run out. But here's my thought ... is it possible to knit from the top down using Elizabeth Zimmerman's sweater proportions formula? I would like to knit a two color spiral yoke sweater with that 100% alpaca I bought last fall but I'm concerned it may be a close shave to finish... the Cabin Fever top down method calls for an increase every second row (to make a raglan sleeve sweater) which won't work for a spiral yoke sweater. EZ's method uses 3 spaced increase rounds only and works very nicely for a spiral yoke .... hmmm .... am I getting way over my head again? Or is there a simple "pencil it out" solution for this question? I'll keep you posted .... any suggestions would be welcome as long as they don't involve vectors or quadratic formulae ......
Now I realize this pic looks really strange ... like the sleeve is twice as wide as the body but it isn't really. The body is just all squished up because it's still on a 24" circular. The other sleeve is on a 16" circ and hasn't been started yet. The pattern says to finish the body before the sleeves but I know from experience that it's easier to turn the sleeves as you knit when you don't have the weight of the entire piece in your lap. The second issue is one of yarn. I've only spun so much yarn, right? I'll finish the sleeves then knit the rest of the body. When I'm out of purple it will be time to knit the bottom hem! I think ....
Which brings me to the latest wild adventure I'm thinking about ....... knitting from the top down is like knitting a toe up sock in that regard - running short of yarn is not a really big issue because you can simply knit until you run out. But here's my thought ... is it possible to knit from the top down using Elizabeth Zimmerman's sweater proportions formula? I would like to knit a two color spiral yoke sweater with that 100% alpaca I bought last fall but I'm concerned it may be a close shave to finish... the Cabin Fever top down method calls for an increase every second row (to make a raglan sleeve sweater) which won't work for a spiral yoke sweater. EZ's method uses 3 spaced increase rounds only and works very nicely for a spiral yoke .... hmmm .... am I getting way over my head again? Or is there a simple "pencil it out" solution for this question? I'll keep you posted .... any suggestions would be welcome as long as they don't involve vectors or quadratic formulae ......
Monica, I have the sweater wizard program. I just plug in the tension and chest, poof...a pattern. I just checked and it does have "yoke, top down" as an option. Email me, and I'll churn it out for you...and be happy to. Wonderful idea, though I'd do the body then the sleeves. I don't mind short sleeves, but a short body on this dumpy mid aged figure is not something to show the children!
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I have knit one sweater for myself using EZ's formulas (3 stages of increases) but top down and am currently working on one for my son. It works!
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