Finished?

Well, folks, we haven't had any new posts in almost two months . . . What do you think? Should we bring this knit-along to a close?

I'm happy to leave it open if anyone wants or needs it to be, but as I say, it's been awfully quiet . . .

What do you think?

What happened.

what happened was, I really really didn't like the knit fabric of the baby cashmerino in the USMP - it felt boardy and stiff and I thought it should be softer and flowy-er.
If I make the USMP again I will use an alpaca. I have a sweater almost finished out of Inca Alpaca and that knit fabric is what I would have liked for this design.
So, bad choice of yarn on my part - live and learn.

I unravelled it so that the yarn, which is too nice to sit in a pullover unloved, can become this




or this - which are written for Rowan cashsoft 4 ply which is essentially the same yarn.

Official Failure of USMP

Trepidation

I'm procrastinating on blocking the body.
Deb, you used Rowan cash-soft right? Did you have any issues with the body growing during blocking?
the body on this fits me great right now. If it grows during blocking it is going to look like a sack of potatoes. And quite frankly, I'm prepared to rip the whole thing out and re-knit rather than have that happen.
Pair that fear with the fact that I'm not overly enamored of the drape of the sweater, I think it should be softer, and I'm just hung up on this one, going nowhere.

meekly raising her hand, still knitting

Well, I have the body done, but set it aside to work on the Colchique Irlandais that I was loving working on, and then set both aside for Christmas gift knitting. 8 scarves later and the promise of a hat, plus my ISE scarf that is 25% done....I expect to be able to get back to this by the end of the month. I'll probably finish just in time for Spring, which arrives here in St Louis sometime in February.
I'm knitting it out of the Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino and I'm thinking that the resulting fabric is a little heavier and stiffer than I had hoped. I did find buttons though.

progress pics when I get around to taking them. Right now I must finish my ISE scarf - no small task as its a lace pattern with a 24 row repeat. Then my sons hat I promised him.

Done!

Well, I'm done!

It only took me five months . . . (grin)

--Deb

One More Step

Okay, I'm at the very last piece of this sweater--sewing on the buttons.

Please come by my blog and give me your opinion on which one I should use.

I'm so excited--almost done!!

--Deb
www.chappysmom.typepad.com

OT: Baby Announcement

Kate Gilbert, designer of the Union Square Market Pullover, gave birth to a beautiful baby girl on the 28th. Isn't that wonderful??

Close. So Close!

I actually finished knitting my sleeves tonight! Hurray! I just hope I calculated/guessed correctly at the sleeve cap shaping, and that it will fit the body properly when I go to sew them together. (Not to mention hoping that it will fit MY body properly!)

I'll get the ends woven in tomorrow, and hopefully the sleeves sewn in, but I still need to get the buttons. Anybody have suggestions for online sources for nice buttons?

I'm happy, though. Assuming nothing goes wrong when I try to piece things together, the knitting part is done! I was starting to think I'd never get this far, this has been such a slow knit for me . . . and I was lucky enough to start with 2/3 the number of stitches as almost everyone else, too, since my gauge was so different. (And, honest, I knitted the entire thing on size 2 needles.)

--Deb

Status Report?

Nobody's posted in a couple weeks. How's everyone doing?

I'm still stuck on sleeve island, but I think there's actual progress--my sleeves reach past my elbow now, which is at least something! Slow though the progress is. I love this sweater, am happy with the way it's turning out, but I'm kind of ready to move on to other projects now! Besides, I want to WEAR it!

How about the rest of you?

--Deb

Another finished one!

It's a little big. Especially under the armpits it seems to be bulky, and the upper width of the sleeves seem big compared to our model there on the right. Everything measured out OK to the pattern when I blocked it. I think I could have went 1 size down. I'll still wear it, but it's not my favorite finished item.


USM done 

Here are the antique marcasite buttons I got for it...


buttons 

Congrats to Beth!

This is totally unrelated to the Union Square Market Pullover, but I wanted to congratule Beth on finishing the New York City Marathon! Maybe that's why she hasn't finished her USM yet (just kidding!). :-)

Finito!

Finally - pictures of my finished USM!


I stole this pose from Eunny. Her balcony reminded me a lot of our balcony, so I decided to be a copycat.


This is my version of the pose on the cover of the magazine, except I'm smiling and not smirking. I have trouble smirking instead of smiling, especially when my husband is teasing me for being nerdy with my poses.


Here is closeup shot of the shoulder buttons. You can kinda see the front button as well. You can DEFINITELY see all the freckles I have!

I am totally in love with this sweater. I love the color. I love the buttons. I love the neckline. I love the shoulder seams (or lack thereof). I love the sleeves. I love the yarn (Rowan Cashsoft 4ply - so soft and yummy!). I did the 35 1/2" size and changed nothing about the pattern except the length of the sleeves. Yes, that does mean I kept the bigness of the bell in the sleeve. That is one of the aspects of this sweater that drew me to it. It hasn't gotten quite cold enough to wear this yet, but I'm keeping an eye on the forecast and once it dips into the 50s, my USM will make its official debut!

Progress!

I'm making progress, anyway! I finished the body of my sweater tonight. Two sleeves to go, but at least there's some clear progress, huh? Now I have to figure out the math for the sleeves--not only from the gauge being completely different, but because I'm going to need to make them a little shorter. I think I'll go for narrower sleeves, too, since too large a "bell" is just going to make wearing it difficult (grin).

I'm happy so far, though--just hope that the curling hems are going to lay flat once I block it.

--Deb