Hello again! It’s been forever since I got to share some of my knitting world with you – and that has been for multiple reasons. 1. Sabbatical took me a long time to knit, and I wasn’t working on much else in the meantime (although, truth be told, I’ve been finished knitting and had Sabbatical blocked for a little while now . . . there were just so many ends to weave in that I procrastinated) 2. I’ve had a couple of false starts on other knitting projects lately, one because of a bad color choice and one because of a bad gauge choice and 3. I’ve been overly busy (in my opinion) lately, what with wedding planning and worrying myself to tears (literally sometimes) over things for school. The knitting stars have just not aligned lately, but I’m starting to feel like the natural order of things is being restored and that I’ll be able to get back to regular updates!
And let’s start back up with a whopper of a finished object – my Sabbatical cardigan, from a lovely pattern by Connie Chang Chinchio in Twist Collective Winter 2009 ! I am in loooooooooove with this sweater and I want to wear it everywhere (even though it’s almost June . . . in Oklahoma . . . ).
I think the color of the yarn (Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool) is so pretty. I think the fit of the sweater is so flattering (I love the long, flared shape and the slim sleeves). I think the lace pattern is so gorgeous and the finishing on the collar is just perfect. And I’m not the only one – Mom happens to think that Sabbatical looks wonderful on her (which it definitely does!) and has already started trying to convince me that I’m ready to take on another one of these for her soon. : )
Although knitting Sabbatical is definitely a commitment, I would recommend the pattern for almost anyone. The instructions are clear, and it’s obvious that Connie thought about every single aspect of the sweater during the design process. I think the little details are what make this sweater look so lovely – I love the little row of purl bumps on the collar. The only changes I made to the pattern as written were to 1. knit the body in one piece up to the armholes (my standard modification for sweaters like this – I just really, really don’t like seaming) and 2. I discontinued the lace pattern on the edges of the sleeves (i.e. the underside when they’re sewn together). I simply did this because I had made some mistakes in the lace pattern on the body while doing increases/decreases there and I wanted to save myself the trouble. I think the sleeves would look lovely with allover lace, but I don’t think having the solid stockinette on the sleeves disrupts the look of the sweater and I will do it that way again when I (one day) make one for Mom. Ok, senior picture time:
I knitted Sabbatical on size US3 needles even though the Silky Wool calls for 6’s mostly because I know I’m a really loose knitter. I really like how the lace motif looks in the Silky Wool, and that the small variations in the yarn give it an almost tweedy-look. And I’ve still got some of the Silky Wool from my Stitches stash left, so I get to knit something else with it! : )
And because I’ve just learned that you can share your pages from Ravelry with non-members, here’s the link to my Sabbatical project. Maybe seeing the set up will recruit some hold-outs to join the wonderful world of Ravelry!
As a parting look – here is me and Hugo right before I got a big fat kiss on my cheek!
Stella has a slightly different shape than Estelle, with a more pulled in neckline (although the neck is still wide, mostly because I assume babies don’t like tight collars). The sweater is worked from the top down with a round yoke. The pattern is designed to be worn with two to three inches of positive ease. Stella comes in five sizes: 3, 6, 12, 18 and 24 months with finished chest measurements of 20 (21, 22, 23, 24)”/ 51 (53.5, 56, 58.5, 61) cm.
I’ve knit Stella in a wonderful fingering weight yarn from Sweet Fiber Yarns called Super Sweet Sock. The yarn is an 80% superwash merino, 20% nylon blend and comes in some lovely colors (I went with Bloom for the sample). The gauge for Stella is 7 sts/ 9 rows per inch in stockinette stitch. You would need approximately 305 (370, 450, 490, 545) yds fingering weight yarn, so 1 (1, 2, 2, 2) skein(s) if you’re going with Super Sweet Sock.
Stockinette 