Well, you can’t say I haven’t been keeping you in suspense!  It’s been a month since the last post on the wrap cardigan:  and against all expectations, I’ve made a fair amount of progress.
We have sleeves!  (They actually go down to about 3/4 length so far, but none of the pictures that showed the full sleeves were [...]

Warning!  Parts of this post are verrrrrry graphic and may be disturbing!
Where we left off:  I had knitted the back to the underarms, the fronts to the underarms, joined ‘em up, and worked my way down to the waistline.  And I was rejoicing over the fit of the armholes.
OK, now for the bad news:  I failed [...]

Well, an update on the stupid wrap cardigan is loooong overdue.
Last post, it was late at night and I had just used the wrong size needles to restart the upper back.  Remember?  I sure do.
I had re-swatched on a size 4 needle to try to get a bit firmer fabric, because after steaming, the size-6-needle-fabric relaxed and [...]

I really shouldn’t be allowed to knit late at night.
When I left off last time, I was trying to convince myself that I didn’t have to start the wrap cardigan over, that the upper back was not too wide.  OK, OK, I knew deep down that it was, but I didn’t want to hear it.
So, this [...]

OK, I’m probably crazy to do this again after the last one, but here goes with another series of Playing Lessons.
This time, though, I’ll be designing the thing myself, so any issues will be mine and mine alone.  (However, this is not guaranteed to cut down on the drama factor.  More than likely, the opposite.)
The original [...]

OK, here we are, finally.  It’s done!  And, I’m pretty darned happy with it.  Although admittedly, I picked a real lulu for the first set of Playing Lessons!
(I didn’t do it on purpose, I swear.  Really, I’m usually more lazy than this.)
"Lulu" is the perfect term to describe this project, it turns out, because it has several [...]

Wow, what a difference a couple of weeks makes!  Here’s what’s happened since we last saw our friend, the Nutcracker sweater…
Bodice knitting:  finished.
FI panel:  about a million ends woven in.
Hems & facing:  sewn down.  Stitching down the hem took a while, because it had to be redone a couple of times to get it to properly [...]

Here we are again –  and believe it or not, progress is being made.  We are up to the Fair Isle panel, which is the most complex part of the whole thing.  Keep breathing.
There are a couple of things we need to address here.  One is the yarn substitutions I made — i.e. the color changes [...]

Moving on…  OK, I’ve mostly gotten over the betrayal and the disillusionment (described in full & dramatic detail in part 5).
I really did drape that 37" of fabric around me for a few seconds, trying to convince myself I didn’t have to rip it all out.  But even I can’t lie to myself quite THAT much.  (Somewhere [...]

Or to put it another way, the Turn of the Screw.  Emphasis squarely on the word "screw".
Because get ready, kids — here’s where it all falls apart.  Or at least it gets a whole lot more complicated.  Turns out I picked a real doozy to start off the Playing Lessons with…!  But let’s not get ahead [...]

Anyone remember this?
Ahem.  OK, I admit I’ve been stalling a bit.  Last time, I said I was going to address the fitting issues, which leads me straight to a couple of my personal bugaboos.
Let’s just state right up front that I have dinky arms.  They are so short, I can shop in the Petite section and [...]

OK, so I’ve got most of the yarn – one color is on order – and I’m on gauge.
Most people jump in and start knitting here, but not me. As I’ve said, I’ve learned the hard way that too many projects are doomed to failure in the beginning stages. Besides, I usually end up making [...]

So, after a second trip to the LYS, here’s what the yarn collection looks like. The Rowan “kid classic” is in the middle, flanked by all the Berroco “Ultra Alpaca” and some Nashua “Kid Mohair” on the bottom and the left. (The printed color swatches of the Cascade 220 used in the original design are [...]

OK, I found my next exciting project. #29 from the recent VK Hol 2007. This sweater is so freakin’ sassy, I can’t believe it. Faux fur & satin pockets!
Actually, I like almost every sweater in this layout, which is a refreshing change – in the past couple of years I’ve spent more time going [...]

Not to be immodest, but it’s happened a few times:  people look at something I’ve knitted and sigh, "I wish I could knit like you!"
Most of the time, my answer is, "Practice for 20 years."
But a few months ago, a knitter came to me and said she wanted "playing lessons".  I didn’t know what that meant; she [...]