Monday Moments- What's Up in My Knitting World

     I might end up banging my head against the wall, but I  a want to start another KAL.  I resolutely said no to myself last month when my knitting friend told me about a KAL where you design your own top down knit sweater that she is doing mid-August.  Yup, I thought, she knows what she is doing, and while I have done a few top down cardigans 30 years ago, I don't have a clue how to design one.

Improv - Fringe Association (Free Pattern)

     So last night perusing the other blogs that come up in my sidebar I came across the Fringe Association's post about a top down pattern that she had redesigned this year with lots of help along the way.  The Ravelry site describes it as: "IMPROV is a basic pattern — and full tutorial — for a seamless top-down sweater, complete with notes on adding seams if you like!"  Hum, I thought, I do want to learn about how to do it, but.... OK, my plate is full, but I like to learn.  I looked at everyone else doing this KAL and they all look like they know what they're doing.  But who can resist an opportunity to just simply learn?  So I'm going to try, and still work on my other projects.  The Really Improv Sweater!

      I'm borrowing the white yarn I have for my critter KAL, figuring I won't need a lot of it for my critter.  I don't want to buy anything right now, just play.  This yarn is "I Love This Wool" and is  %100 wool, very affordable and in natural ivory.  So I'm betting most skeins will look about the same and I'll just have my hubby pick up a skein at Hobby Lobby with a coupon here and there and I'm just going to see what happens.  Nothing ventured nothing gained.  When I have the pattern and technique down I'll splurge on really nice wool to do it again.

     Last night I started my swatch, playing with the traditional size 8 needles for worsted, then 9 and finally 10.  I'm limited on what I have in what size circular needles, a few double pointed and lots of straight (which I'm not going to use here).  I kept on knitting, going back and forth between the three sizes, ripping out and starting over and I spent a lot of time just feeling what kind of material  I  was creating.  Each had some plus points, size 8 had a good tight knit, but I thought too traditional looking and just tight.  The 9 gave a good fabric with a perfect 5 stitches per inch recommended by the yarn, but again a bit too traditional looking  and still heavy looking.  I did up the 10 and realized it gave a nice looser drape and that lighter feeling I'd like to create in a sweater and more of a modern feel.  So when the swatch is done I need to wash it and block it and measure it before it's washed and after, since this is important to sizing my sweater.  So this week I'll read over her posts, get a feel for how to do this and get started.

      The Fringe Association's post this weekend that got the ball rolling for me- Improv: Basic pattern for a top-down seamless sweater Aug. 14th and today- Top-Down Knitalong: Kickoff and PRIZE news!  The Fringe Asso. is also working in collaboration with another KAL from "Very Shannon" SUMMER SWEATER KNIT ALONG 2016 if you want to sign up for that also.

     Meanwhile, on other fronts I'm over the mid-point in my Sherbet Heavenly Shawl and I'm really pushing myself on that and I kinda neglected everything else in my knitting world.  Today I want to work on my mystery critter-  Sheila, a  KAL I started August 1st and keep on working on my seed stitch hat for the Hat KAL.

                                                                  Happy Knitting this week.

Tags for "Improv" KAL
#fringeandfriendsKAL2016 
#sskal16!