Seven months in the making: FO #4 = sweater #1

[flexagon]

Hmm. I feel like I have something nice going on in my life besides trying to remember the Bellman-Ford algorithm for my three-hour final exam tomorrow.

But what is it? What could it be?



Ohhhhh, I remember. It's that I'm done knitting my sweater! Right! Hey, everyone, check out my sweater.



Ooh, hot stuff. Hot, I say.



The extra motif on the sleeves is a pattern mod, probably the best one I made:



And now for an action shot. One, two, three, HANG OUT WITH KITTIES!



More details will appear on my knitting blog later. Thanks to heisenbug for being my photographer. :)

Comments

[nevers.livejournal.com]

that is one gorgeous sweater!!

[flexagon]

thank you!

[a-kosmos.livejournal.com]

I'm incredibly impressed! And I love the way it matches your eyes!

[flexagon]

Thanks! Blue is my "safe color" for that reason. And given how long knitting takes, there's really no reason to try a dangerous color... dangerous colors are for $9.99 purchases at H&M.

As for being impressed, well, if you'd like to feel less impressed you can remember it DID take forever. And so much math. Luckily I like math.

[a-kosmos.livejournal.com]

Actually the time contributes to my being impressed. It's easy to lose focus on something that doesn't have an immediate pay off. And the math stuff is impressive, too.

So what are dangerous colors for you?

[flexagon]

An interesting fashion question! I have to think it through. To answer the opposite, what's safe is any shade of blue, any shade of grey, and black. Those always look great.

Next levels of safe are green, brown, red and pink, which often look good. (Bright red is amazing with my hair, but only good to wear if my face is clear, no good for an acne day. Brings the red spots right out.)

And then white / off-white, which I used to abhor but now wear in moderation.

So, dangerous is camel/beige colors, which wash me out and require full make-up to counteract, and brown/orange colors that might look warm on me or might make me look hideous. Also, anything too patterned or too bright. Tie-dye. Yellow and orangey-orange.

[apfelsingail.livejournal.com]

That came out really well! And I'm totally impressed with the fit on that.

[flexagon]

Chia was right about knitting making it possible to get a full custom fit. :) I learned some things, of course, so next time I go custom it'll hopefully go even better.

I'm taking a break in between though, for a faster knit that I intend to modify only a smidgen. One like this was enough for a while.

[miyyu.livejournal.com]

That is all kinds of awesome!

[figmint.livejournal.com]

I Can. Not. Believe that you made that with your own hands. Holy cow! That is just toooooo gorgeous!

Can you say more about the "math" part of it? Like, geometry math, getting things to line up and all?

I just started crocheting because my left hand is apparently too uncoordinated to knit, sigh. I hope I can not get frustrated with it and actually make things.

[flexagon]

Can you say more about the "math" part of it?

Sure thing... yeah, it's mostly the most basic of basic geometry. A little multiplying, a little addition.

In general, a knit stitch has a height and a width. While you're getting ready to start a sweater (or anything else where size matters), you make a little square to make sure your stitch height and width match what the designer expected you to have. But... if they don't, you can often just scale the design to fit YOUR stitch size. Heh heh.

Less ambitiously you might go "oh, this sweater is great, but it's cut straight, and I'd really like it to nip in by 6 inches at the waist. So, I'm getting five stitches to the inch, I guess that means I'll want to decrease 30 stitches over some number of rows as I work up toward the waist, and then increase again."

[figmint.livejournal.com]

Wow, that sounds quite complicated. And yet, very satisfying!

[flexagon]

P.S. are you on Ravelry yet? Go to www.ravelry.com and get on the waiting list... it's worth it!

[figmint.livejournal.com]

Cool! Just signed up for it!

[dr-alycat.livejournal.com]

There you go impressing me again! :D Great work!

[flexagon]

Thanks! You'll no doubt get to see it in person... you know, in about 6 months when it will become remotely reasonable to wear a wool sweater again. Sigh. :)

(Next up is a lighter bamboo top that should be a quicker knit; I will probably finish it just as the weather gets cool.)

[hiddenbear.livejournal.com]

Beautiful! And the sweater is pretty damn amazing too.

[bluechromis.livejournal.com]

Who's a hottie? Flexy's a hottie! Congrats on finishing this masterpiece. I think you should have knitted "I made this" into the arms though.

[flexagon]

There is actually this funny thing now where I feel half punk and DIY about making my own clothes, and half slightly ashamed somehow. It's weird. I'll have to figure that out.

I wanted to put "custom-made just for me by a local fiber artist who, by the way, happens to be me" but it wouldn't fit on the sleeves... :)

[dancing-crow.livejournal.com]

that looks really gorgeous - very nice result from extended effort...