Genni & Gina: Progress Report: Royal Blue Cabled Sweater

I finally got to the store last week (or the week before?) to get the last two balls of the yarn for the royal blue cable sweater.

Normally, I would seam right on the machine by hanging both pieces face to face, knitting one row very loosely, and doing a regular crochet bind off. This way, I leave a little bit of vertical stretch room in the garment, but not a lot. I tend to tug on my clothes out of habit so less vertical flex is better for me.

In any case, since the reverse stockinette side is actually the public side of this garment, I went with a hand sewn mattress seam to attach the front and back to the sleeves.

The sleeves were knit as set in sleeves, but with a tab to go across the top shoulder. The front and back pieces attach directly to the sleeve at the arm and shoulder.

The seam came out much better than a machine seam would have and allows me to turn the entire garment inside out for a second look with exposed (but very tidy) seams.

Public Side Shoulder Seam

Reverse Side Shoulder Seam

So far, I've used 4 balls plus about 10g for the sweater.

You can also see that the front is a bit smaller than the back. I hadn't noticed when I did the front that my gauge dial slipped back a couple of spots and knit at 4.5 instead of 5.5. In any case, the sweater is a bit more snug than I intended.

Rather than start again, I'm going to add an insert in a different color up the sides and down the inside arm. More on that next week.

I have to say I was pretty lucky. I got the last two balls of yarn several weeks after the first and forgot to bring the tags. Imagine my surprise when I got them home and they were the same dye lot. Saved! In any case, I should put all this in Ravelry...

Patons Classic Wool - 77132 Royal Blue - 04 09 277392

While I was at Michael's, I MAY have seen the yellow color I've been looking for all summer...

Patons Classic Wool - 77223 Lemongrass - 12 05 308099

AND been totally taken by an emerald green.

Patons Classic Wool - 77708 Emerald - 11106 271118

The Lemongrass is a pretty true chartreuse: bright yellow with a hint of green. Emerald is a bright green with a bit of blue underneath. The blue undertones in both are showing up in these pictures. It's quite overcast today.

Both of these will be sweaters, although I think a very simple stockinette jumper with limited shaping will suit these bright colors.