Cabled Toad

Pattern: Natasha Cabled Pullover from Adrienne Vittadini Fall 2003, size xs
Yarn: Filatura di Crosa 501, 7 balls
Needles: US5 in rib, US6 rest of body, approx 26 st/4in in cable, stretched

I finished the Toad last week. The photo of this sweater in the book misleads. The collar doesn't flap wide open, nearly off the shoulders like mine does. Dirty, rotten photo. I see why they have the sleeves pushed up. It shifts the weight upward so that minimizes any pull downward on the neck. I am constantly adjusting the sleeves, tugging the bottom down, pulling at the collar to get this thing to stay on right.

The wide-collared shirt makes yet another appearance underneath this sweater to keep skin exposure at a minimum. The distibution of weight on this sweater is all wrong. The problem I think has to do with the construction of the raglan sleeves. The stitches that make up the neck is distributed rather lopsidedly. Or, too little raglan decreases on the body, and too much raglan decreases on the sleeves. There were only 4 stitches on each sleeve that contributed to the final collar. As a result, the neck is more boatneck, but with that v-neck opening, the ends of the v-neck is pulled open by its own weight and folds over like a lapel. Does that make any sense?

The accidental lapels don't look TOO bad actually. At first I was like UGH! WTF! but then I thought, OK I can live with this. It looks a little interesting when the collar folds over slightly. I just hate having to readjust. If I don't tug at the sleeves the "lapels" will just keep opening up, until the thing is nearly off the shoulders.

Naughty, naughty toad.

The color isn't usually my style but I like it. And the cables are yummy. I went down 2 needle sizes, from 8 to 6, on the body and sleeves. It worked nicely for the body, but the sleeves were really tight. Maybe that's not such a horrible thing as it really shows off the cables.

I guess I'm happy with this. Not absolutely positively can't-sleep-at-nights THRILLED, but happy enough to wear it.

A wiggly cabled toad and a wiggly orange cat

Comments [35]
Filed Under: Adrienne V | Cabled Toad | Completed Projects

Of Toads and Socks (or lack of)

Before starting on the other sleeve I seamed the first sleeve on and seamed one side. Seaming is so nice and easy with raglan sleeves.

Did you know that last week I made up my mind to knit my first sock? But I haven't done it. Turns out I have this bit of fear and loathing...not of a learning new techniques, but of sock yarn itself. Honestly I abhor variegated yarn in all forms and colors. All of them. (OK except for the handpainted ones because I know a lot of personal love and care goes into making those.) And the self-striping yarn in the skein form just, ugh, I don't know, I don't like the way they look, like shards of dirty crayon in unmatching colors all carelessly piled together, which then recalls for me unpleasant memories and smells of daycare.

I went to the yarn store during my lunch break and nothing appealed to the senses, not the Cherry Hills nor the Lana Grossa nor the Reynolds or whatever. I went back the next day to see if I had changed my mind and I had not. Damnit I can't seem to get past the icky pieces of stripes! I contemplated the solid-colored sock yarns but they were curiously itchy, but then I decided solid is boring and it would be fun to knit with self-striping yarn. But then I don't like how they knit up!

But but but! Oh why can't I just be happy? If it has to be striped let it be large blocks of stripes. I've seen socks made with Regia 4 Ply Nation and I like the way those knit up a lot.

Regia Banner types are also good. (These, and these, are not.)

The yarn store did not carry any Regia's. So I left there empty handed. Boo hoo.

Comments [16]
Filed Under: Cabled Toad | General Knitting

Not much going

There's finally have some progress to show on the Cabled Toad, but since I seem to have misplaced my camera, you'll just have to imagine it in your head. The front is finished, as is one sleeve. They're blocking on the board, with pins. Ha, that's all. Maybe I'll have this thing finished in a couple of weeks.

Just found camera. Cabled Toad is not exactly photogenic right now. See how misshapen it looks even on the blocking board:

The latest Rowan 39 came in the mail yesterday. I had nearly forgotten that I signed up for membership.

The side effect of Rowan 39 is: hemorrhaging eyeballs.

Sooooo...this issue is...funny. The costuming seems to be a little BUSY and maybe slightly OVER THE TOP, especially in the "Tribal" section, that my eyes are bugging out, darting back and forth, trying to pick out the actual knit piece they're trying to showcase. WHAT am I supposed to be looking at?! I mean the cover says it all. Attention is being drawn to all the various crap she's wearing on her HEAD AND FACE than the knitted item she's wearing on her body.

The featured game of Rowan 39 is: Find the knitted item!
Up for debate in Rowan 39 is: Feathers. You can't go wrong. Or can you...? Bwak!

And what's up with that guy in the Aladdin shoes and the rooster carcass on his head? Duck has been wanting a sweater and if there was one way to turn a guy off of receiving knitwear, this issue would do the trick.

La la la. More later, when I'm less busy and have nicer things to say.

Comments [13]
Filed Under: Cabled Toad | Rowan

Yet another AV project

Dude. It's going to be hovering near 60 degrees F up here in Boston for the rest of the week. Look at me, I'm all crazy, wearing my crazy flipflops in the middle of crazy January.

GW kicks ass!!

(GW stands for Global Warming. And George W.
Coincidence? Oh I don't think so.)

I've cooked up a new project. It's the Adrienne Vitaddini cabled pullover from Fall 2004, except I'm calling it the "Cabled Toad" because it sounds that much prettier.

I'm using Filatura di Croso 501 in olive. The color is really MUCH more saturated than in the photo above. It could be tricky, it could be. I've never worn anything so toad but I'm trying to be brave. I saw a woman the other day with my coloring - dark hair - wearing this olive-colored blazer and I thought the color looked smashing on her.

The back is finished and the mid-section and ribs are delectably squishy, as they are wont to be.

Kooch continues to lay abandoned in the now ice-cold sunroom, in the same position as I left it when I took this photo. In hopes of finding inspiration in other knitters' progresses, I did an google search for Kooch. My site was the first that came up, the other sites belonged to yarn retailers. 

Am I the only person in the WWW knitting Kooch?

(WWW stands for world wide web. Or whole wide world.)

Speaking of Kooch...

I wish it were me that AJ is pregrant with. If it were me in there I'd be constantly kicking her uterine wall in glee, knowing that I'm going to be like the hottest baby this world has ever witnessed. Damn it.

Comments [10]
Filed Under: Adrienne V | Cabled Toad