Saturday, February 25, 2006

Goin For Da Gold!

Howdy peeps! Tonight, I completed Angelica, my Knitting Olympics project! I finished a sweater in only 2 weeks. Unfreakinbelievable! I'm goin for the gold!

Angelica 011

Pattern: Glampyre's Angelica, available at HipKnits
Yarn: 6 1/2 balls (approx 700 yards) Plymouth Suri Merino (50% merino, 50% alpaca), color 2174
Needles: Susan Bates Quicksilver, size 8 and size 6 for keyhole trim
Start: Olympic Opening Ceremonies - 2/10/2006
Finish: 2/24/06
Modifications:
- 4 decrease rows in the "bust darts" instead of 6 to make up for my lack of waist!
- additional plain rows to add length
- added 4 increase rows before beginning hip shaping
- added 3 inches to sleeve length

The story of the yarn
My SIL bought me 5 balls of different boucle yarn for Christmas. She's not a knitter, so although the thought was there...the yarn was not my style. She also lives in Delaware, so I had to drive 3 hours to the LYS she purchased the yarn from to exchange it! Furry and I drove down one afternoon in December when we were off from work. We left our apartment around 2 pm...and got to the store at 5:15...they close at 5! Luckily a phone call was all it took to keep them open a few extra minutes, so I didn't have too much time for browsing. I picked the first soft, relatively inexpensive yarn I could find...Plymouth Suri Merino was $6 for 110 yards.

Angelica 012
I think this yarn was a bit too thin for this pattern. The gague was pretty close with the recommended size 8 needles, but the stitches are not as crisp and firm as I would have wanted, like Illanna's or Bronxie's. But, the yarn is soft, and warm, so I will get a ton of wear out of this one!

Keyhole:
My row gague was off a bit, so instead of 2o rows/4", i came in at 23 rows/4". This made for a slightly smaller keyhole, which is fine by me because I don't have to wear something under the sweater!
Angelica 013

Have a great night - we're off to visit friends in Massachusetts tomorrow!

12 comments:

  1. Gorgeous!
    The mods you made are very clever and it fits you really well. Nice work!

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  2. you went for the gold and got it! hahah. you did a wonderful job! man i can't believe you drove 3 hours to exchange the yarn! well, wait...i would do the same thing...hmmm... hahahaha. have fun this weekend

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  3. yay! I told you youd do it! Looks great, I really like the way the yarn knit up. Enjoy it!

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  4. I think she looks beautiful. Have fun this weekend

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  5. Nice work. The yarn and color are great and it fits you so well.

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  6. wow! angelica turned out just gorgeous! congratulations on winning gold!

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  7. I love it Julsey. It looks wonderful.

    Necia

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  8. great work! i love that color and it's doubly great that you used free yarn.

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  9. Lovely. I really wanted to see this knit up. I love the darts and the color. The keyhole seems quite a bit smaller than I thought it would be, but very cute.

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  10. You really made great time getting that sweater finished. Yea for your Gold Medal to go with the sweater!

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  11. I think it looks lovely! Congrats!

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  12. i haven't finished yet, so it's hard to say how many balls I'll use for the cardigan. I can't even remember how many I bought! I think I bought about 10, and I think I have about 3 left.

    Your sweater is gorgeous by the way- did I say that already?

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