We’re not big valentine’s day people around here – we get the love every day so don’t really feel the need to single out. I was going to buy a card for Meli to give to her Daddy but I forgot. Oh well.
But I’d thought it would be appropriate to talk about another love – the KNITLOVE! Shall I recap? I started knitting a purple shawl collar cardigan probably about six weeks ago – who knows – I can’t keep track of time anymore. Anyway, so I looked and looked for a pattern and settled on the Central Park Hoodie (do I really have to link to it?) It’s my favorite sweater to date – I wear it all the time and I love how it fits. No hood though – I’m putting on a shawl collar.
I knit the back and fronts all in one piece up to the armholes, just the way I did with my original CPH and got there really fast. Before I knew it the back was done (other mods – short row shoulders for a three needle bind off.) Now to start the fronts. I had a pattern from Vogue in mind for the shawl collar and completely freaked out when I looked at it to determine the neck decreases for the front and realized that they started their decreases like three inches BELOW the armholes. DAMN! I was not going to rip out all that good knitting. So I called Ann, of course. “Do I really need to RIIIIIP!” (Ripping, of course, meaning the entire back and then three inches more.) She said, “Let’s ask Shiri!” Who’s Shiri? Shiri is Shiri Mor. She teaches classes at the knit shop where Ann works and she’s got like a bajillion designs in Vogue Knitting and other publications. (See her ravelry page here.)
Shiri was nice enough to talk me down from the RIP and informed me that I could start my v-neck decreases wherever I wanted, thank you very much. Her suggestion was to figure out how many stitches I need to lose in the bind off for the armholes and the shoulders and subtract that from the total number of stitches for the front. Then, count the number of rows I needed to finish to match the back. So I had the number of stitches to decrease for the fronts and the number of rows I needed to do it in and voila! A little bit of math and I was on my way. It worked out perfectly! Thank you so much Shiri!!
Of course, now that the fronts and backs are done – I even seamed them together! – I’m going to need to figure out the collar. The secret of the shawl is short rows, and there are plenty of patterns out there with shawl collars, so it shouldn’t be hard to figure out, right? I think I’m going to need some more brain power though so I’m going to do the sleeves. Soon. When I’m not so tired. The sweater, so far, is turning out exactly how I planned. I might even be able to wear it before the weather warms up for good!
So there’s my knitlove, and here’s my babylove modeling the knitlove!
Have a great day everybody!!
L, C
I love the color choice.
Great pic of Meli. And I love the idea of CPH with a shawl collar.
Yeah for knitting! Meli is a such a sweet pea, it makes up for the lack of knitting but its nice to see that Cara has her groove back!
Such a pretty color, it flatters Meli very well. A quick question. You said you were using short row shoulders for a 3-needle bind off. I’m working on a baby sweater that I’ve modified from a pattern (ok, who am I kidding, I looked at a picture and decided I was going to make it, and promptly cast on w/out looking at the directions past “CO 43.”) I plan on doing a 3-needle bo as well, what would the short rows help me achieve? Thanks,
A
Would you consider sharing your changes to this pattern? I’ve also made and love the central park hoodie and would love to have another version of it but pattern modification is not my thing! I just can’t seem to wrap my head around it. Would you take pity on me?
i want to make a cardigan with a shawl collar, based on a sweater that my mother wore almost to death. (the sweater’s. not hers. there is a possibility that that i can resuscitate the threadbare elbows for my mom. i have my finger’s crossed.) i can’t wait to hear your short row adventures for the collar of you hoodie-less central park hoodie. and then i’ll put those adventures to use
Meli is such a cutie! You definitely don’t need a special day for love in a house that’s so clearly full of it.
The color is so yummy and baby is just well…she’s da bomb.
Babylove and knitlove together – sounds like a great day to me!
Looks great, beautiful color. I have knit a billion shawl collars. The easiest way is to pick up the stitches at the neck back and work short rows down from there. I usually start by picking up and short rowing one stitch at a time and then picking two or three stitches at a time so the collar doesn’t get too deep.
I like seaming but the funky edges of a flat knit shawl collar are a b*tch. I am about to sew one in now as I am knitting one with a complex aran stitch pattern and in a moment of weakness decided to knit it flat as there was so much going on at once. I fear that I will regret this decision very soon when I sew it in.
Yay, a sweater!
Wow, what a yarn! Beautiful!