Creative Knitting – Beyond Knit and Purl

This past year has been very busy for me, with taking care of elderly parent in another state.  However, with that said, my knitting has kept me sane.  I really became fascinated with with the idea of working with colors when I saw a picture of a beautiful Ski sweater on the cover of an old knitting magazine.  So what did I pick for my first project?  You guessed it, the Norwegian Olympic Team sweater. Here are some pictures of the results- and did I learn a lot about “floats.”  This sweater was made of Heilo Norwegian wool, sports weight.

You will note that this sleeve is on my “Magic loop.”  I don’t think I have used a straight needle since I discovered this method.

On the bottom of the sleeve I used the weaving method of changing colors. To keep the gauge uniform I switched to a size larger needle than the pattern called for, but even with that change I still had to drag the stitches back toward the right with my index finger to keep the gauge even.  I discovered it just take a willingness to practice.

On the right is a picture of the main part of the sweater. I took it out three times before I was satisfied with it. After coming across an article that encouraged you to not worry about the floats, as they could be tacked down later,  I tired it.  With a little practice, I found that the design was much cleaner.  When I finished I simply divided my yarn into single ply threads and tacked down the long floats, then wove in the ends. It worked beautifully, and the gauge was even.  I used regular steeks for the sleeve openings, and wrapped steeks for the neckline.  What a neat way to put a sweater together.  The only thing I would add to the process is about four regular steek stitches each side of the neck opening before a I made the wrapped steek for the span. It would secure the neck edge stitches a bit more, making it easier to handle.  When I do the next one I will take some pictures of the process.

Here is a picture of my son wearing his new ski sweater. He loves it   It’s a little fuzzy, but you get the idea.

If I did it again, I would go to figuring weight yarn,(Palette, from Knit Picks) and use #2 needles, which would make it a bit lighter.