Knitting in the Hood

I have finished Owen. The hood took a great deal of yarn and the directions for sewing it in were nonexistent. There is a ribbing around the neck and the hood is sewn inside along the neckline. From the picture it looked like it overlapped a little. That design element may help to keep it on his head and his neck warm, I just hope he can get his head through the neck! The sleeves look really short compared to the length of the sweater. I guess they will just have to send it back for alterations, if needed!

I tried a new method of seaming (new to me). I was listening to the Ready Set Knit podcast. Pixie was talking about a seaming technique for the shoulders and I decided to use it on the hood. It almost looks like duplicate stitch. The inside is totally smooth. A little blocking and it was georgeous. You can see samples on the Web's Yarnstore blog.

Another thing that I did differently was where I placed the increases in the sleeves. What a Duh moment that was. I think I have always increased in the last stitch. That has made seaming a little tricky, although it did give you an anchor to let you know if you were moving along the sleeves at the same pace. I don't remember where I learned this tip, but this time I increased in the second stitch from either end. It has a very nice look and the seaming was a breeze.

New project is already started:
Lady of the Lake
A Fleece Artist kit that I purchased from Colorsong. The sweater is knit sideways in two different yarns on US 10.5 needles:

Kid Aran: 50% Kid Mohair, 50% Wool; 450m/492.1yds; 300g/13.4oz.

Curly Locks: 78% Mohair, 13% Wool, 9% Nylon; 450m/492yds; 250g/8.82oz.

It is an interesting and quick knit. You start with the smooth yarn and knit the length of the row. You then go back to the beginning of the row without turning the needle and knit with the boucle yarn in a k1, p1 pattern. When you reach the end of the yarn, you turn the needle and continue. It really is quite fun. I started this on Monday and hope to have the body complete by Monday - I should have some knitting time this weekend.


I wish these directions were available separately. I like the construction method and have some recycled silk that would do well in this pattern. My mom bought me some navy mohair at Rhinebeck last fall that I wanted to use with the silk. There are some other designs with kits on the Colorsong website that use this same technique and I think it would work well with the silk. I rarely knit the same pattern twice and would like to try some of the other designs.

If you are going, have a great time at Rhinebeck!