It’s been decided. The lovely yarn from Sincere Sheep wants to be a Raspberry Vodka Lemonade. The cardigan is knit from the top down, beginning with a seed stitch collar.
Miles and miles of seed stitch. Actually, five inches, or 3360 stitches (96 sts x 7 rows/inch x 5 inches). I started on Sunday evening while watching Game of Thrones, and continued Monday evening, reading and knitting. Seed stitch is mindless enough to multi-task; in fact it *requires* multi-tasking so as not to lose my mind! But by Monday night, I was in pain. My forearms were on fire. Time for a break and some ibuprofen.
I was better by morning, so I went on to start the body. It has raglan shaping, as you see here.
The collar and the left front edge look good so far! And I was relieved to see that my tiny gauge swatch didn’t differ from my stockinette gauge once I got the body started. The pattern is pretty intuitive so far, so I don’t need to look at the pattern at all. Happy mindless knitting!
I haven’t finished my Malabrigo merino project yet, but it’s on the home stretch. I don’t have to look at the chart for that any more, either. Woot!
There’s nothing like the joy of a new project on the needles. Let’s see if I can keep up the momentum. I’d love to wear this cute cardigan soon.
What’s new in your knitting world?
PDXKnitterati 
I avoid seed stitch whenever possible! I just started the Ivy League Vest (all fair isle) and am obsessed with getting home and knitting it. Then the steeking adventure begins…
Yay, steeking! I have a little steeking project in the works…
Oooo… very pretty. Can’t wait to see it on. Glad your arms survived the seed stitch.
The last time I did that to my arms, I took ibuprofen and then kept knitting because it felt better. Duh! This time I waited until it really didn’t hurt before knitting again…
My friend is knitting one too in MadelineTosh Pashmina. It’s absolutely gorgeous. Raspberry looks yummy, delish too. If I weren’t knitting three sweaters this week, I would join you 😀
Glad to hear you’re feeling better.
I really love the hand of this yarn/fabric! And the mindlessness of the pattern; that’s good for right now. I’ve had so many projects that weren’t take-along knitting, and that’s frustrating when meeting with other knitters.
Pretty! I haven’t started my VL yet – want to wait until my signature US6 are freed up. Now to figure out what I’ll watch during the miles of seed stitch. :0)
I thought I’d need a 6 but it turns out I’m knitting on a 5. Odd because last time I knit with this yarn, my gauge was 23 st/4 in on a 5, and I need 22.5, so I went for the 6. Nope. 5 is perfect.
Just remember to pay attention to your arms before they start to burn! I was so engrossed in the reading that I didn’t notice. Someone tweeted me that seed stitch is carpal tunnel stitch!
I love it!
Nothing new in my knitting world. Still slaving on boring socks.
I really love how seed stitching looks but I hate to do it. You have the patience of a saint.
It’s not really a patience issue; it’s just like knitting 1×1 rib at the top of a sock. And I can absolutely do it on auto-pilot. That’s where I got burned: I was reading and auto-pilot knitting, and didn’t get the message from my arms that it was time to take a break! Oops.
Oooh, I can’t wait to see how this turns out. I’ve had my eye on this pattern…
I think it’s a great choice for you and me! It’s super-customizable as to size and length, and you can fit the sides, too. It’s top down, so try it on as you go. I think you and I have both been burned by the “finished my sweater, and it’s just not that flattering” experience. This is our revenge!