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Knitting before I knew what I was doing

June 12, 2009 in knitting by Sarah

I recently got rid of one of the first sweaters I ever knit.  I loved that sweater and wore it all the time.  I was the asymmetrical cardigan by Norah Gaughan published in the holiday 2004 issue of Vogue Knitting (Ravelry link, unfortunately there is no photo).

It is knit by casting on the stitches for one side of the front, then knitting over the shoulder for the sleeve and down the back.  Then the stitches for the other sleeve are cast on and the sides are knit horizontally.  The two pieces are then sewn together and the stitches for the ribbing are picked up and knit.

It really is a brilliant design, and I loved the sweater, but I was not as good a knitter as I am now.  I think it was the third sweater I ever knit, and there are some issues with it (sorry about the quality of the photo):

sleeve-trouble1

Yes, the right sleeve is about 5 inches (13cm) longer than the left — hmm.

I didn’t know then, as I do now, that knitting stretches a lot more long the stitches than the rows.  I followed the pattern, but sometimes that isn’t enough: sometimes you need to understand what is happening.

I didn’t get quite the results I dreamt of, but I still loved the sweater, and why would I want to go through life without experimenting?

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Please leave a comment or email me at sarah (at) parallaxknitting (dot) com, you can also read about my cooking adventures at Bounded in a Nutshell

My patterns

A glove by any other name

Gloves can be deceiving

Josephine

Lyra’s cap

Lyra's coat

Minimalist funnel neck

Morse code vest

Pink leafy scarf

Russian princess in exile

Slouch hat

Urban rustic gloves

West wind gloves

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Wisp

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