You may remember the Knitalong I organised in July, based on the beautiful Elizabeth Zimmermann seamless sweater. A few of us went on to do a second jersey, and some of us took a little longer than others. This post showcases the second round (gettit?) of seamless jumpers, and pretty wonderful they are too.
First up is Kim from The Material Lady. Kim is an amazingly gifted knitter and always produces first class work. She has done a great job in the past on the Botanical sweater that is on my wish list for when I get to cables… I also envy her as she lives near the Colourmart yarns shop. Here she used up many of her smaller balls of yarn to produce a harmonious sweater in warm shades. Love your look Kim, very sassy and confident and I am sure you will wear this often with lots of different trousers and skirts.
Look at Helene. What a gorgeous, elegant woman combining the best of French style with Canadian practicality and order. I love the way the bright colours in her short sleeved, picot-edged, cotton yarned sweater combine with clean black and white. Here she models the bright colour palette to perfection alongside local statues in her neighbourhood. By the way Helene is the best knitter and has ensured that all her decreases slope the right way and there are no jogs in evidence.
Lisa in Australia has made her sweater in lovely bright colours. Look at that red and how well it contrasts with the purple and blue! Lisa was concerned that it was a little on the large side. Do you remember the post on the length of your sweater? This one reaches down to the hip which is a good look, the body doesn’t look too baggy, and the sleeves are the right length. Could it just be that it stopped too soon? I think another inch at the front neck and a couple at the back would stop this looking a bit big, but that is only my suggestion! Lisa says she will be making another slightly smaller one, so there is always another opportunity to correcting any fitting issues you may feel you have. Well done for reaching the finishing line Lisa, and I hope you enjoyed this freestyle manner of knitting. You may need one of these when you visit the UK later this year!
And going for another short-sleeved look is Sue of Fadanista. I love the colours on this sweater, which really look like they are straight from the 1930s to me. Or possibly a box of macaroons – pistachio, chocolate, coffee and rose. Doesn’t she look yummy? I think the top brownish yarn is textured – what an interesting and delightful outcome. There is also a row of embroidered-on knitting stitches (is that Swiss darning?) to cover a row of stitches that Sue thought needed covering up. There is another technique I need to learn. This is Sue’s second version. Her earlier one was shades of orange and blue-grey. I hope she enjoys wearing them although it will be warming up in Australia right now.
And over to Michelle. Oh Michelle – what a great sweater. Again this is a second one – her earlier version was strong turquoise and deep red stripes. This one used very special yarn – each of the four balls slightly different, creating the appearance of a striped sweater. Isn’t it just great? Michelle is now well and truly hooked and says this seamless approach is her favourite way of knitting a jumper. I think this one has hems at the sleeve and hem.
Hila has made a super sweater, although it took a sprained ankle before Hila (nearly) completed it. Photographed here before the finishing process (underarms and sewing in the pesky tails of yarn). Hila, who features prominently in my book as she models the capsule wardrobe, looks stunning in bright, cool colours. And she shows how it is done yet again with her red and purple striped raglan. Hila has a fun blog and vlog. She knits and sews for her whole family (7 including the parents!), and it always inspires me how much she achieves.
And finally my own version. I now have several of these sweaters and I really must stop. However two of my favourites have been ruined by going in a hot wash – the pink and the blue colourful yoke sweaters unfortunately. I do love this one though – I like a shrunken boyish look (not really shrunken, see above).. I bought some small remnants of two ply cashmere yarns from Colourmart and meant to create a sweater that went from fairly dark to fairly light using very light and dark grey to punctuate the colour. But going between London and the Cotswolds meant that I lost/misplaced the darker grey and the mid blue, so I made substitutions – mainly using some green. I think it worked out OK in the end although I had planned to match the sleeves to the body a la Sue Fadinista. It is so soft and comfortable and I do like the lightness near the face. And the stripe of red. By the time I got to the end I had misplaced the dark grey so the bottom ribbing is in the mid-grey.
I am not sure if there are any more unfinished sweaters out there. If so I would be pleased to include them so do let me know. For myself I have decided to try a more traditional pattern – a top down sweater in double-knit. Always keen to learn something new.
Karen
These are beautiful. I am still knitting away. Just joined two of my three sleeves to the body. I was so inspired by the first batch of sweaters I really had to ditch my first feeble sleeve and have another go. I’m sure my effort will be ready for the anniversary retrospective! Also hoping to see the Frida exhibit next week. Thank you as always for being so inspiring. K x
fabrickated
Sometimes life gets in the way. I have an unfinished EZ sweater glaring at me that I need to tackle Karen. I love the idea of you having a spare arm! And do share when you are done – always room on this blog for valiant efforts, first attempts and gorgeous mistakes…. And I do hope you enjoy the exhibition – let me know if you would like to meet up for a cup of tea before or after.
Giorgia
These all look amazing! Mine has gone on the backfire until I make up my mind on whether I am doing stripe or pixels 🙂
Keeps us posted on the new project!
fabrickated
You always give your makes lots of thought Giorgia – I am hoping you do the pixels as I find it a very nice technique. It might work great in black and white…
Chris - makeandwear
Well done to everyone who knit along. I really love your more fitted sweater, and the mid grey looks great at the neckline as it tones well with your hair…I think that sometimes a dark neckline can seem like the edges have been outlined by a marker! I also prefer that the sleeve stripes are different to the body as otherwise it would give the overall impression of being a wider, boxier shape.
I have undone any of my attempts at knitting along unfortunately! I had to many things on the go and needed to get some finished so I can concentrate properly on any new knitting I start.
fabrickated
Very good feedback on the striping issue, and yes the very light grey yarn tones nicely with my hair I think. Sorry you were not able to get one of these done – life is all about prioritisation and to be honest I feel a bit overwhelmed at the moment, unable to give sufficient time to more important things. But I do find knitting simple things very relaxing and a good antidote to complexity and strife.
Ruth Wilson
Really lovely, all unique to the individual, an aspect I love about making our own clothes. Hope to make one this winter.
Stephanie
Great looking swesters especially like your colours. I did think I would have finished my version in time for round up part two instead, like others, I took it apart and haven’t quite reached waist height for the second time. With Spring now sprung maybe it will be finished by next winter.
fabrickated
Sorry it didn’t please you Stephanie. I tend to just go for it if I can, using every spare minute. If they hang around they seem to go off like milk. Maybe it is just me but I need the payback fairly quickly!
mrsmole
Knitting something that turns out so flattering is sheer magic! To be able to control the color of stripes and the sequencing is so cool!
fabrickated
This is why I love the process Mrs Mole. Choosing the shape and colour, length, details and texture is such fun rather than being slave to a design or fabric of someone else’s idea.
Vancouver Barbara
A stunning array – well done all.
Sue Newth
Great sweaters everyone. My stripes turned out not so great, too many colours and no real plan ! Also didn’t get the neck right ..too wide and low. But I have since knitted another in a plain mauve/grey with a polo neck and I am very happy with it, and my German short rows . 🙂 Thanks Kate
fabrickated
Sorry it didn’t work out for you Sue. I thought your colours looked really nice. But to be honest there is always a place for a nice plain sweater. In fact I have just started one!
RUTH FORRESTER
Wait for me…….nearly there.
Geez, Kate, you don’t us amateurs enough time! I mean I have sewing to do in between – LOL
Lovely to see all the finished ones and motivation to the rest of us to catch up. Thanks for organising, yet again.
fabrickated
I agree that these sweaters are really motivating Ruth. As the other Ruth says there is something very pleasant in diverse uniformity. Looking forward to your version when it surfaces. xxx
Hélène
Another fab round of EZ raglans! Thanks for including mine. I look forward to making another one with long sleeves in a similar set of colours for the coming winter. I’m planning a fingering weight wool yarn and may include some left-over socks yarn I have accumulated over the year. Have fun with your next top-down jumper Kate! Are you using a pattern or improvising it?
fabrickated
Yes I am using a pattern. It is called Autumn League. I will do a post on it. I will make one and then do a second one to see if I can make it easier. I feel I need a pattern I can just carry in my head. I detest counting stitches, rows etc.
Kim
I really enjoy the whole Elizabeth Zimmerman method and have already started another jumper – this one is for my daughter. The fabulous thing about them (apart from the control aspect in just about every respect) is that there is virtually no making up to do when you have finished knitting. Genius!
fabrickated
Yes! I agree completely. The seamlessness is really neat and you can just go with the flow, taking any stress away. I am sure you daughter will have been inspired by your lovely jersey and I am sure she will love hers. Are you doing a striped one or plain this time Kim?
helen
These all look fabulous! I’m a bit disappointed in myself for not finishing in time to be included in the 2nd round up. Anyway, I was spurred on and finished this weekend. It took 4 evenings to sew in all the ends!
I also had to cast of the neck twice, first time it was too tight so I had to rip out and cast off using the super stretchy method. I still need to block. I’ll try and do this week and then send you a photo.