I Actually Finished It!

Well, with only sewing up the under arms and re-working the edging to go my tomten was rapidly approaching UFO status, but Tuesday morning I woke up and thought "Today is the last day that jacket is going to sit in the back of the closet!"

So, I pulled it out and decided that double stranding the yarn for the I-cord was the way to go. I think it's worked out quite nicely.

I used matress stitch to finish the under arms. I think it looks nicer on stockinette, but was still a vast improvement on the prior weak attempts at seaming.

The zipper is only partially sewn in at this point, but I should be able to finish that up this weekend, and hopefully soon spring will show it face and the Tomten will get a little use.

Half a Sleeve and a Hood

Well, I've been distracted with hats. I'm always distracted with hats--they are a great gift item and quick but still I wish I could tell myself, "No!" and diligently stick to my Tomten endeavors. Yet, I've amazed myself with my progress--half a sleeve and only one more to go!

new KAL

I wanted to let you know that after my first Tomten, I didn't mean to ditch you. I do plan on making many more. but i have a surprise jacket to knit next, then a bog jacket! so I've started a surprise KAL if you're ever interested!

http://surprisekal.blogspot.com/

1/2 a sleeve

well, the tomten photo isn't quite up-to-date, but it does show the hood and the beginning of my first sleeve. I started knitting together the last stitch of the sleeve with a body stitch, but it finally became too cumbersome, and i wasn't delighted with the way it looked, so i decided i'd just knit back and forth and deal with a little seaming at the end. At right is a photo from last month of my snow-bound backyard. i don't like shoveling, but i have to admit it looks really pretty sometimes!

my shoulder has been troubling me, so i've mostly worked on smaller projects and left the Tomten patiently awaiting me to finish it. i hope to have more progress to show you soon.

A Little Progress

Well despite being very distracted by a couple Very Warm Hats, which you can see here, I managed to make some progress on dear son's Tomten.  I have just started my way up the armholes.

the adventures of super tomten

here is a photo of my progress to date. looks like a superhero mask! (or a raccoon)

i'm maybe halfway done the hood.

Here are some specifics for Amy (and any other interested parties)

my gauge is 3.5 sts/inch. i was planning for a jacket 45 inches around (without a button band- remember, you can always add a little width at the end if you need to by doing a wide button band or other border), so i cast on 160 stitches (came out to 161, but we want a number divisible by 8). i calculated my length (height?) measurements by comparing ratios from EZ's instructions in "Knitting Without Tears", and came up with 50 ridges before the armholes, then 35 more ridges to the top of the armholes (when you join all the stitches back on one needle). Oh yes, i did short rows every 7 or 8 ridges, but i'm not entirely convinced that was crucial- garter stitch is pretty stretchy. it was good practice, anyway.

i haven't finished the hood yet, so i'm not sure how many ridges that will be- i'll just keep trying it on until it seems to cover my head.

i *will* finish this thing- and while it's still cool enough to wear it, too!

i'm getting there....

slowly, but surely!

i had taken a break from the tomten to make some other, smaller projects, and it's now too big to comfortably take along with me, so i am only working on it while at home.

i'm now about halfway through the hood, which i hope to finish tonight or tomorrow night, then on to the sleeves.

i have tried it on (without sleeves, obviously) and it seems as though it will be a good fit (well, by my standards, anyway. i think my mother would tell you i don't know what it means for clothes to fit.) it is heavy, as i feared, but rather pleasantly so. like a favorite blanket or something.

photos soon!

Almost Done!

Here is a picture of the body of the Tomten copleted, and an i-cord edging in progress. I have actually finished the edging, but it is WAY too tight, and I need to rip it out and do it in larger needles. Otherwise, I won't have a hood, just a wierd pocket in the back of the neck!

I've decided to give it a week or two before I rip that part out, to avoid the feeling of frustration/aggravation of ripping out all that work and starting over.

I have tried a couple different methods of sewing up the bottoms of the sleeves, and haven't liked anything so far. Can anyone tell me what they did, and liked?

Back to the Tomten

Now that all of my holiday projects are complete I am back to working on the Tomten. I've ripped out the badly shaped shoulder and sleeve and was about to try a different shaping on the shoulder when I remembered a favorite sweater from a long time ago that was T shaped, and decided to skip it. I now have the whole right arm knit and am almost done joining the left shoulder. I will post pictures if we ever see the sun again.

Amy- in response to your question (that you actually addressed to Gerry) we are both making adult sizes. Coincedentally we are both working at 3.5 sts to the inch and started with 160 sts. The plan was to add a button band at the end, and I think we have both decided the jacket would be too wide, and are probably going for zippers instead.

EZ has instructions on how to size up the Cast-on number (although I can't remmeber where right now), but the rest is guess work. I would be happy to go back and deconstruct my exact pattern for you leter, if you would like, as mine seems as if it's going to fit quite well as I had intended it to be worn [over other sweaters]. Also, there are some specifics in earlier posts.

New and improved Tomten

This is the Tomten I started for my son and if I were British I would say it's coming along swimmingly. A note on the yarn: I am using cheap Bernat yarn at 2.49 a skein and I don't feel the least bit guilty. I've decided it's ridiculous to spend big bucks on, although fabulous, finer yarns for garments that kids are a) going to outgrow and b) possibly wreck with any number of substances.

Also, I'd like to point out the pockets. I don't know why but it seems like very few knitters put in the pockets. I urge everyone to give it a try. It's amazingly simple and a really nice touch and if I can do it any knitter can. Or maybe there are good reasons the pockets are skipped? Please blog on the topic.

And the reason I know so much about the details of Tomtens is that I am absolutely obsessed with this particular garment and I think I've viewed every posted photo of completed Tomtens in all of cyberspace.

A Tomten by any other name...

I can't begin to describe the numerous mistakes I made in attempting this Tomten for my daughter but I will try and put it succinctly: bad yarn choice (do not use fine light yarn to knit sturdy sweater jacket for active toddler), got wild and decided to take EZ's advice and do my own thing (basically changed the proportions of the pattern to get right gauge--not a good idea as now I have right gauge width-wise but not length-wise), and now have a huge mystery hole where arm and jacket meet (I KNOW this has something to do with how I picked up the stitches around the armhole but for the life of me I could not fix it and I tried three times).

So I put this one aside for several weeks and started a new one for my son (see other post).  Now after giving it a good rest and thinking on it, I've come to the conclusion that I must take it apart--an agonizing decision as I am definitely one of the slowest knitters on the planet and coming this far on any garment is a real achievement for me.  But I know this is beautiful, quality yarn and would probably make a much better scarf or hat.  Any advice or comments are welcome.

I tried to post a photo of the big hole at the arm but I couldn't get blogger to cooperate.  Update:  I was able to post a photo of the hole--any advice or comments are welcome.

in for a penny, in for a pound....

or, in this case, 2 pounds! here you can see where i am with the tomten, after using two 1 pound cones of P&C double worsted. have slowed down on this, as i was doing some holiday knitting and making new mittens for my son, but hope to have this finished by the first of the year. i think i'm going to like it :)

just a little more to go on that middle section, then on to the sleeves and hood, and maybe i'll finish with a purple i-cord edging instead of the mosaic button band i had planned or maybe gray, or....

Maybe i'd better get there first, then decide.

Finished!

I haven't received the buttons I ordered yet, so I've tied a scarf around his neck to hold the hood on. He's in a baby carrier strapped to my chest so the front is staying closed that way. I love the shape of this hood.

I'm thinking about adding a blanket stitch edging in royal blue or purple. I have to see what the buttons look like when they arrive. I love the Rowan Big Wool in garter stitch, and I love the shape of this Tomten. I just halved the numbers EZ specified and skipped the short rows and the jacket is perfect. The sleeve length is great to just unroll and use as mittens.

more photos of the front and back of the hood at my blog.

woohoo! i want to make many more of these.

december 5 progress note

well, i've been working on a few other items, so i've slowed down a bit on the tomten. i have made some progress- i've finished both side panels and soon to finish the back panel.

i'll have to do another photo- no lovely NE foliage now- just lots and lots of white! that can be pretty as well, though. (unless one is in the act of (or recovering from the act of) shoveling it.)

i had intended to do a mosaic button band, but considering that the jacket is plenty wide, and plenty heavy, i may relent and save that for another project. i am thinking of an i-cord border for this one- maybe purple.

working my way up the deep armholes.....

OK, some progress here. i've gotten past the divide, and i'm done one armhole, and have started the second. Note the lovely New England fall foliage in the background :)

i'm probably 75% through the second 1 pound cone of Peaches & Creme double-worsted.

Progress Photo

I was trying to wait for a nice sunny afternoon to take a picture, but with the days being so short now I just haven't gotten the chance.

Here's a photo under a lamp. I did do some shaping in the one shoulder, but I completely winged it, and it ended up being in the wrong place. So there is more ripping back to come!

I have decided I need to get to work on some knitted gifts, so I may not post again here for a while.

Finally Taking Shape.

I'll post a picture of my progress in a couple of days, but I did want to let you know about my progress.

I have to say I have, with out a doubt, spent more time ripping back and re-knitting on this project than any before it. Usually I find this incredibly frustrating, and would probably frog the whole thing, but somehow it's kind of fun with this. I'm really enjoying interpreting and translating the directions from different EZ books, and trying to make them all work together into a jacket I will actually want to wear.

I have finished the hood (twice, actually, but I'm keeping it as is now) I had thought I would line it and add a pull cord, but decided instead to make it snug, so I won't need a cord. I've started to knit into one of the arm holes, and it really seems to be taking shape now.

Also, now that it's at a point where I can slip it on and see how it fits it's much easier to figure out how/if I want to make modifications.

I hope everyone is doing well, and that you all have a Happy Thanksgiving. I will be at Gerry's house feasting (now that we finally found our tradtional vegetarian "roast") So, perhaps we will get to sit down after dinner and work on our Tomten's together.

Lots Of Ripping Back!

Well, since the last time I posted, I feel like I have spent as much time ripping back as I have spent knitting. I really have been going back and forth on the dimensions I want the arm-holes to be.

That's where the funny story Gerry alluded to comes from. Unfortunately, I think you had to be there to get the true effect of the humor.

Using the directions from Knitting Workshop I made the arm-opening panels twice as many rides high as the side panel is stitches wide. Well, when I was at Gerry's house on Saturday I finished the back panel, and decided to clip the back and one finished front panel together and slip them over my shoulder to get an idea of how the finished jacket would fit.

Do you remember in the 80's when body builders wore those T-shirts with the arms and neck cut out, so that it was no longer like a shirt at all, but more of a torso thong? That is exactly how my tomten looked!!! It was rediculous! I was laughing so hard my eyes were tearing. As soon as I composed my self the ripping back started. I took 8 ridges off of the top of both sections.

The next time I had a chance to sit down and knit I started the second from panel. When I was nearly done with that I realized I had started it from the wrong direction, which left a stripe of stockinette (in the front) at it's base. So, more ripping out.

Since then I really haven't had time to knit at all. Luckily I have had some fiber related fun. I traveled to Maine to take spinning lessons with a friend of mine, and went to a spinning guild with another friend. Hopefully today or tomorrow I will find the time to get back into the tomten!

a brief update

no new photos today, just a quick update on my progress. i'm inching along- wasn't feeling too well last week, so not as much progress made as i'd like. i am almost at the point where i divide for the back and 2 front sections, though, maybe another 3 or 4 ridges to go.

i have a few days off from work coming up later this week, so that should help get me back on track.

Brian and i spent some time Saturday evening chatting and working on our jackets together, and i think he may have a story or two to relate re: his progress. i'll let him tell it in his own words :)

Knitting without tears- at least for now

well, i must be making some headway- look! i finished my first entire cone of yarn!

that's already more yarn than i've ever used on a single project- well, by weight if not by yardage. i'm now at the one pound mark and have just joined in the second cone.

Marliah- there is a way to add i-cord trim directly to the jacket- i haven't done it yet, but i know it's in some of EZ's books (i think it's in Knitter's Almanac and maybe Knitting Around). i'll hunt up directions and get back to you.