Scoop du Jour KAL

Checking In

2005-07-14T10:32:00.000-07:00

Hi,

I joined awhile back and am just getting around to posting a greeting.

I've been working on my Scoop for several weeks now, juggling it with a couple of other projects (I've made a bit of progress since this photo was taken, also). I'm using Reynold's Saucy, color #178. I just love this raspberry color--it's so juicy (er, or saucy, I guess!).

My needle choice here runs from the ridiculous to the sublime. I'm using some generic $2 circs for the back (it's all I could find in a pinch) and pricey ebony straights on the one side. Let's just say, you get what you pay for.

I look forward to watching everyone's progress!

Stephy

http://redvioletblue.typepad.com/knitopolis/

Intro . . . and a question

2005-06-29T07:00:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! I joined the KAL a few weeks ago and I'm really looking forward to seeing all the completed Scoops!

I'm making mine out of Rowan DK cotton. Here's a pic from when I was just finishing the ribbing on the back.

So, now that I'm shaping the neckline, I have a question for y'all. I'm on the section where you decrease one stitch each row, but the only purl decrease I know is P2tog. Is there another decrease I can use for the left side that will slant towards the left?

I just went ahead and used P2tog for both sides but the left side looks pretty wonky. Thanks in advance for the help!

My Scoop..

2005-06-17T19:14:00.000-07:00

Hi! I joined a few days ago..I'm Tina. I'm making my Scoop with CottonEase in Blueberry. So far I've knit two fronts and the back up to the armholes. Then I decided I'm going to reknit the fronts because I think they looked like a different gauge compared to the back, and one front looked longer than the other. Here's my progess so far minus the front I already ripped out. I'm hoping it doesn't come out too big in the end though. I'm knitting the 34" size but I'm not sure how it's going to fit me. I'm probably going to make another one in the future and try sizing it down to a 32".

My Scoop is done!

2005-06-14T08:22:00.000-07:00

Am I the first one here to finish a Scoop? If so...wow because I'm usually not so fast.

Have a look at my blog today, and also at my gallery, for more info about my Scoop. Here is one picture for you too...

The short details:

It's made of Manos del Uruguay wool in #114 Bramble
I used assorted vintage buttons
I pretty much followed the pattern with the exception of some minor adjustments for row gauge (mine was too big)
I made the size 38 and I really like how it fits
Steam blocking is my new favorite kind of blocking (for wool at least)
One of the greatest things about knitting this pattern: You know how usually when you pick up stitches, the pattern gives you a number, but you often pick up a few more and then decrease on the first row to get to the suggested number? This was the only time in my three years of knitting where I picked up stitches, and when I counted I was right on for the pattern instructions! It was magic I'm sure.

Now I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of your Scoops when they are done! Have fun...

Vanilla and Blueberry:The Voyage to Sleeve Island

2005-06-13T20:33:00.000-07:00

Well, I have about 2 days worth of knitting time until I am done with the backs of my Twin Scoops. I didn't finish them on my business trip like I'd hoped that I would, but here's a progress picture of what I did get done.

So right now, I'm going to ride this ferry to Sleeve Island as I finish Blueberry's back, and then zoom through Vanilla's. Then I should be pulling up to Sleeve Island Harbor.

Four sleeves, people. Four. Can we say castaway? I think we can.

Scoup du Jour Continued

2005-06-09T12:53:00.000-07:00

Just a small bit of ripping, and my armholes are no longer 12" to 13" long. Rowan All Seasons Cotton is one of my favorite yarns to work with. This is the first time I have used the color Copper, but I am really liking it. Found some great buttons today at Hancock Fabric (buttons are all 30% this week). I have finished the back, and am well underway on the left front.

I will try to post photos. These were taken with a camera phone on my desk at work.

I need those pattern revisions - and I finally figured out how to post

2005-06-06T11:28:00.000-07:00

I am so glad to see the post below concerning the pattern revisions. I almost ripped out the entire back due to the armholes being so large, and I am still not to the shoulder bind-off. Could someone post the revisions, or is that copyright infringement?

I have sent an email to Bonne M, but I am sure she gets hundreds of emails. I can't continue on with the SDJ until I see the revisions.

Thanks very much,

Donna P

Pattern revisions

2005-06-04T18:29:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to get a complimentary copy of the Scoop pattern direct from Bonne Marie. But I think those of you that ordered it from her should have received an updated version with some corrections that affect the front right and left pieces. Did you all get the new version? I just got mine today, perhaps later than the rest of you. If you didn't, you might want to write to her.

The changes affect the amount of rows total that you work between bindoff for the underarm and the neckline shaping. If you were to follow the first version, you would have some very large armholes on the front pieces.

All my pieces are done but I haven't been able to bring myself to block them yet...

Decreases on the Purl Side

2005-05-19T17:25:00.000-07:00

How is everyone doing their decreases? I'm still on the back piece and after you bind off in the middle, you're supposed to decrease on the next 6 rows. That means you are decreasing on 3 purl rows. On the left shoulder, the purl decreases look fine but on the right shoulder, they are going off in the wrong direction. I've been doing purl 2 togethers so obviously, that isn't working for the right shoulder. Any suggestions?

The Scoop Twins

2005-05-18T20:42:00.000-07:00

I have completed the fronts of both of my Scoop du Jour sweaters.

I'd never knit 2 sweaters from the same pattern at the same time before, and it's turned out to be a great knitting experience! I work a little on one Scoop and then catch up to the same spot on the other one. I usually do Vanilla first because she is the more "difficult" of the twins. The Twisted St st makes for a pretty slow knit.

This is a great pattern, and I love the neck shaping. I'm thinking about doing what I love to do next, which is knit the button bands. I love jumping the gun on the button bands... It makes your sweater take on that "completed" feel, even if it's only the front. It also keeps your fronts from being rolled up pieces of fabric with little yarn butterflies hanging off of the ends.

Happy Scooping to all!

Getting started!

2005-05-17T12:19:00.000-07:00

Hey all, Heather from Sparkomatic here.

I cast on for the swatch and subsequent first sleeve last night, against my better judgment. Gauge is supposed to be 18st/4in and I was getting 17.5. I was thinking of knitting the 42" size (I will lose weight, dang it! And, no, I'm not just saying that. I'll post more about that on my Typepad...) but judging from the sleeve progress last night (using US8), *that's* going to end up being HUGE.

The problem is, I don't want to go down a needle size--I'm using Debbie Bliss wool/cotton double stranded and it knits up nice on 8s. I'd tried an earlier project using the same yarn (doubled) but with 6s and it was so dense! So, my question, I suppose, is how relaxed is the finished object supposed to be, because maybe my giant sleeve was right on.

I'll also swatch with 7s (I don't seem to have any 7s in the house, which of course means I'll just *have* to make a run to the LYS. Damn.) and see if that's somewhat more on-target.

One more time!

2005-05-14T07:56:00.000-07:00

Is it because it's hot outside and my hands are sweating?? I don't know what's up but I finished my whopping 6 inches of ribbing on the back piece and started on a few inches of stockinette only to discover my gauge is off -- 5 stiches per inch instead of 4 1/2. That's too much but I haven't decided whether I'm going to rip back just to the ribbing or rip the whole thing and start over. I knit the ribbing on size 6 needles and planned on doing the body on 7's. Any suggestions?

Heidi's Scoop

2005-05-13T10:56:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody. I have completed the back and one sleeve, plus the ribbing for the front left, so far. My stitch gauge is right on using Manos del Uruguay, but the row gauge is way off and changing needle sizes hasn't helped. So, I wanted to do one sleeve and put the sweater together partially, to see if I will need to make adjustments for the armhole shaping. Plus as we all know knitting sleeves can be a little boring... One is done now, so when I get to the second it should be easy.

The picture of the back is kind of crappy. I couldn't get a good one this morning. In better light and focus, the bottom half's colors are a bit subdued, while there is a big blob of darker color in the middle of the top half. After this piece was done, I remembered that with Manos it's always a good idea to knit off two balls at a time, so I'm doing that for the rest of the sweater. The color distribution is much more even on the sleeve.

I have no idea what buttons I'll use on this, but because of the multicolor yarn, I could go a million different ways.

P.S. I share my Blogger account with my husband, because for the past few years we've only used it to leave comments on other people's sites. Everything posted here by Heidi or Rodney will in fact only be posted by Heidi (me).

2005-05-12T18:03:00.000-07:00

And here is the keeper: Rowan All Seasons Cotton.

2005-05-12T18:02:00.000-07:00

Here is the Cotton Ease version.

Scoop du Jour - Take Two

2005-05-12T17:25:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone. Here's the progress I've made so far. I was very excited about the pattern and ordered the yarn right away. I was planning on making the cardigan in the Cotton Ease in Vanilla. Little did I know the yarn was discontinued and would be so difficult to find. I did find it online but when I received it in the mail, I discovered it wasn't quite what I was expecting. In Bonne Marie's picture, the yarn looks more cream colored. It's actually STARK white. Besides white t-shirts, I don't wear a lot of white. Being so eager to start, I tried to get over the white thing and started knitting it up anyway. Well... couldn't get over not liking the color. So... I dove into my stash and found this light pink Rowan All Seasons Cotton. A quick call to my LYS to see if they had more in the same dye lot and WE HAVE A WINNER. I like this color much better. I've never uploaded pics before so I can figure it out, I'll share some.

Hi, Again!

2005-05-11T15:35:00.000-07:00

Hi, y'all! I can see that people are finding their way to this website, but nobody is really saying anything. This makes me sad. :( <-- See? So, I'm thinking that this is because people don't really know what to do.

So, here're the steps!

1) You're interested in joining us nice, cool people in knitting the Scoop du Jour? Awesome!! Email me at racheletib AT yahoo DOT com, with 1) Your Name, and 2) The URL of Your Blog, if You Have One. I'll add your name and link to the member list on the sidebar of this site.

2) I'll reply to your email with an invitation to join this weblog. On whis weblog, you would be given the ability to post pics of your Scoop du Jour progress, or just verbal news of progress, and also ask any questions, or make any comments about the pattern. People can comment on your posts and maybe answer your questions!

3) So, if you want to join the weblog posting, you just follow the instructions in the emailed invitation and then hopefully learning how to post will be very intuitive. If it's not, then let me know. You don't have to accept the invitation - I'll make a note of who isn't a member of the blog-posting dealie, and every Sunday I'll post on this blog linking to your Scoop progress posts from your own weblogs. But you should join! This should be super-fun. It has been successful for the Ribby Cardi, as you can see.

And that's it! Easy peasy!

So join up, and start spreading the news about your Scoopy!

- Rachele

Two Scoops.

2005-05-09T12:16:00.000-07:00

Here's a shot of my fraternal twins:

On May 7th, these twins - one boy and one girl - were born; I named them Blueberry and Vanilla Scoop.

Vanilla is knit exactly from the pattern, but in Twisted Stockinette (instead of plain), and Blueberry is knit using the pattern as a rough guide, but making adjustments so that it looks more like this black sweater over at Carrieoke's blog.

Yay for knitting two sweaters at the same time!

More pics at my blog (May 2005 archives, to whoever sees this in the far future!)

Knit-Along Weblog Rules

2005-05-08T14:21:00.000-07:00

#1) Official signups for the Knit-Along will end on July 1st, but email me if this occurs: It is past July 1st, you have already signed up for the KAL, you are not yet a member of this Blogger posting business, and you want me to add you to the posting party. I'll be glad to!

Alright, alright, even if you haven't signed up for the KAL, and it's past July 1st, just email me and we'll negotiate. (A little chocolate goes a long way! :P )

#2) Even though sign-ups end in 2 months, there is no official end date for the knit-along. Knit as fast or as slow as you want!

#3) When you post on this weblog, it would be cool if you put your name ("Hi, it's Rachele..." or something) as it is shown on the side list so that we can see who ya are. :)

#4) Email me at 53stitches AT gmail DOT com if you have questions, concerns, or comments about anything.

#5) Have fun!

I'll post more rules as necessary. I can't wait to see y'all's Scoops! (I'm pretty sure that this sweater is named after the phrase "soup du jour" but it always makes me think of ice cream. Yum!)

Welcome!

2005-05-08T07:59:00.000-07:00

Hello, and welcome to the Scoop du Jour knit-along weblog hosted by me! Enjoy!