KauniKAL

Reconstructing the Hem

I finally decided that I do not like the hem on my Kauni.  It's excellent in theory, but it curls too much for my likening.  I tried a gtst hem on the cuff of the sleeve, and it seems to work well enough, so I'm taking out the bottom of the sweater, saving as much yarn as I can and reknitting it with a two colour gtst hem.

This sweater is taking far longer to knit than I hoped, but at least it's keeping me on my toes.

As usual, see this post on my blog for photos.

Past the armhole cast-off

The Kauni sure does go fast once you get going.  After ripping out and starting over last weekend, I'm now about an inch past the armhole cast-off.  I love the color progression.  I'm not sure how I'm going to do the arms yet. And, I still need to find buttons.  Maybe I'll find some good ones at Rhinebeck.

King-Kong Kauni

It was as I suspected, my second attempt was again way too big.  For your enjoyment, a photo of the king-kong sized Kauni (with helper cat).

It measured over 70" in circumference on size 3 needles doing the XL size!!  (and it looks more curly than it really was)  My swatch came out perfect on size 4s though, so what do you think, I liked the appearance on the size 3, should I make the large instead?  Or do you think I should go down again to size 2 needles...

Looking forward to casting on again, maybe 3rd try is the charm!  :-)

Doing the buttonbands

I have the button band done on my cardigan but I don't like it so I am going to redo it. Tonight when I was knitting on my 2nd sleeve I thought why not do the button hole band and button band in the round and have a steek top and bottom the I could cut. I could sew up the bottoms and tops of the band.

If I did them in the round, the colours would be consistent and my corrugated rib is so much nicer in the round. I would really like to hear opinions on this idea.

Starting over (and it feels so good)

I haven't worked on the Kauni in months because I was not happy with my curling ribbing and I couldn't face hoping that it would block out, ripping back, or cutting it off and knitting down.  Finally, after gathering all of the useful ribbing tips I've learned on this site, I ripped it out and started over.  I'm so glad I did.  Here are before and after edging pics.  I used the german twisted cast-on and the block purl border. 

Another thing that I did that probably isn't kosher is that when I found mobius type twists in my join, I moved them to the place where I'll cut the steek, manipulated the needles so that the twist went into the fabric where I'll be cutting, and kept knitting.  Do other people do this?  I really hate ripping things out, especially when I've cast-on a lot of stitches.  I did this on a Poetry in Stitches cardigan and it worked fine.  You just cut through the twist and it sorts itself out.

Steek cutting

As usual, I can't make photos come onto this blog system.  There seems to be some sort of feud between my PC and this web host.  I think it's best for me not to ask any questions and simply accept both website and PC as they are.

Photos of the steek for my first sleeve are on my blog, Trampled by Geese.  I used the crochet steek method because I am more comfortable with it than with the sewing machine.  There is only 7 steek sts, but it's keeping together just fine.

Elizabeth Zimmerman says that we should sew the steek facing to the sleeve, but it naturally curls towards the body.  Any thoughts on this?

My Finished Kauni!

Here's my Kauni (Rainbow) cardigan, all done at last!  I can't seem to get a photo that doesn't make the green look like lime kool-aid, but it's really not quite that bright.

I found some really cute buttons at my LYS, they are orange with yellow spirals, which go perfectly with the sections that are in that "Tequila Sunrise" color combo. 

I didn't try to match the sleeves or the ribbing colors, just went with what came next on the 2 balls of yarn.  I'm happy with the 'crazy quilt' effect, but if you are disturbed by things not matching perfectly, you might want to plan this part out!

One thing I might do differently is the bind off for the front ribbing.  It curls a wee bit.  I used the 'regular' method of binding off (knit 1, purl 1, slip 1st st over 2nd st), but might look for something different were I to do this again.  Blocking took care of most of the curling anyway.  One other thing I noticed was how the yarn immediately began to 'bloom' and soften up as soon as I put it in water to start blocking it.  It's much softer now.

I've nearly finished my first Kauni Leftovers Sock, it's looking good.  I'll post the pattern on my website as soon as I have one sock done and can figure out how many oz. total you'd need to knit a pair.

If you were to knit another...

I finally finished my Kauni Cardigan.  Just have to block it and select buttons. 

I did buy more yarn in the EQ color just incase I decide to make another.

If  you were to knit another, what would you do differently??

My New Favorite Tool!

I have been stalling on finishing off my Kauni, as I break out into a sweat whenever I see the words "make  X buttonholes evenly spaced".  Math and I don't get along...

This morning I remembered I had purchased a handy little tool called a Simflex Expanding Sewing Gauge (I got mine at my local sewing/yarn store, but you can find them on the net too). "Simply lay it over your garment and expand it to the desired length for perfectly measured equal distances and accurate spacing from 3/8 inch to 3 3/8 inch. Expands to a total of 24 inches."

In no time, I had 7 perfectly spaced marks for buttons/buttonholes, without having to do any math!  Woot Woot!  I've got 3 more rows then the ribbing is finis, but I had to stop everything and share this nifty tool with y'all.

Cropped Kauni!

My Kauni is off the Wooly Board.  I LOVE the fit.. it is cropped but I'm very short waisted so its perfect!  Still needs the ends woven but I'm almost done.

Ricki