The drama began when...

The drama for my gift of a Christmas sweater began on December 6th.  My mother and sister were coming up to exchange our gifts on the following Saturday.  That's when it hit me that I hadn't started any Christmas gifts.  Now, it was convenient for them to come up early on the 10th, but, yes, it threw me into a panic.

They came and went, we had a nice visit, and then I knew I had 14 days to make my son a sweater.  Last year it took me 21 days, and I was rushed through that one.  I knew I was cooked this year.  But I started it, and up until 4:00 a.m. on December 25th, I had high hopes.  I quit at 4:00 a.m. and wrapped it unfinished.  I had a sleeve and a half to finish.

Then, over the next days, I did finish it, and now to my woe, have found out it is too big, and I am re-knitting it.  There is a moral to this beginning of the drama - obviously, give yourself enough time.  But also, a moral I am finding out is that maybe it is actually better to give a gift late.

To give myself a slight advantage over time with knitting the first version of this sweater, I had knit the front and back ribbing pieces on straight needles, and then joined them, switched to circular needles, and zoomed to the beginning of the armhole shaping.

Of course, I thought of that after I had made the ribbing.  It was a faster way to knit the body.  I am familiar with traditional Norwegian and Fair Isle knitting, where circular needles are used to knit sweaters in a tube, the sweater is then cut to allow the sleeves to be sewn in, but I was trying to save time after starting a sweater on straight needles, so this is not an example of correct Fair Isle-style knitting.  Just a shortcut.

Now, after ripping out that completed sweater, and giving myself more time, I am adapting a straight-needle pattern to circular knitting.  The pattern I am using is by Paton's, in their "Back to Basics II" pattern book.  It is a book of basic sweaters - an easy foundation for any sweater design.  I am using worsted-weight yarn because I find it easier to work with quickly.  I have started the ribbing on one circular needle, and will knit the body as one piece to the armhole shaping as I did the first time.  When I get to that point, I'll divide and straight-needle up the front and back top pieces.

And here's a hint about what I'm vamping up on this sweater.  The first version was all Periwinkle blue, my son's favorite color.  These sweaters from the Paton's book knit up loose and comfy- so I had thought, a great sweater with jeans.  Well, I'm bring back in a little bit of the Christmas theme to this sweater and adding a border design.  I'm using the book "Alice Starmore's Book of Fair Isle Knitting" for patterns for the border.

I may write up a basic sweater pattern based on the changes and adaptions that I am making to this Paton's pattern, but in the meantime, if you want to do something similar, here's what you might find helpful:

"Back to Basics II" by Paton's

Worsted-weight yarn for the size you are making

1 Boye Balene II 11-inch circular needle in size 5 (sleeves)

2 Boye Balene II 11-inch circular needle in size7 (sleeves)

1 Boye circular needle, size 7, 29 inches (sleeves) (2 if making bands all the way up the sleeve)

1 Boye circular needle 29 inches, size 5 (body ribbing and neckband)

2 Boye circular needle, 29 inches, size 7 (body and upper body) (also use one as a stitch holder, use one as straight needles at top)

That may seem like a lot of different needle sizes to have on hand, but it really isn't and I think most knitters will have them.  The advantage of having all of these needles is this:  If you are making bands or designs in the sweater, they will start after the ribbing is finished.  So, with these needles, you can start the body ribbing, and each sleeve ribbing, and have all three pieces "active" at the same time.  Knit one sleeve's ribbing on a size 5, 11-inch needle, and then move those stitches to a size 7, 11-inch needle, ready for stockinette stitch on circulars.  Then, knit the other sleeve's ribbing on the size 5, 11-inch, and move that to a size 7, 11-inch needle.  Do the same for the body ribbing on a size 5, 29-inch needle.  You now have three active pieces of knitting.

When knitting bands or designs, I use small amounts of left-over yarns from other projects before I buy new yarn.  By having all three pieces active at the same time, I can knit the same band on all three pieces, making sure I have enough yarns and colors, instead of doing the entire body, and then hoping I saved enough yarn for the sleeves.

I think I'm only adding one band to this particular sweater - but the method above can be used no matter how many bands you are knitting.  When I get about 3/4's of the way up the sleeve(s) I start using a longer circular needle (size 7, 29-inch) as a straight needle, allowing me to still knit the majority of each sleeve faster than if on straight needles alone.