Audrey A-Long

Front/Back Armhole Shaping

Hello all, I have a question for those who have been there already about the armhole shaping for the front and back. For sizes S, M and XL, you begin the piece with K0, then P2, K2, etc. So when you get to the armhole, unlike the instructions for the sleeves in my size, casting off 5 results in an uneven number of stitches for the next row, where I am directed to P2, K2, P1, P2tog, rib to end, &c. In other words, for P2, I am purling one purl stitch, and purling one knit stitch, and so on, for the first 7 stitches. Is this an error? Should I just slavishly follow the directions and hope it looks okay?
And looking ahead to the neck edging, my other question is, whatsa yfrn? I know what a yfwd is, but yfrn is a new one. Rowan doesn't even define it on the information page.
I'm otherwise having a great time with this sweater--yarn, pattern, color (I chose the coral), everything. I can't wait to post a picture with me in it!

Audrey take two

I decided to redo the neckband on my Audrey because after trying it on again a few times, it didn't sit on my shoulders securely enough and was just too loose at the back. I unpicked it using a pair of embroidery scissors and reknit the band. This time I had 18 pattern repeats and sewed it on making sure I stretched it quite a bit. I used overcast stitching and took up about 3-4 stitches of garment for each couple of rows of neckband. You can see the photos on my blog.

I'm very tempted to make another Audrey in a contrasting colour. This design is so flattering and comfortable to wear. It's the kind of top that if you flew to Rome and indulged in some pasta and gelati and gained a few pounds in the process, it would still look good on you.

Modeling Audrey

If you would like to see some pictures of me modeling my finished Audrey, have a look at my blog.

I have a question to all of you who finished their Audrey: don't you have the impression that Calmer looses its elasticity after wearing it a couple of times? This is my impression. I wore my Audrey twice last week (it's quite cold here in Germany) and I think it's getting looser... But maybe it depends on the way I knit. I would like to know your opinion.

Swatched!!

Finally, after all this time, I've gotten fed up enough with Elfin to abandon it for a few days and start Audrey. Calmer is an appropriate name for this yarn because it represents my life having calmed down enough to have time to actually knit with it. I've posted on my blog an entry about Audrey, and will update with more pictures tomorrow. I'm rockin' the sleeves and finally figured out what needles I'm using, even if I can't find circs <>. My Audrey is in Amour and deserves my love. It's my first foray into stretchy cotton and wowzers it's squiggly. I'm enjoying it though. Finally settled on Boye aluminums US 8. If nothing else the Vegas-y glitzy turquoise will keep me awake.

Aussie Audrey

I was going to wait until she was complete but with all the other progess I have been reading I just want to show mine off. It is in the Red, even though the pic looks pink! I have slipped her on and the darts really do their job....this sweater may even have to take responsibility for a third child by the look in my husband's eye!!

Getting closer

I'm not quite there yet, but I'm getting there. My sleeves are almost done. (I'm doing them both at the same time and only have about 12 rows to go.) I don't know what it is, but sleeves always seem endless to me. And these HAVE taken longer than the body did, even with all the darts. Go figure. But I'm almost done, and then it's just the neckline and some seams and I can breakfast with my niece, Tiffany, in true Audrey style!

Deb in NJ

Heading to Sleeve Island

Hi everyone! While on vacation, I finished the front, and since then I have been cruising on the back. I expect to finish the back tonight and start the sleeves this weekend. Who's on sleeve island now? Will you save me a mai tai and a cabana boy?

One question: Has anyone considered three-quarter-length sleeves? I think I may try to attempt them, but thought I'd see if someone had been down that road before.

If I can figure out how to work the photo software, I'll try to post some progress pics soon.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

So Close You Can Taste It...

Hi all,

just a progress report - I spent the evening seaming listening to my fave radio program, and my Audrey is just one sleeve seam and the neckband away from being done. And she fits!!

Happy Friday everyone!

Flamingos and Squirrels

I can't find a LYS that carries Calmer, so I'm ordering online. I'm comfortable with that, but the two colors that speak to me from the web look different on different websites, so I'm hoping that someone who has seen these colors in person can help me. Is Flamingo really pink or is it somewhat peachy? Sometimes it looks like a true pale pink and other times like a yellowy pink. What about Squirrel? On the web it looks black, but Calmer comes in Onyx, so I'm guessing Squirrel is a deep gray color. Any help would be much appreciated. I'm dying to get going with this and all I need is the yarn.

Thanks!

Susan

Finished!

Yesterday night I finished my Audrey. Well, it is not perfect, but it looks good, doesn't it? Anyway, I am quite proud :-)
I think I shoud have knitted XS instead of S, as it is a little big, but it's OK.
The colour is Coral and I made 19 pattern repeats for the neckband.
Sorry that you cannot see my face, but it was late at night as I compelled my husband to take pictures and I didn't look as well as the sweater.

Axilla!

Hello all!

I have finally finished one sleeve (with the other halfway done!) I was so pleased the armholes match up that I had to share a picture. This is fairly close to the actual color, although still a bit paler than reality.

Thanks for all the pictures of finished Audreys - they have been inspiring!

Finished!

I've done Audrey last night!! So happy i could finally finish her in my size, and the grey color turned out better than i expected. I think it pairs well with any bottoms. I usually wear a pair of jeans but i would love to have a new skirt to go with Audrey. It is early summer in tokyo and the weather is too muggy for wearing Audrey. Thanks God, the wather was rain last night and very cool, and i could enjoy putting her on and of several times in front of mirros.

Finally, a sleeve

Here is a close-up of my first sleeve. The entire, glorious length can be seen in my blog. I feel as though I should be making more progress, it's as though I'm knitting in slow motion. I love the Calmer, though, so it's a pleasure at whatever speed. Seeing all the finished Audreys is a real motivator -- they all look so wonderful!

To block .. or not to block ??

Okay, let's talk about blocking. Humour me here - I'm nowhere near finished but I'm the kind of gal whose head (and mouth !) is always running about 50 times faster than she's actually moving.

Did all you finished Audreyers block or not ? I've been kind of stretching her about a bit and I just can't decide if she's going to need it or not ?

I've ruined too many hours of knitting in the past with the old heavy handed steam iron to take a chance here and it looks like Audrey could be a "self-blocker" with blocking happening from the inside out as it were, with one's "natural pressure points" stretching out those tight areas ??

The finished Audreys around me are beautiful, but I may be in danger of being an Audrey drop-out! I'm trying to follow Tiffany's version of the darts, but I've managed to confuse myself to no end. I'm hoping someone can shed some light on a couple of points for me:

On Tiffany's double decrease, are the K2togs & SSKs comprised of 2 knit sts (i.e., K2tog, P2, SSK), or of one knit st & its adjacent purl with no column of sts separating them?

Or, should I just follow the original? Or, should I just toss the stupid thing out the window? If I can get past this, I may have a chance here!

The final results

After a nice dip in the calmer pool, here is my contribution to the Audrey effort!

I'm quite pleased with the results, but I too am in the summer months of Texas and it will be to warm to wear her beautifulness for a while. Fortunately I have a few trips up north planned this summer and now have the most fabulous sweater to bring with me.

Love, love, love the calmer! In fact, I think Iris (also from Rowan 35) may be in my near future. Even though it's hot outside, it's always freezing anywhere you go in the summer.

Finishing frenzy.

Yes, Audrey is a-finished! Finally. I think it took me longer to sew her together than to knit her. I kept putting it off because it was too hot to wear her, but I'm glad I finally did.

I've been checking out the finished Audreys, and counting the pattern repeats in everyone's neckband. Turns out that you can really vary the look of this sweater by expanding the neckband and showing more chest and collarbone, or staying truer to the pattern and using the neckband to cinch up the sweater. I wouldn't have minded having a looser neckband, rather like Anne's Audrey, but it would have made the increases and decreases hit me in all the wrong places, so I kept the neckband tighter. I can't give up the idea of knitting Audrey again, so I may keep the idea of a looser neckline in mind when I plan for the shaping.

All-in-all I found Audrey to be a quick fun knit, and I loved using the Rowan Calmer, and would love to make another sweater in Calmer soon.

PINCH ME!

Am I awake? Alive? This is a moment I was beginning to think I'd never get to. After so many starts and frogs and restarts I stopped counting, I just cast off the back of my Audrey, and it looks GOOD! I found the directions ambiguous (well, lacking completely really) as to how to stay in rib for the increases, and after many tries, I finally settled on a way that I feel looks best. It may be different from everyone else's -- we shall see. And we shall also see whether I can remember how to do it for the other body piece! (argh)
I was more than a little peeved when I tried to see how it was done in the picture, only to find out that in both model shots, the darts are completely covered up by -- arms (his and hers)! It's almost as if they don't WANT you to see them. RRR.

I also shortened everything so the resulting piece is 2.5 inches shorter. I'm 5'3" and I didn't want this sweater ending down around my hips. Unfortunately no photo, because I couldn't get a good shot without natural light. Leaving on a trip across the Adirondacks to pick up our daughter from college tomorrow. I have not had good luck with Audrey in the car in the past -- seems she gets carsick --so I'm trying to decide whether to leave her at home or give her another chance. (yarn Dramamine, you think?)

Audrey is Done!

I finished her yesterday evening.

Thanks for all your neckdand sewing tips -- I followed your advice and am very happy with the way it turned out.

I used slightly less than 6.5 balls of Calmer for the 36" size. I did 19 pattern repeats for the neckband and I think that worked out just right.

Now my only problem is that we are in the middle of a heatwave here in Washington DC. I have a feeling that poor Audrey will have to wait until the autumn before she gets to have an outing!

It's Here!

My calmer arrived yesterday at my LYS. I didn't have to swatch as I have knit with the yarn before and I know that I need to go down a needle size. I started the ribbing last night (boy, is this going to go slow...) and got to my increases (Yikes!)... pulled out my printed copy of some previous posts to refer to and did one set. I believe the reference was based on a size M, and I am knitting the L, so am not sure if the directions are exact, or are reversed... I guess I will find out soon enough! I am not even sure what I should look for as a finished product. I am sure you will here more on THAT again!

Wanna Neck?

My Audrey does!

I finished her body, and sewed her together last night. And tried her on. At the risk of being accused of shameless self-promotion . . . hubba hubba!

I didn't do any blocking at all (as should be evident from my photo) because I love the way the 2x2 rib naturally fits itself to one's shape. Audrey looks miserable and skinny, lying there flat. But when I put her on, well, she makes me look halfway between Audrey and Sophia, I think!

So, the neckband.

I've started knitting the neckband and will have it done at some point tonight. I'd be interested to hear how those of you who have completed Audrey have sewn the neckband to the body. The generic finishing instructions in the pattern book say to do neckbands with a "flat seam." I guess it's just a matter of trial and error to figure out what looks best.

Gauge Woes

I started swatching yesterday, and I cannot manage to get gauge for this. Half of my problem is this yarn is so very stretchy, and I'm afraid of putting too much tension in it, so it's coming out unevenly. My first swatch? Had a wavy bottom, which I noticed about halfway through so I frogged it all and started over.

Any tips from those more experienced with Calmer on how to handle the stretchiness and tension? Thanks in advance! I so love this yarn, and I just want it to love me back.

I have it!

My Calmer has arrived and is in my possession. Not without some trials and tribulations (a wee bit o' ranting in my own blog). I am very excited to get started. Here's a pic. The color is "Laurel," and it seems pretty true on my computer. I think it's lovely and will complement both me (brown-ish hair) as well as K&A, my two redheads, and even M, a blonde. Yeah, we're a colorful bunch!

Progress

So, i am still working on body of Audrey. I followed original pattern, translated pattern in japanese , and some tips from knit-along.... and when i came to the darts increase, i was almost mixed up and made silly mistake and couldn't tell why it happened for a little while. Oh, I might be very tired. And what is worse, my tension is getting tighter and it seemed too small for me even i took account of yarn's strechness and ribbing. Ok, ok, all i have to do now is ripping all the way. I usually hate to ripping but all your posts and especially finished pictures of Audrey encourage me alot.

Decrease Detail

Clever Sleeve Cap Decreases

First you don't hear from me for two weeks, then you get two posts almost in succession. I am very inspired by the beautiful Audreys that have been completed so far. So far, it looks like this pattern is a real winner. Over the weekend I got to feeling a bit guilty about not having started my Audrey yet.

So I followed in Becky's footsteps and decided that I would start with a sleeve and get a better feel for my Calmer and the pattern. If you want to see the full sleeve in all it's narrow glory, you can check out my main blog. I thought I would just post the close-up detail here of the decreases. Aren't they clever and neat? This gives me a lot of hope for the decreases and increases on the body of the sweater.

This sleeve has also convinced me that I need to get Audrey into my main rotation soon.

P.S. to anyone worried about getting started late -- there's still plenty of time, so don't feel rushed. I'll be knitting along with you for quite some time!

Christine-Come-Lately

Hiya! No yarn yet, so needless to say, I have not started... but have been thinking about it (alot!) I have already knit with Calmer and just adore it! My LYS told me the yarn should be in soon... I am going to knit using the Calmer "Coral". I was wondering has anyone considered making it 3/4 length sleeves?? I would like to have 3/4 sleeves instead. Any ideas?

Audrey done ..... but rather Sophia ??!!??

Here she comes, my Audrey is done ....

... but I'm not an Audrey at all, but much rather a Sophia !! While my - well - "upper balcony" (as Wendy called it in here blog - nice expression!) usually doesn't bother me at all, in this sweater it looks a lot more than there really is !! Do you think I can go to work wearing this sweater ??!!??
Anyway, the yarn was a real pleasure to work with, the instructions were well written and easy to follow and I got gauge the first try. I think there will be more Rowan designs for me in the future.
I also just looooved the idea of knitting along with others and seeing everybody elses progress, reading questions and answers and beeing part of the party !!
Thanks a lot to the hosts, I will keep on checking in here and reading about all the other Audreys!

Hey, any more Sophias out there ?!?

Greeetings from Germany !

Experimenting with Shaping

Sorry to be such an absentee party hostess. I'm glad to see that everyone's been helping themselves to the goodies in the pantry. I can't believe that we've got 61 guests enjoying this party. Welcome everyone!

(Becky, did you find the kir behind the bar? With all those ribbed sleeves you've been working on, I thought you might want a little apero...)

I don't have any Audrey progress to show yet (yes, someone just started her Audrey last Saturday..) but I will show you all a little experiment I tried with the shaping decreases. I don't think that I will be doing this myself (I will probably stick with the pattern as written, since I've seen several success stories here), but I thought I would present my experiement so that everyone can see the results.

A Different Approach to the Decreases

In this case, I decresed the decrease row interval by half and shrunk the width of the piece down by about 50%. Then, I did those decreases such that they travelled across the knit ribs, rather than having them line up on the vertical. The increases mirror the decreases. I think it creates an interesting dynamic in the fabric. It's not exactly right for Audrey, but it has given me cause to think about designing something of my own, using this element.

Not that I have time to design anything right now. Maybe someday. I do find Calmer to be a very inspirational yarn.

the horror... a.k.a. do not play with scissors

For those of you with delicate constitutions please do not read on because this is not a pretty picture…

So I was finishing up my shoulder seams, feeling quite proud of myself, and then going back to whipstitch the seams on the inside like a good little knitter and I found a little spot where I had inadvertently caught the bodice to the seam, “no big deal,” I thought to myself, “I’ll just snip this seam and redo it”. (Gasp from the audience) Yep, I did it, I just snipped and then screamed and cursed and said words very unbecoming of a lady. Did I simply get the seam, no, that would good and this my dear friends is not good. I, in fact, cut a stitch in the bodice of my almost finished sweater. My husband came running and I was yelling “hold that yarn, right there, don’t let it go” as I frantically (okay, not really that frantically but I’m telling a story) tied extra yarn to the now cut yarn in the bodice of my sweater. It was a delicate process worthy of an ER episode, and I think I only lost one or two stitches. I expect a full recovery. If you need to see the wound, take a look, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.

the damage

Okay, it doesn't look like much now, and I know it could be worse, but at the time… well, those of you that have done it know. Interestingly enough, there are no instructions anywhere on how to fix this problem, recklessly cutting your knitting either isn’t a problem for most or is so horrific that the professionals don’t discuss it. One of my good friends told me to take two aspirin, drink a glass of wine and deal with it in the morning – good advice (like I said, not so bad today.) My approach was to head off to my favorite yarn store's Mother’s Day sale for a fiber fix. My hubbie made the sweetest comment, “Oh, if that didn’t happen you could have finished it today, right?”

Getting Started

I picked up my Rowan Calmer and Magazine #35 a couple of weekends ago, and will commence swatching this week. Since there's really not much spring to speak of 'round these parts (Cincinnati, OH), I decided that Audrey would work best as a fall sweater. Especially after seeing the Coffee Bean color of the Calmer. I need more brown sweaters, anyhow.

Right now, I'm thinking I'm going to attempt to use Tiffany's darts, since I do like they way they look better than the ones given in the pattern. However, should I get confused, I'm very happy to see that all of the finished pieces using the pattern darts look just fine!

All You Redheads -- Into the Pool!

It looks as though Pool is the color of choice for us fair-skinned green-eyed redheads! I appear to be in very good company.

I was in the throes of Audrey knitting all weekend, and finished the front and the back:

I started the first sleeve as well, but just have an inch or so done on it.

For the sleeve increases, I plan on doing them 2 stitches in from each edge. I think that'll give me nice neat increases.

Oh, and I bought some Calmer in "coffee bean" on Friday -- another Audrey may be in my future. Another idea is to alter the Audrey pattern to keep the shaping in the body, but to make it a regular crewneck or turtleneck.

I'll have to think about that.

Becky, I'll have to keep an eye out for a vintage Vespa! But I also want a hunky Italian guy to go with it . . .

Coffee anyone?

I recently experienced a hard disk failure and lost my info about how to post here, but I've got almost everything restored and back to normal now, and I'm ready to update!

I'm knitting Audrey in Coffee Bean, which is a rich dark brown just as the name suggests. I finished knitting all the pieces of Audrey a couple of weeks ago, but lost steam to sew her together since the temps in my part of CA have been a little too warm to wear her. But I picked her up again this weekend and finished all the seaming except the lace neckband. Let me just say that this yarn is a-stretchy! Sans the neckband, when I tried her on, the neckline of the sweater just stretched out and was giving me a Flashdance peek-a-boo shoulder kind of look. I'm glad that I decided to go with the smaller size--even though I was nervous about it through all the knitting--knowing that anything I knit in a normal non-stretchy yarn would be too small for me knitting the size I was.

I got about halfway through sewing the neckband on when I realized it wasn't going to work. I needed to match up the fabric better so that I didn't end up with the bodice all bunched up at the end. Hmmm, gotta figure out how to do this. At this point I tried on the sweater to see how it looked and for the most part it looked great, but I also noticed that the neckband was drooping a bit. When I stretched it out more, it didn't droop. So in addition to doing the seam again, I think I need to rip out a couple of the lace pattern repeats and shorten the neckband.

Does anyone have any tips about sewing on the neckband? How many of the lace pattern repeats are in the finished neckbands? Thanks for any tips you can send my way.

Jump into the Pool

Yippee! I'm almost done! Just have to sew up the arms, knit about 22 more repeats of the collar and stitch it on, then I'm ready for an evening on the town. The bodice was done in the round which saves some sewing time - yeah! And I already have my sassy black capris and slingback patent leather pumps waiting. Now if I can just beat the Texas heat all will be good.

Would love to join in on the Pool photo shoot, but I'm guessing distance would be a problem. It sounds like pool is the color choice for us fairskinned gals.

And I definitely agree with Heather's curvaliscious comments. I am a little more Sophia and little less Audrey in shape and when I tried on the body... well, let's just say the husband was pleased.

Hi

Clare here in Dublin. Just finished the back and almost finished first sleeve. I decided to take a break from those darts and maybe come up with a better way of doing them. Don't you just love this yarn, it is so soft. I ordered amour, I thought that was the colour featured in the rowan mag (of course I never read the actual colour). But I still love it, it is sort of dark red colour.
Will post some photos soon.
Clare

Greetings from tokyo

I'm Minako from Japan. I have just joined this knit-along yesterday. I found this knit-along on someone's blog before and immediately fell in love with the Audrey. So I dared to try my first Rowan project. It's literally a big challenge for me as i usually knit only socks, gloves and such small things.

I got the latest issue of Rowan magazine in a little while but couldn't decide which yarn to use. First, I thought it is too expensive for me (beginner at not-small-project), but there was no yarn that alike Calmer around me and i thought it must be result best in Calmer, so i finally went Rowan shop to see color way and got them. The color i chose is dark grey, that would be match my black hair. The Calmer is definetely different from any yarn i considered for substitution. Very stretchy and soft.

So i started from sleeves (picture above), finished them, and now i am on first piece of body, just before darts decrease. So excited! I am going to try Tiffany's solution. I have read through past entries and comments and realized how this knit-along helps me alot. I appreciate so much.

Newbie Knit-alonger!

Hello all! I just joined the Audrey Knit-along and thought I ought to say hello.

I hadn't thought about making Audrey until I saw Becky's sleeve photo the other day on her blog, and her description of how wonderful Calmer is. Impressionable girl that I am, I ordered me up some Calmer, in "Pool." I have a pale complexion, dark green eyes, and dark reddish blonde hair, and all shades of teal and turquoise are flattering for me.

When my Pool Calmer arrived, I fell immediately in love. I swatched, got gauge with my 4.5mm Addi turbos, and started the back. And here it is:

I've got the decreases done, and have started the increases.

I read through most of the back posts on this knit-along blog and see that there's been a lot of interesting discussion about doing the decreases and increases. I'm doing mine according to the pattern (well, how I interpret the pattern at any rate), and I'm fine with the way they look.

But then, I'm famous for not caring about details. :-)

But now I'm dreaming about what I'm gonna wear Audrey with. My first thought -- black tailored trousers. But then I thought -- ooh! White pants! And then . . . khakis!

And as it happens, I have a gorgeous black leather miniskirt hanging in my closet, a relic from my younger days. I've been on a diet since the beginning of the year and I betcha I could fit into it nicely again. Audrey with a leather miniskirt! And sexy black pumps.

Of course, there is the problem of sitting down in the leather miniskirt. Not easily accomplished. But one must sacrifice comfort for glamour, n'est-ce pas?

Curva-liscious !

This really is the Sophia Loren / Marilyn Monroe of sweaters isn't it ? I mean I know it's an Audrey but shapewise I'm thinking more "DANGER - CURVES AHEAD!" is what we're talking about ??

I've just finished my back and I'm loving it . Gorgeous to knit - gorgeous to look at, so long as you don't look too close at my increases (if you really want to see them there's a better picture on my blog !). I very carefully read all the advice and comments here and then just charged ahead and knitted them as they appeared on the needles before me - fools rush in ! But they're fine if you kind of half-close your eyes and look sideways at them, honest !

Body is done!

Okay, I've got the front and back of my Audrey finished. I knit them circularly up to the armhole shaping, and then finished the halves separately. Now, I get to start the sleeves!

The next decision, though, is that I'm leaving on vacation on Saturday. Do I want to bring my 2/3-done Audrey with me? Or start something else? It's only a four night trip with my Mom and my dog, and we always bring a read-a-long book with us to read aloud to one another while the other is driving, and at night instead of watching tv . . . so the question is, how much knitting time will I REALLY have? (grin)

Still, excited about my progress!

Deb in NJ