02.27.06
Olympic Wrap-Up and Finished Object: Tubey
This is more than a little anti-climactic, given that you all saw my finished Tubey during the medal ceremony. Speaking of which, thank you all for your wonderful comments on my last post and for thinking Team College Hill was fun and funny as opposed to cerebrally addled. Or at least for only mentioning the fun and funny part.
I also appreciated your words of encouragement when I wound up having to frog several inches of Tubey with only 24 hours to go. I’m very glad I went to the trouble. Even though I think there’s still an ill-placed darkish stripe, the overall effect isn’t nearly as 19th-century corset as it was before. Besides, the fact is that it’s a close-fitting sweater and my waist is pretty narrow compared to my hips. So I’m calling it a success in that area.
Redoing half the body in the last day turned my easy coast to the finish into a fairly exciting sprint. Driving home from our friends’ house in Connecticut Sunday morning was a race against time, and the race was not made any more pleasant by the car sickness I was battling most of the way. I figured I could either stop knitting and forfeit the gold, or keep knitting and throw up on Tubey. Since the yarn is machine washable, I decided to risk the latter. Fortunately the worst did not happen, but I did have to lie down for 20 minutes after weaving in my last end at 1:55. (The Olympic deadline, for those who did not live and breathe this challenge for 16 days, was 2 p.m.)
I am very pleased that I participated in the Olympics for myriad reasons. First and foremost was the fun I had with Team College Hill. Second was ending up with a great sweater in a short amount of time. And finally, I think I established some new habits for myself through this process, as the competition seemed to make me hold my knitting to a higher standard than usual. For example, I learned a terrific new provisional cast on rather than going with the lame clumsy one I usually use; I attempted to make my stripes jogless two different ways (limited success, but still); and I didn’t hesitate (much) to frog when things just plain needed to be frogged. I hope to carry these habits forward with my in my non-Olympic knitting.
So without further ado (and I realize that this was quite a lot of ado), I present my finished Tubey.
Pattern: Tubey from the Winter 2005 Knitty
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in (I think) chocolate (008), moss (003), dusty pink (603), and beige (102). I’m not positive about those, though — the ball bands are long gone.
Notes: What a great pattern. It is ridiculously easy — I honestly can’t think of an easier sweater pattern — and it yields a really cute, flattering sweater. (Also just the littlest bit sexy.) There is so little shaping it’s not worth mentioning, there is zero finishing, and the fit is very forgiving in almost all ways (that is, there aren’t very many measurements you have to stress about getting exact). I highly recommend it for all those reasons.
Aside from inventing my own stripe layout, I modified the pattern only very slightly. I made the size extra-small, which calls for 160 stitches for the body tube. After starting this once I worried it would be too loose, so I ripped back and picked up/cast on 144 stitches instead. In retrospect, I think a better move would have been to pick up the original number but knit the body with a needle one size smaller. I have seen this recommended elsewhere, including in the Tubey knitalong.
The other key to getting this pattern to fit well is the cross-back measurement, which is the distance from center armpit to center armpit across your back with your arms held forward (this requires a buddy — someone whose fingers you feel comfortable having in your armpits). There can be no fudging this measurement (which translates to the length of the part of the arm tube that is knit back and forth, between the in-the-round sleeves), because if you make it too long (even by a bit) you’ll get lots of bunchiness in the back, and if you make it too short you’ll be pinched by your own sweater. But get it right and you’re pretty much golden.
I liked working with the DB Cashmerino pretty well, and wearing the sweater next to my skin for most of Sunday afternoon and evening was a delight. I have heard less-than-stellar things about how it wears over time, but I can’t really speak to that now. I do plan to wear this sweater a lot (hooray!), so maybe I’ll report back sometime if I think of it.
Thinking of making this sweater? Do it. You won’t regret it. It’s a quick knit: if I hadn’t had three fairly significant frogging episodes, I could have finished in well under the 16 days it took me. (As it was, it was sort of exciting to weave in my last end just 5 minutes shy of the deadline.)
In closing, I just want to say how annoyed I am that in none of my blog posts have I gotten a chance to use the hilarious “Tubey? Or not Tubey? That is the question,” which I thought of several weeks ago. Now that Tubey’s done, there isn’t much to question about it anymore. Still, I was so vastly entertained by my own pun that I couldn’t let it go without awkwardly working it in here.
Theresa said,
February 27, 2006 at 9:39 pm
Wahoo! I get to be first, too! Yeah, I appreciated that.
Obviously I love Tubey. Great photos, too, Matt.
I think I need some better photos of me in Am Kamin – I don’t have any without the gold medal. As much as I love the gold medal, documentation begs otherwise.
Erin said,
February 27, 2006 at 9:47 pm
Looks great! And the stripe pattern turned out really nicely, in my humble opinnion. I wouldn’t have thought of putting those colors together, but they go really well.
Great job!
Shelagh said,
February 27, 2006 at 9:53 pm
I was trapped under the weight of my last minute Olympic finishing or I would have commented on your past 2 posts. I am SOOOOOooooo glad you frogged that spooky rubberband breath-choking stripe. Painful, as I’m sure it was, it looks 1 billion times better now. Secondly, my parents, who live in RI, have saved the hard copy of the paper with YOU and your wonderful team. FREAKIN’ AWESOME to get projo coverage. And your medal ceremony was touching. I only wish I still lived in Prov so I could have been a member of the team (although I may not have been admitted, there is a school affiliation requirement, right?). Priceless. Excellent coverage, Rachel. And a great looking Tubey. For me, Tubey, or not Tubey – I’m shorter and fuller figured than you, my dear.
Chris said,
February 27, 2006 at 10:38 pm
I’m glad you reknit, because it looks so much better! Gorgeous and flattering – yay!!
kim said,
February 27, 2006 at 11:26 pm
your tubey is an inspiration. you did the right thing by using the yarn as called for by the pattern. I tried to sub and ended up frogging and moving to something else. Great job, great colors – it looks fabulous on you. Wear it with pride!
Areli said,
February 27, 2006 at 11:54 pm
What a cute sweater. I appreciate your careful notes. I have considered this sweater but have been unsure because of the bunching in the back, but you seem to have taken care of that problem. I really like the colors you used, they go very well together.
karenology said,
February 28, 2006 at 12:56 am
Wow, your version of Tubey is even more gorgeous than the original. I think I’d better try this when I get a chance. Fantastic job!
Amy said,
February 28, 2006 at 8:05 am
Yea Rachel! Your sweater looks so fantastic on you, it makes me want to drop everything and knit one for myself.
Amy
Mary Ann said,
February 28, 2006 at 8:41 am
Ha-ha-ha, love the pun. And the sweater is great.
Suzanne said,
February 28, 2006 at 10:42 am
What a gorgeous sweater. I dont think that it just flatters you though…I think that you flatter it. It is the best Tubey I have seen.,,
Sara said,
February 28, 2006 at 11:12 am
That sweater looks amazing. it’s so flattering on you, and i love the colors.
Laura said,
February 28, 2006 at 12:04 pm
It is truly a great sweater for you. I like your version so much better than the original–the colors are better and the striping pattern is better. I didn’t care for the pattern when I first saw it, but yours makes the pattern more attractive to me. However, horizontal stripes scare me. A lot. If I ever made this, I would make it solid. Or make the arms one color and the body an other color.
blossom said,
February 28, 2006 at 12:30 pm
your tubey is so lovely. beautiful stripes. you have the most delicate features… so beautiful.
Marisa said,
February 28, 2006 at 5:19 pm
Thanks for the nice comments on my blog :-) You’re Tubey turned out lovely, I love the pink!
emily said,
February 28, 2006 at 7:50 pm
i love your tubey (and your pun, hehe.)! it looks so great on you, and the colors go great together. go rachel! :D
Alex said,
March 1, 2006 at 1:43 am
Oh wow, it looks fantastic! It’s so flattering, and the stripes turned out really well. And a whole sweater made of that DB yarn must be lovely to wear. Congrats!
Wonderland Knitter said,
March 1, 2006 at 12:26 pm
Great job on the Tubey! You picked such cute colors and they look great on you! And I too, love the pun! I’ve added you to my daily reads.
Thanks for stopping by my blog!
Susan
Emily said,
March 1, 2006 at 10:44 pm
That is a perfect sweater! It looks great on you and I (still) want to rave about the colors.
You guys are Too Cute with your medals.
laura said,
March 2, 2006 at 12:28 am
Ooooo I LOVE the colors!
Laurie said,
March 2, 2006 at 11:22 am
Congrats on your “medal”! It looks like the ceremony was a lot of fun.
Tubey looks so neat, I had to go and print out the pattern.
Oh no! Another Knitty pattern in the “Gotta DO” file.
deety said,
March 3, 2006 at 4:37 pm
I think your stripes and color choices are much more attractive than the “official” version. This pattern has tempted me, but unfortunately I think it’s a bit too slinky for my small amount of stomach bulge. It looks fantastic on you though! Good choice!
Katie said,
March 4, 2006 at 2:07 pm
Wow! Congrats on pulling that off–you earned that gold! Tubey looks great.
christine said,
March 6, 2006 at 1:59 pm
Rachel – the twins’ sweaters are wonderful!!!
Allison said,
March 7, 2006 at 12:28 pm
Rachel, thank you for being so nice about my copying your striping pattern! I think I’ve gotten it well enough from your blog photos, but I wondered–can you estimate how much of the accent colors you used? I have some stash yarn I’d like to use up, but I’m not sure I have enough for the wider stripes.
Kelly said,
March 19, 2006 at 1:42 pm
I saw a picture of your tubey on someone elses blog but I didn’t know what your link was so I couldn’t comment on it. I looove your colour combo’s, it really turned out fabulous! You’ve got me wanting to make this sweater!
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