Well, naturally, since I felt like everything was finally starting to go smoothly with my Noro Log Cabin blanket, that was when everything went wrong. The first thing to go wrong actually happened a month or so ago, when I bought the rest of the yarn I needed. The store didn’t have exactly the color I wanted, so I figured that another color would do just fine. After all, Noro shades tend to go well with each other. Well, they do go together, but not in the way I liked. The new colors were just a bit too neon and pastel for my taste, and I spent an awful lot of time looking at it and wondering whether I should rip it back. It’s not usually my style to rip back, so instead I forged ahead and fretted about the colors. You can buy Noro online, I know, but I don’t have easy access to the mail these days. Well, the problem of whether or not to rip back was solved for me. As I jumped up to go look at a stunning sunset, I put down my knitting in my chair. But when I came back to it, it was piled on top of the citronella candle I had been burning. What could have been a disaster was really only localized to a small piece of knitting. One of the many excellent properties of wool is that it is self-extinguishing, so the hole you see here was the only major damage. The way I had joined the squares, I had to rip back to solve the color problem – only I was almost out of all my other main colors. I found some Spincycle yarn at Sheep’s Clothing in Kennewick, Washington that was remarkably close to my main color, and alternated rows with Noro to get a close enough effect in the replacement square.
I figure that I got set back by about a week, and the nights have been getting cooler as we wend our way north. You’d think the answer would be to knit faster, but happily one of the stops along the way was the Pendleton Woolen Mill, where I bought two lovely wool blankets. More on that to come soon. I've already apologized for being late (fashionably, I hope) to the party that is 2015 year-in-review blog posts. There's just so much that happened last year! One of my most exciting accomplishments in 2015 was that I started to design my own sweaters - two with my own handspun! And, while I'd only knit a sweater a year from 2012-2014, in 2015 I made two sweaters and a vest. Not too shabby. I still have a lot to learn about sweater design and fit, but I'm pretty exciting about what I have learned, and I'm loving that I'm taking a more active role in creating my own wardrobe. Scrappy Sweater How I designed it: This sweater is a mishmash of Elizabeth Zimmerman sweaters: the classic EPS, the Brooks, with a v-neck and a shawl collar thrown in. I also designed the colorwork pattern. I wanted subtly shifting colors, without big motifs. What I learned:
This sweater quickly became one of my favorite sweaters - as soon as it was done (and cold enough), I've worn it almost every day. Rest assured, it does get washed, and while it's drying there is a serious hole in my wardrobe. As I mentioned above, I did learn that stranded colorwork stretches vertically when washed and blocked. Of course, I didn't learn that until after knitting the entire sweater, and ended up having to do some surgery on the sleeves to make them shorter. But I do love the long length of the overall sweater because.... I made it too big. This is a roomy sweater, even though (I think) I intended for the result to be more fitted. As I discovered later on in the year, I tend to overestimate what size I need (even after I've measured myself). The Key Takeaways:
Jacob Vest How I designed it: I used an existing vest (like this one) for the initial measurements and worked from there. Added a cable detail at the edges. Pockets + zipper. What I learned:
This vest is extra special to me because it is made from local Jacob wool that I handspun myself. Because there wasn't enough of one color to make a whole vest, I decided to go for an ombre effect. The armholes are a little funky - they're a bit too deep, and at the same time they're too shallow for the edging I chose. I really didn't want to do a knitted-on edging, though that might have worked better. Overall, the coolest thing about this vest are the finishing touches - the zipper and the pockets. They make it a much more wearable item, especially the way I use this vest - as an in-between weathers piece, particularly when hiking. The Key Takeaways:
Old Man Corriedale
How I designed it: This is a mashup of EPS, the measurements of the Jacob vest, and some other sweater design basics. It's not quite done yet, but since all the main pieces were made in 2015, I'm counting it! What I learned:
The body and sleeves of this sweater are made, and I'm almost done seaming the sleeves. The body was made in one piece, and that's where it's fitting a little large. Since it's destined to be a cardigan, I'm planning on lopping off a few inches at the center front before I pick up for the neck band. After that, all that's left are pockets! The Key Takeaways:
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