Hibernate

A ver long time ago I bought enough Rowan Purelife British Sheep Breeds Chunky to make the Rosamund's Cardigan from the Fall 2009 Interweave Knits. I couldn't get gauge. Even though the pattern calls for chunky yarn, it's knit at more of a aran gauge, and my fabric was practically bullet proof. So the yarn went back in the stash to wait.

I decided I really did want a sweater/jacket from this lovely rustic wool so I went to Ravelry to hunt up a pattern. I settled on Hibernate by Christina Harris. It's certainly not the most popular pattern on Ravelry (there are only 4 projects) but it had exactly what I wanted. Oversized, styled more like a jacket than a sweater, and in the proper gauge.

At least I thought it was the proper gauge. I was a very irresponsible knitter and did not knit my swatch. The yarn relaxed quite a bit width wise, so my sweater that was supposed to have 4" of positive ease ended up with 8" which turned it from cutely "oversized" to "sack." It's being modeled by my mother in these pictures, and it lives with her now. 

I cut it extremely close on yardage. I knew it would be close and figured I would do the sleeves last and make them 3/4 if I had to (how I thought I would live with a jacket with 3/4 sleeves I don't know...) Luckily, I had just enough to make the sleeves full so crisis averted. This is how much yarn was left over. 

The Rowan yarn is extremely "rustic" there is no way it could be warn next to the skin, which is why I think it's great for this pattern. It has lots of little bits of vegetable matter that was spun into the yarn and, while I didn't notice while I was knitting with it, the yarn is filthy. I washed it after I was done in my laundry machine (didn't use the machine, just filled it up with water and let the sweater soak) and the water was GROSS after the 30 minute soak. See.

The pattern has a few small typos, but overall was very easy to follow and I would recommend it for anyone who already has a little sweater experience under their belt. It's not quite as comprehensive as an absolute sweater beginner might need, but if you were adventurous and willing to look up a technique or two it'd be doable as a first sweater. 

I love the pockets. This particular construction was extremely easy and it would be a fun way to work in a pop of color, because you could do the pocket lining in a fun contrast color. I chose to do mine in some similarly colored Cascade 220 because that was the best option I could find in my stash, but if you planned ahead you could have some fun with it.

I know I say this about every project lately, but despite what my Ravelry account will tell you, this was actually an extremely quick knit. The problem was I just kept getting distracted. I knit big chunks of this in single sessions, but put it on hold over and over. This easily could have been done in two weeks with focus. I'm just really short on focus lately. 

A long time coming

I recently cast off a project that has been on the needles since June of 2010. I think anyone who has been knitting for a while (almost 10 years for me) has these linger projects. Ones that get picked up, a few rows added, then put back down over and over. Mine is Scarf with the No. 20 Edging from "The knitted Lace Pattern Book," 1850 from the book Victorian Lace Today by Jane Sowerby. It's a book with extremely beautiful lace based on traditional Victorian patterns. 

I started this project right after I started working at Yarnia and made my first custom yarn blend.  I used one strand of silk, one strand of cashmere, and two strands of bamboo. Each strand was very fine, so the overall weight is probably a light fingering. 

The construction of this stole is quite unusual. The first scalloped edge is knit from bottom up like a skinny scarf. Then, stitches are picked up along the long non-scalloped edge and the middle panel is knit at a 90 degree angle from the edge. Next, the second scalloped edge is knit down the length of the scarf like a kitted on border working it together with the live stitches from the center panel. 

If you've ever used Yarnia yarn, you know it's not actually plied, each of the strands sit next to each other on the cone and the knitting experiences is like holding several strands of yarn together. This makes the risk of splitting higher than usual and and in a lace project where you're using larger-than-recommended needles it makes for slow going. I'm guessing that's part of why this kept getting set down--it took a lot of focus, and I just don't have as much time to dedicate to projects that need constant attention. 

In the end, it turned out beautiful. My mom claimed it the last time she was up, and it's a little fancy for my wardrobe so I didn't object. Every project in this book is gorgeous, so I will probably cast on another soon... and hopefully get it finished with less delay.