Category: sweaters

  • on Patons

    From the comments on my Urban Aran and my last post, it seems I’m getting people to take another look at Patons designs. While their more recent pattern booklets have been all about crazy fluffy/shiny/furry stuff, they actually have some very nice patterns in the older booklets! I really like this one, from Indigo Days:

    I also like the cover sweater from that booklet:

    And for those that asked, the sweater I showed in my last post (“Cabled Pullover with Hood”) is from their “Chunky Knits” booklet. I like the cover sweater of that one too, although I don’t think bell sleeves that big would be terribly practical!

    I think Patons is definitely worth taking a look at – I also like their Classic Wool, although it pills something fierce. It’s rather cheap and plentiful though, and comes in great colours. I’m not sure when I’ll use it again because of the pilling, but I do so love my Must Have cardigan (from “Street Smart”) and I wear it extremely often!

    In other knitting news, I finished the first sleeve of Nordic Memories! I think it looks and feels awesome (I’m using Knitpicks Merino Style), but my colourwork is, well, kinda crappy. Very uneven. Sometimes a row of motifs or two is just fine, sometimes too loose (not often too tight). I think it’s the colourwork on the wrong side that’s screwing me up – my purl stitches are already looser than my knit stitches; throw in trying to keep 7-stitch floats loose and it’s all a bit dicey.

    And egged on by all your, uh, encouragement, I bought a bunch of stuff off Elann today – 18 skeins of highland chunky in “oxford grey heather” and 10 skeins of baby cashmere in “pewter” (hmmm…do I like grey?). I also purchased the patons “Chunky Knits” booklet from them.

    Oh, we all know I would’ve bought the yarn anyway, encouragement or not!

  • new year, new project

    I’ve been working away on something new and exciting – my first fair isle project!

    It’s the “Nordic Memories” pullover from Interweave Knits, fall 2003 (the first issue I ever bought). I’m using Knitpicks Merino Style, which is lovely. I’ve definitely got tension problems, but I’m forging ahead anyway! Things are getting better as I move along – and since it’s so fun, that’s pretty quickly!

  • BPT FO

    BPT
    Pattern: BPT by Rebecca Hatcher, from Knitty
    Yarn: Malabrigo worsted in “Azul Profundo”, 5 skeins
    Needles: Denise US 7
    Finished: December 29, 2005

    Notes:
    Yay! Finally done and it feels so good! I put in the zipper today, and it wasn’t too bad although it isn’t perfect – there’s a bit of a ripple, and sort of a point at the bottom. I think it’s fine though, and I usually wear my sweaters half done up, so you can’t really see anything wrong.
    The yarn, Malabrigo, is gorgeous. Although it did have a vinegar-y smell initially, it went away with washing – and I’m no stranger to vinegar, since I use it all the time in dyeing. I alternated skeins, which was a pain but worth it – no strange pools or blobs anywhere. I know the yarn isn’t going to hold up too well, but I’ll get me a sweater shaver. It’s soooo soft and warm.

    Oh, and – I obviously didn’t do the hood, as I don’t really like hoods and didn’t have enough yarn anyway. Actually, I didn’t do anything for the neck – it’s just the cast on edge! Looks fine, so that’s the way it’s staying!

    I’ve got another FO, too – the blue sky bulky from my previous post has become a nice cushy scarf for me.

    I used 2 skeins of brown with US 17 needles, 8 stitches in 1×1 rib. It’s long enough to wrap around twice. I probably knit and ripped this thing about 5 times, because I just couldn’t get the right combination of needles, number, and stitch pattern! However, since the yarn is so very bulky, it always worked back up in no time at all.

    On the demise of the retro ribs: it just was doing it for me. I think it was a little too much work for not a lot of payoff – the pattern just wasn’t popping the way I wanted, and I hated all that ktbl and purling, really. Ah well. I’m thinking maybe the Friday Harbour socks (from Knitting on the Road) for that yarn.

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