Apologies for the photo- it sucks. Alas, daylight time is short around these parts…
Rhinebeck Sweater 2006; handspun colourwork extraordinaire!
Pattern: my own, sorta based on EZ’s yoke sweater
Yarn: My own handspun merino, 3ply; 1 pound (approx. 700 yards) of the main colour and ummm…some of each of the other colours. Not too much of each, less than 50 g each. All contrast colours handdyed by me!
Needles: Denise US7
Finished: the Tuesday before Rhinebeck!
This sweater was a lot of fun. Unfortunately I forgot to ask someone to take a photo of me in it at Rhinebeck! The best photo, I think, of me in the sweater is here, in Mel’s flickr.
I’m planning on writing up a more detailed “recipe”, but here’s basically what I did – swatch, determine gauge of 18 sts/4″, provisionally cast on 160 stitches for a 35″ sweater. Knit the body in the round, adding a couple of increases and decreases for the waist. Knit up the sleeves, also with a provisional cast on, then joined it all together and knit a couple rounds plain with the main colour (I wanted the colourwork to be a bit on the higher side).
Up until that point I didn’t know what I was going to do for the colourwork, so when I got there I had a bit of work with graph paper and pencils to do! I did the first motif, then decreased the number of stitches by 25%, did the second motif (the red/yellow zigzag), decreased by 33%, then did some stripes and such and decreased again by 33%. I also incorporated short rows to raise the back neck. Then I went back to the cast-on edges and did the ribbing – I’d cast on provisionally because I wasn’t sure how long the main colour was going to last.
When the sweater hit water though…it grew a lot in length. I was a bit freaked out. In a bit of panic the night before the trip, I…put the sweater in the dryer. Just for a bit, about 20 minutes total. You can feel how the yoke and contrast edges firmed up, but they’re not crazy felted or anything. And the length is perfect!
All in all, a beautiful sweater experience. Yay!
On my knitting plate (which is overflowing):
I have succumbed.