My Sweater Adventure(s)
I've got sweater knitting on the brain. It's consuming me. I don't daydream about lace anymore, I daydream about sweaters. Except for that one morning where I daydreamed about designing a lace shawl based on The Master and Margarita, with three panels, one for each storyline -- Woland & his retinue in Moscow, Margarita and her adventures, and the Master's novel. Yes, I know I'm insane. I made some notes and filed the page away for another day.
It started a few weeks before the Bar exam, while the stress was mounting to even more crushing levels, I was studying pretty much the entire time I was awake, and my own real breaks were "studying" with a friend over skype. Even though she's in New Mexico and I'm in New York, there was plenty of overlap (all of the Multistate stuff, plus several local subjects were significantly the same thanks to uniform laws) that we could talk about, and working through the differences was especially helpful. It was roughly 50% real studying and 50% therapy, and I would knit while we talked. By the end, we were studying together for 5-6 hours a day.
It helped so much. As a learning tool, I work so much better with being able to talk out and discuss a concept/problem and explore all the angles to be able to more fully understand it. I didn't have anyone in the Bar classes to study or talk with, and so chatting with her also helped with the loneliness.
She credits me with her success if she passes the Bar; I credit her with my continued sanity (for which Paul is equally grateful). She was a lifesaver.
Anyway, sweaters. Cardigans, to be exact.
I bought the yarn for another one (worsted weight) while I was still knitting The Kaleidoscope of FREEDOM. Berocco Vintage, in Fennel, for the Miette cardigan (Ravelry link). It's a slightly cropped cardigan with 3/4-length sleeves and lace insets. It's a top-down seamless (raglan) construction. I want to make it with full-length sleeves, so I was generous with the amount of yarn I bought.
I was going to start it as soon as I was done with The Kaleidoscope of FREEDOM (that'll never get old, you just have to imagine the note of triumph underlying the FREEDOM part).
Keyword: was.
First, though, it became time to unearth a skeleton in my knitting closet. Three years ago, the summer before I started law school, I knit a sweater in the span of something like two weeks. It was my very first sweater. It was warm and soft and beautiful, and I adored the color. It was the Cozy V-Neck Pullover with Deep Ribbing from Fitted Knits, knit from Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Chunky.
(As an aside, I'm aware of the lawsuits surrounding the Cashmerino line. If the allegations turn out to be true, I'll feel cheated and used, and I'll have no interest in ever buying a Debbie Bliss product again, but I'll still love my sweater.)
I loved that sweater, but I never did the finishing -- all that remained was to tack the v-neck ribbing together where it overlapped, and tidying up the place where the sleeves met the body -- because I hated wearing that sweater. It fit closely, with negative ease due to the ribbing, and I hated how it fit.
This past weekend, three years later, I finally frogged it. (It had lived in a plastic Borders bag, shoved in the back of my stash, for that long.) I'd searched for a seamless cardigan pattern using a chunky weight yarn and found one (and found mods that were exactly what I wanted).
The pattern is the Shalom cardigan (ravelry link to pattern, ravelry link to mods). It's a top-down seamless (yoked) cardigan. The pattern has one button to close it at the collar and cap sleeves. I definitely want full length sleeves, and probably buttons all the way down (but I'm not sure about that -- the one button closure at the neck is cute).
I swatched for it yesterday, washed the swatch last night, and didn't have time to measure it this morning. After knitting wtih fingering and lace weights for so long, knitting with a chunky weight yarn on size 10 needles was pretty fun -- it knit up SO FAST. I laid my swatch next to my Kaleidoscope of FREEDOM, and the comparison of stitch sizes was pretty hilarious. (I made sure to show Paul, because his first reaction to me going, "it knits up so fast!" was something along the lines of "yeah, yeah, everything knits up fast for you." He was appropriately amused.)
Depending on how my gauge turns out, I might cast on tonight. I don't have 10.5s, so if I need to go up a needle size, it's time for an order from Knit Picks. (Which is both good and bad. I can never resist their free shipping, which is at $50. And the needle set will be $3.99. It's a siren call for more yarn. Which I don't need.)
The Jali cardigan is still on the needles. I work on it every so often in spurts. I enjoy it, but it's... relatively sedate. There's no shaping until the sleeves come into play, and I've got about 40 rows of nearly 200 stitches before that happens. So, it's certainly not unloved, but it's sort of getting the short end of the stick as far as my attention goes.
I've also been giving some thought to designing my own sweater -- my own perfect cardigan. I really like the seamless construction (preferably top-down), and I like to wear cardigans at work (and around, too). I'll certainly need layers come winter.
I have some Barnes & Noble gift cards, and I did a little bit of research into what books would be helpful additions to my knitting library -- I knew Barbara Walker and Elizabeth Zimmermann had books on the topic. (Previously, I'd shied away from EZ. I didn't need to learn how to knit, and I don't share her deep love for garter stitch, but I do know she's got a fantastic perspective on knitting without a pattern, with I'd really like to learn from.)
Right now, my list of potentials looks like:
- Knitting from the Top, by Barbara Walker
- EZ's books: Knitting Workshop, Knitting Around, Knitting Without Tears and Knitter's Almanac (but I'll definitely check them out from teh library first to determine which ones are on point)
- Sweater Design in Plain English, by Maggie Righetti (but there's a 2nd edition coming out in January, should I hold off?)
- Custom Knits, by Wendy Bernard
As far as the shaping side of customization goes, I already have Stephanie Japel's Fitted Knits and also Jillian Moreno and Amy R. Singer's Big Girl Knits (which is an amazing resource for achieving fit, for all sizes, not just plus sizes). I'm thinking about picking up a copy of More Big Girl Knits.
I'm not plus sized, but I've got a 41" bust, which tends to push me towards the largest sizes in most available patterns. (It's particularly gratifying to open up a book like Big Girl Knits and not have my size be the largest or second largest.) One suggestion I've seen is to pick the pattern size based on waist measurement, and then add short-row shaping or bust darts to custom-fit the bust.
Amy Herzog's Fit to Flatter series is also an inspiration. I haven't had the chance to do the photos of myself yet, but I want to at some point to get the full benefit from reading her blog posts.
Also, related to fit if not to knitting, I've started following the Red Violet Project, a blog by a curvy (large-busted) woman starting her own line of clothes. If she can make a button-down blouse that would fit me at both my bust AND my waist, I will be so unbelievably happy. (Bonus points if it's more affordable than the ones at Ann Taylor.)
Um, so, if it hadn't come across, I've really been giving this stuff a fair amount of thought.
It started a few weeks before the Bar exam, while the stress was mounting to even more crushing levels, I was studying pretty much the entire time I was awake, and my own real breaks were "studying" with a friend over skype. Even though she's in New Mexico and I'm in New York, there was plenty of overlap (all of the Multistate stuff, plus several local subjects were significantly the same thanks to uniform laws) that we could talk about, and working through the differences was especially helpful. It was roughly 50% real studying and 50% therapy, and I would knit while we talked. By the end, we were studying together for 5-6 hours a day.
It helped so much. As a learning tool, I work so much better with being able to talk out and discuss a concept/problem and explore all the angles to be able to more fully understand it. I didn't have anyone in the Bar classes to study or talk with, and so chatting with her also helped with the loneliness.
She credits me with her success if she passes the Bar; I credit her with my continued sanity (for which Paul is equally grateful). She was a lifesaver.
Anyway, sweaters. Cardigans, to be exact.
I bought the yarn for another one (worsted weight) while I was still knitting The Kaleidoscope of FREEDOM. Berocco Vintage, in Fennel, for the Miette cardigan (Ravelry link). It's a slightly cropped cardigan with 3/4-length sleeves and lace insets. It's a top-down seamless (raglan) construction. I want to make it with full-length sleeves, so I was generous with the amount of yarn I bought.
I was going to start it as soon as I was done with The Kaleidoscope of FREEDOM (that'll never get old, you just have to imagine the note of triumph underlying the FREEDOM part).
Keyword: was.
First, though, it became time to unearth a skeleton in my knitting closet. Three years ago, the summer before I started law school, I knit a sweater in the span of something like two weeks. It was my very first sweater. It was warm and soft and beautiful, and I adored the color. It was the Cozy V-Neck Pullover with Deep Ribbing from Fitted Knits, knit from Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Chunky.
(As an aside, I'm aware of the lawsuits surrounding the Cashmerino line. If the allegations turn out to be true, I'll feel cheated and used, and I'll have no interest in ever buying a Debbie Bliss product again, but I'll still love my sweater.)
I loved that sweater, but I never did the finishing -- all that remained was to tack the v-neck ribbing together where it overlapped, and tidying up the place where the sleeves met the body -- because I hated wearing that sweater. It fit closely, with negative ease due to the ribbing, and I hated how it fit.
This past weekend, three years later, I finally frogged it. (It had lived in a plastic Borders bag, shoved in the back of my stash, for that long.) I'd searched for a seamless cardigan pattern using a chunky weight yarn and found one (and found mods that were exactly what I wanted).
The pattern is the Shalom cardigan (ravelry link to pattern, ravelry link to mods). It's a top-down seamless (yoked) cardigan. The pattern has one button to close it at the collar and cap sleeves. I definitely want full length sleeves, and probably buttons all the way down (but I'm not sure about that -- the one button closure at the neck is cute).
I swatched for it yesterday, washed the swatch last night, and didn't have time to measure it this morning. After knitting wtih fingering and lace weights for so long, knitting with a chunky weight yarn on size 10 needles was pretty fun -- it knit up SO FAST. I laid my swatch next to my Kaleidoscope of FREEDOM, and the comparison of stitch sizes was pretty hilarious. (I made sure to show Paul, because his first reaction to me going, "it knits up so fast!" was something along the lines of "yeah, yeah, everything knits up fast for you." He was appropriately amused.)
Depending on how my gauge turns out, I might cast on tonight. I don't have 10.5s, so if I need to go up a needle size, it's time for an order from Knit Picks. (Which is both good and bad. I can never resist their free shipping, which is at $50. And the needle set will be $3.99. It's a siren call for more yarn. Which I don't need.)
The Jali cardigan is still on the needles. I work on it every so often in spurts. I enjoy it, but it's... relatively sedate. There's no shaping until the sleeves come into play, and I've got about 40 rows of nearly 200 stitches before that happens. So, it's certainly not unloved, but it's sort of getting the short end of the stick as far as my attention goes.
I've also been giving some thought to designing my own sweater -- my own perfect cardigan. I really like the seamless construction (preferably top-down), and I like to wear cardigans at work (and around, too). I'll certainly need layers come winter.
I have some Barnes & Noble gift cards, and I did a little bit of research into what books would be helpful additions to my knitting library -- I knew Barbara Walker and Elizabeth Zimmermann had books on the topic. (Previously, I'd shied away from EZ. I didn't need to learn how to knit, and I don't share her deep love for garter stitch, but I do know she's got a fantastic perspective on knitting without a pattern, with I'd really like to learn from.)
Right now, my list of potentials looks like:
- Knitting from the Top, by Barbara Walker
- EZ's books: Knitting Workshop, Knitting Around, Knitting Without Tears and Knitter's Almanac (but I'll definitely check them out from teh library first to determine which ones are on point)
- Sweater Design in Plain English, by Maggie Righetti (but there's a 2nd edition coming out in January, should I hold off?)
- Custom Knits, by Wendy Bernard
As far as the shaping side of customization goes, I already have Stephanie Japel's Fitted Knits and also Jillian Moreno and Amy R. Singer's Big Girl Knits (which is an amazing resource for achieving fit, for all sizes, not just plus sizes). I'm thinking about picking up a copy of More Big Girl Knits.
I'm not plus sized, but I've got a 41" bust, which tends to push me towards the largest sizes in most available patterns. (It's particularly gratifying to open up a book like Big Girl Knits and not have my size be the largest or second largest.) One suggestion I've seen is to pick the pattern size based on waist measurement, and then add short-row shaping or bust darts to custom-fit the bust.
Amy Herzog's Fit to Flatter series is also an inspiration. I haven't had the chance to do the photos of myself yet, but I want to at some point to get the full benefit from reading her blog posts.
Also, related to fit if not to knitting, I've started following the Red Violet Project, a blog by a curvy (large-busted) woman starting her own line of clothes. If she can make a button-down blouse that would fit me at both my bust AND my waist, I will be so unbelievably happy. (Bonus points if it's more affordable than the ones at Ann Taylor.)
Um, so, if it hadn't come across, I've really been giving this stuff a fair amount of thought.