The only thing that’s changed since my last Queue Check is there are a whole lot more stripes to my striped sweater than there were a month ago. I’ve got just a few inches of body left, then neckband and sleeves. I haven’t touched my Channel cardigan in the meantime, so it’s still just the one part-sleeve, but it won’t be long before I’m wearing the stripes and knitting the Channel. And I continue to believe these will be the two best sweaters I’ve ever owned, handmade or otherwise.
I made a point on Instagram the other day about listening to the knits I’m able to neglect. That’s not this cardigan — it is patiently waiting and I can hardly stand not knitting it — but the grey sweater I started with my Sawkill Farm last Nov does fall into this category, compounded by my trio of gorgeous grey yarns for which I need to come up with just the right long-term uses. So between now and next check, while I knit away on Channel, that’s what I’ll be pondering.
YARNS: top is Pebble held double (given to me by Shibui, part of the Top-Down Knitalong); bottom is Clever Camel
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PREVIOUSLY in Queue Check: September 2016
I do feel that way about solid colors. We love them, but if we make something without pattern, that solid color will be our downfall.
I got to feel the clever camel in Portland at Knit Purl last Saturday. What a beautiful yarn. Really want to splurge and make something…❤️❤️❤️❤️
I dig these, like, totally.
I’m curious: Did you baste your raglan with the black on the left side (sweater’s right)? That’d be cool. Or is that the tail from the cast-on? (My eyes are being mean to me.)
This is more of a Slow Fashion comment. Apologies if it’s out of place. In my email this morning were several notices about unusual, hard-to-find, supplies-run-out, small-batch or special-color yarns, which, as usual, triggered my desires.
Then I remembered going into the local yarn store as a young knitter, 50 or so years ago, where I could count on the same yarns being available year after year, and I bought only what I needed for a particular project, with no stashing up on treats for the future, which, I now have discovered, sometimes are never used.
This realization won’t stop me from wanting, and sometimes buying, the beautiful new-comers. But it may slow me down.
My guess is the detailed Channel would take 100% of my focus just to stay on track. I do take notes where I leave off but I do better if I stay with an intricate pattern from start to finish. Can’t wait to see the finished cardigan!
Regarding your IG comment about making things you urgently need and can already wear is so good!!! last year I bought a lot of icelandic wool (plotulopi) for the fafkal because I fell in love with the colors and the texture. however, I couldn’t find out the yardage in each plate so I bought a lot! I ended up having enough to make a lopapeysa which is on the needles to be completed after this years fafkal. I have the body and sleeves done but when I think about it, I don’t really want icelandic wool all up on my neck because it’s so rough. (very insulating as a vest, but not the most soft base layer)
do I continue with this sweater? I know I will love doing the colorwork yoke and it’s in colors that fit in my wardrobe but if I don’t think I’ll reach for it. I don’t want to frog it because the unspun yarn breaks kind of easily. the time spent working on this sweater could be spent on making something I LOVE but then I will have all this excess yarn.
I’m telling myself that it’s okay, the yarn was not expensive and it taught you valuable knitting skills (colorwork, seaming, reading from a chart, gauge in relation to my size) and those things are informing my later knitting to become better knitting. I think I will finish the sweater. it’s definitely right there with your thought “it taught me to think harder about yarn and pattern and what they add up to” (I definitely see why the majority of knitters knit the object in the specified color and yarn that the pattern gives, visualizing a FO in a different yarn/color is hard to do!)
Check out this pattern:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/moon-pulls
Dianna used a softer cashmere yarn (or your choice) to line lopi cuffs and neck.
ooooommmmmgggggg knitters are so resourceful!! this is a great idea!! it would be appropriate to splurge on some cashmere since I already had the yarn and I’m using a free pattern. maybe I’ll double the neckband and stitch it to the bottom too *heart eyes*
Plus a pop of contrast looks pretty!
LOVE the black and white stripes! What a great decision you made when you switched to that one. And the camel Chanel will be great when finished, which I know it will be soon. Two wins in the slow fashion category!
Both of these sweaters are looking absolutely gorgeous. I can’t wait to see them ON! I’ve been admiring your wardrobe, and how it’s made up of mostly neutrals, with pops of color and denim. It’s a palette that looks simple, yet very sophisticated. I’ve have a wardrobe full of secondary colors (with pops of neutrals), and that reflects who I am, but it sure doesn’t stop me from drooling over a wardrobe palette like yours.
The stripes are looking fantastic! I recently picked up a sweater that’s been languishing for more than a year, and it’s proven a joy to work on lately. (It needed sleeves to be re-knit and finishing details) I’ve found that some things languish because I need the distance of time to get over some frustration with construction/fit/etc…for me, things that pass a certain point in making usually get followed through to completion, while things that sounded like a good idea when I cast on, but never got more than halfway done probably need to be something else.
I could not remember where I saw the post about your sweater and knits you neglect. I was searching all through your archives. Glad you linked to the Instagram post again. I wanted to share and talk about the same kind of thing on my blog. I’ve got a cardigan in theory that I love but just can’t seem to get through and that’s just not me.
When I discovered this site I was surprised to find a top down sweater knitalong in progress. I’m about 2/3 done with one I’m working on furiously. I never use a patten. This one started with a skein of Freia Handpaint that I was going to make into a slouch hat, but the yarn said “no, I need to be a sweater.” I experimented with short rowing the neck back to see if I could shape the neck without having to do cast on increases, which can be a little bulky. It didn’t entirely work and the neck is a little broader than I’d like, but there is some shaping. Otherwise, the sweater is coming out great! I’d love to post a picture but I don’t know how. I’m a bit of a Luddite. I did install Instagram but I don’t know how to use it. If someone could tell me how to post a picture to this site, I’d appreciate it.
Joanna
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