Here’s a styling option I hadn’t considered for my striped pullover: shiny pants! Never happen, but I admire how striking Camille Charriere looks in these photos — showing the world that black-and-white does not equal boring. And I do look forward to wearing mine slung over my shoulders like this — one styling holdover from my teen years that I’ve never not loved in the interim. All you really need to approximate this sweater is my notes on my striped sweater, but the other option would be to pick your favorite basic pullover pattern and simply knit it in alternating stripes. Camille’s sweater looks to be more like 1.5″ or 2″ stripes (as opposed to my 2.5″ awning stripes) and more of a truer, flatter black and white than mine. So for yarn, you might consider Brooklyn Tweed’s new Arbor in Kettle and Thaw. I’m told Thaw is technically a really pale icy grey (I haven’t seen it in person) but it would read more white against the black than an undyed (ivory) yarn would. Not a lot of yarns include both black and white in the palette, so feel free to pipe up below with other ideas! As far as the other sweater details, it looks like the waist ribbing spans the last two stripes, and the ribbed cuffs might actually be grey? They seem darker than the white stripes, and I like the idea of that, either way.
For Vanessa’s suggestions on the rest of Camille’s look, see her original blog post.
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PREVIOUSLY in Knit the Look: Perfect grey turtleneck
Just one question: I recently finished knitting a shawl with one dark color and a white. The dark bled into the white when I soaked it to block. Do you pre-treat your wools before knitting?
I’ve heard plenty of knitters (and quilters) swear by Shout Color Catchers (there are also DIY options — it’s basically a sheet of fabric that’s been saturated with soda ash a.k.a. washing soda). These “catch” dye that’s bleeding during initial washing, before it settles onto other parts of the fabric you care about. I do recall a Consumer Reports article from a few years ago that tested with a rather extreme scenario (red shirt that “reliably bled” and a white cloth) and found that the white cloth still turned pink, but the color catchers also clearly absorbed fugitive dye from the wash water. So the things work, but how well may depend on how much excess dye is being released.
Otherwise, it is certainly possible to pre-wash your yarn, but it’s not something I hear of people doing super often. Might be worth it for an elaborate project! And of course, washing a swatch can help you know if there’s a risk of bleeding or not. I had a tragic experience with a striped and colorblocked sweater where one color ran during the first washing, leaving blotches on the other areas — I had noticed early warning signs of the problem in the swatch, but did that “oh I’m sure it will be fine” thing. Lesson learned!
I think (as with most things) you have to let your swatch be your guide. If you see bleeding when you block your swatch, then yeah, you’d want to explore possible solutions to that — including whether pre-soaking your yarn would do it. My swatch for the yarn I used for the striped sweater didn’t show any signs of trouble, so all I could do is hope that held true for the finished sweater! Thankfully, it did.
Aside from the advice for next time that you are getting, you might try soaking the shawl again in cool water and see if the color that bled onto the white rinses out a bit. I had the same thing happen with a multi-color sweater (stars on a white background): the electric blue bled into the white, but subsequent washings (just done over the course of wearing the garment) have almost completely washed the fugitive dye away.
On the other hand, not sure if it might not make the problem worse?
Never say never ;)
Striped sweater is high up on my list for the next sweater to make.. after my sibella pullover
I think you should step out of your comfort zone and try a pair of shiny pants! ☺
I prefer your striped sweater, by the way!
Yarn suggestion: Rowan Handknit Cotton in bleached (white) and black. Or Turkish plum (navy) and ecru. Or rosso (red) and ecru. I also love low contrast stripes: ecru and linen.
Quince and Co has a true black (crow) and white (egret) in their wool yarns. Egret is listed as “undyed” but I have used it and I would call it white.
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