REDEEMING THE IMPERFECT

Fun and Fit V-Neck

You see it's like this; I was so fired up about Vogue Knitting Live that I rushed through knitting my sweater (see previous blog post), because I wanted to wear it there. I call this Fun and Fit V-Neck because I added a fitted waist and the yarn, Mountain Colors Twizzle in the color winter sky is a delightful hand-painted color mix.

When I was knitting the front, I realized I'd not started the neck when I should have for the type of V-neck I wanted, but rather than rip out and start over, I kept going. A shorter V is perfectly acceptable and it worked out. Besides, I thought, everything else would be great. I was focused on the finish line.

Well, I wasn't 100 percent happy with the finished product. Yes, it fit OK, but I really did want a deeper V-neck and, oh dear, I should have kept to my written instructions about length because it would look better a tad longer. Oh, well, I thought. It was done and I'd do better on the next one. But it nagged at me.

Then I was talking to my sister who had just ripped out a sweater she'd knit years ago so that she could make it into a different sweater. As Winnie-the-Pooh would say, "Think. Think. Think." And I did.

So I spent this past weekend ripping my new sweater apart down to the armholes--front, back, and sleeves--and knitting it back. By Sunday afternoon, I had front, back, and sleeves blocked and drying for the final seaming and finishing of the neckline. 

Fortunately I still had almost a full skein of yarn left. (I'd almost made felted slippers from it! Whew.) I used it and most of what was ripped out. At one point, I had tossed the yarn that had come from unraveling the sleeves. I still had a small ball of yarn left and was feeling pretty lucky.

Ah, but after I'd washed all the pieces, I realized I still had to knit the collar. Yikes! I retrieved the castoff sleeve yarn and washed it. It was going to be needed. Maybe.

The next day all was dry and I proceeded to sew the shoulder seam together and knit the collar. Unfortunately the night was over before I could finish sewing the sleeves in. By Wednesday I was wearing it to work. And much happier with sweater 2.0!

No knitter likes to rip out a sweater that they've just meticulously sewn together, but sometimes you just have to tear into it if you want a product that will not be a disappointment whenever you put it on--IF you wear it. You know the saying, "If at first you don't succeed ..."

ever trying,

Reah Janise

SWEATER & SCARF PATTERNS

Last year at this time, I was finishing two sweaters for my nephews, Matthew and Joshua, who were 12 and 10 at the time. They live at a distance, so sizing was tricky. Here are pictures of these two handsome young men wearing their sweaters.

Joshua in his two-color Berroco
Pure Pima Cotton sweater

Matthew in his sweater
(pattern)

Since I have more projects in mind than time to flesh out patterns, I unfortunately tend to delay writing up patterns. But I have gotten a pattern together for Matthew's sweater (on the right)--complete with sizes. I really liked how this sweater turned out. 

My sister-in-law had asked for cotton sweaters, which is not my favorite yarn to work with, but allergies required no wool.

Joshua's sweater (on the left) is made from Berroco Pure Pima (shades 2245 and 2263). I had originally thought I'd purchased enough yarn to make both sweaters from the Berroco, but realized after I got the measurements that it wasn't enough. Unfortunately I'd had the yarn for a few months and knew it would be next to impossible to get matching dye lots, so I designed Joshua's to use both colors.

Of course that meant hunting for new cotton yarn for Matthew. I found Lily's Sugar 'n Cream and chose the color denim. It's a thicker yarn than the Berroco, but is a workhorse and can be washed and thrown in the dryer, unlike the Berroco. I wanted Matthew's sweater to have some give and to yet have an interesting design. I tested several stitch patterns before finding one that seemed to work well with the yarn. It combines ribbing with a seed or basketweave stitch. Although I call it a boy's cotton pullover, it will work equally well for girls.

Double Cable Scarf pattern

SCARF
Recently I put together a pattern for a man's scarf for a friend. It was going to be her first venture into cables. About a month ago, I started a scarf from the same pattern, but using a lighter weight yarn. I think it's a lovely pattern and wanted to share it with you, too. The pattern is written so that you can adjust the width according to the type of yarn you are using. And, to me the pattern is gender-neutral.
Happy knitting!

Reah Janise