I know that we will have a few more snow storms before the weather really starts getting warm, but the equinox is Saturday, and I don’t think I will have sleeves and button bands by then.
Oh, well–as my mother said when I complained that this sweater seemed like it was taking forever, “It seems like thin yarn.”
The Aran
Tuesday Project Roundup: Now With More Cables
Remember at the beginning of the month when I talked about making a traditional Aran sweater? And I was intimidated by the traditional pattern and construction methods? Well, this is the year of speaking up sooner if something is not how I want it to be, and the traditional pattern of the intended sweater was not only difficult–it wasn’t cable-y enough.
Here is the traditional pattern:
And for comparison, here’s something with LOTS o’cables:
I don’t like knitting projects to be that challenging (or require that much concentration at night), so this is not the winning pattern. Instead, I compromised with this pattern (very popular among knitters) and a different cable.
Here’s the progress so far
and here’s the different cable–it’s called a staghorn cable.
And I think I used “cable” about 5 times in 100 words. Cables!
Tuesday Project Roundup: "A long and lovely project."
“It is a cold and snowy January. The holidays are behind us, and Twelfth Night will be any day now: what better time to embark on a long and lovely project? I have masses of thick unbleached natural cream wool, which with luck should work up into a really solid-looking Aran.“
That is a quote from the Knitter’s Almanac, a sort of pattern “guidebook” by famous knitter Elizabeth Zimmerman, and the source of my next project. This project terrifies me a little: I have guidelines on creating a sweater pattern just for me but no actual pattern, there are complicated stitches, and it involves knitting a tube and then cutting it to make it a cardigan.
Because there’s a lot of “knitter’s choice” in the pattern, it’s hard to find a picture of what it looks like. It’s the sweater at 2 o’clock on the cover of the book above, and here’s the original pullover knit by EZ. Here are a couple other cardigan options with different cable patterns than specified in the book.
I’m not usually one for crafty challenges, but I’ve been thinking about this sweater all year (it was on the 29 Things) and I really want to wear it once it’s done. We’ll see if that’s enough motivation, because it certainly will be a long project–hopefully a lovely one.