Football Season!
The husband and I met at LSU thirty years ago.
I do not know anyone who went to LSU and is not a college football fan.
College football, particularly LSU and SEC football, is a past time we share. In fact, I joined his weekly pick 'em games this year. I had a decent showing the first week of the season, but this past weekend, it was brutal.
The NFL is far less my jam; however, with his unbridled passion for the game, I do have a particular affinity for Chuckie.
I do not actually religiously watch any of the games, but I do like to listen to them while I knit, which is exactly what I did this past weekend.
In fact, I decided I needed a sweater, it was raining, after all.
Thea Coleman of Baby Cocktails is one of my favorite sweater designers.
Over the years, I have knitted several of her designs, I think the last one was Beekman Tavern, which appears to have been FIVE YEARS AGO! Although, I also have the Armagnac shawl on the needles.
Her designs are straight forward and easy to follow. I appreciate the no-fuss approach to her creations and how she drafts her patterns.
The Oaxacan has been in my queue for a while.
Madelinetosh Vintage in Lowland.
I pulled it out and began swatching...
Of course, I did not get far when I began to realize that while I had perfect gauge, the sweater would be far too heavy and warm for me to actually wear and enjoy in South Texas.
Perusing the stash, I remembered one of my all time favorites: Curious Creek's Wasonga in Old Kinsale.
In any event, I am pleased to call Kristine friend and continue to love her knack for color, as well as her yarns.
Kristine sent me several skeins of the Old Kinsale, and I initially began knitting it up for the Cassidy sweater. I actually had two complete sleeves done before I decided the tonal color changes were not well suited for the stitch design; however, I adored the weight and bounciness of the yarn knit doubled.
Thus, it was with glee I decided to swatch with it for this sweater.
With another weekend of rain in the forecast and a slate of games before me, I have high hopes of moving right along with this one.
Anyone else looking forward to fall?!
I do not know anyone who went to LSU and is not a college football fan.
College football, particularly LSU and SEC football, is a past time we share. In fact, I joined his weekly pick 'em games this year. I had a decent showing the first week of the season, but this past weekend, it was brutal.
The NFL is far less my jam; however, with his unbridled passion for the game, I do have a particular affinity for Chuckie.
I do not actually religiously watch any of the games, but I do like to listen to them while I knit, which is exactly what I did this past weekend.
In fact, I decided I needed a sweater, it was raining, after all.
Thea Coleman of Baby Cocktails is one of my favorite sweater designers.
Over the years, I have knitted several of her designs, I think the last one was Beekman Tavern, which appears to have been FIVE YEARS AGO! Although, I also have the Armagnac shawl on the needles.
Her designs are straight forward and easy to follow. I appreciate the no-fuss approach to her creations and how she drafts her patterns.
The Oaxacan has been in my queue for a while.
(The photo is from the designer's pattern page.)
The relaxed nature of the design with the textured stitches, which work exceptionally well with variegated yarns, appealed to me, AND I had the perfect yarn at the correct weight to make this.
I pulled it out and began swatching...
Of course, I did not get far when I began to realize that while I had perfect gauge, the sweater would be far too heavy and warm for me to actually wear and enjoy in South Texas.
Perusing the stash, I remembered one of my all time favorites: Curious Creek's Wasonga in Old Kinsale.
I LOVE this yarn!
It is a two-ply, lighter fingering that knits up springy and bouncing, especially if doubled. Kristine Brooks is Curious Creek Fibers. Nearly ten years ago, she and I entered into a collaboration to showcase her amazing silk and merino lace yarn called Meru in her Spectrum colors.
Out of that collaboration (along with two superior test knitters - Alana and Theresa), Jambo, Rafiki, and Ahsante were born.
Photo by Amanda Klaus Photography.
Photo by Amanda Klaus Photography.
Photo by Amanda Klaus Photography.
Photo by Amanda Klaus Photography.
Kristine sent me several skeins of the Old Kinsale, and I initially began knitting it up for the Cassidy sweater. I actually had two complete sleeves done before I decided the tonal color changes were not well suited for the stitch design; however, I adored the weight and bounciness of the yarn knit doubled.
Thus, it was with glee I decided to swatch with it for this sweater.
The Madelinetosh Vintage was bang on for gauge of 4 stitches/inch with US 8 needles.
I knew the two strands of light fingering were not going to give me the same gauge. The fabric it made was also too loose for what I had in mind. I was not sure how many needle sizes I would have to go down, but with US 7 needles, I achieved 4.5 stitches/inch, which was 89% of the original.
This meant I would have to go up two pattern sizes to achieve the sweater I wanted and a lot more stitches, but a light and airier sweater would get significantly more wear for me.
As an aside, I realize I lost some of the stitch definition with my choice, but the feel of this fabric is so incredible, it was worth it.
So, about 5:30 in the early evening on Saturday, I cast on for the front, knitting from one of the sleeves I had knit years ago for the Cassidy sweater.
Sunday morning, it continued to rain. This is how I began the day:
By late afternoon, I was ready to separate the neckline and for the sleeves:
After work yesterday, the left hand side of the neckline was complete, and I was ready to get going on the right:
Just before I reached the point where I needed to separate for the vee and the sleeves, I finished knitting from the first sleeve. On the left of the above photo about two inches or so down from the sleeve decreases are the ends from where I joined the fresh yarn. I noticed knitting from two fresh skeins resulted in much nicer and flatter stitches, than from the kinky yarn from the sleeve.
This may have been a mistake on my part. Perhaps, I should have used the existing sleeves to knit new sleeves, but it is done, and I am not redoing it.
This is a casual sweater I intend to wear around the house and to the grocery store. In fact, I am hoping this one I end up living in when the weather permits.
With another weekend of rain in the forecast and a slate of games before me, I have high hopes of moving right along with this one.
Anyone else looking forward to fall?!
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