Heirloom Apparant

Title: Heirloom Aran Sweater, in Interweave Knits Spring 2004
Author: Lisa Lloyd
Yarn: Patons Decor, colour 1620 (Pale Country Blue), 2 balls
Fibre Content: 75% acrylic 25% wool
Gauge: Originally 28 sts/4" (fingering weight), adapted to 20 sts/4" (worsted weight)

Notes:

How thrilled was I to learn that the recipient of this sweater, born January 8, will become my goddaughter at her baptism next Sunday!

Allow me to introduce Rachel Margaret Van Staalduinen, daughter of dear friends Dennis and Jeanette. Rachel had a bit of a rough go during her first week on earth, including a stint in intensive care, but her digestive problems are mostly resolved now and she's finally at home where she belongs. Shawn and I are thrilled to take this special place in Rachel's life as her godparents.

Okay, back to the sweater.

Successes

• The yarn substitution: Not only would I have had to special-order the Plymouth Taj Mahal called for in the pattern, but Rachel's parents would have had to handwash it. I understand that the pattern author was going for an heirloom sweater in luxury yarn, but I wanted something that a one-year-old could wear often without fear of puking or spilling pureed peas. So instead, I picked the acrylic/wool Patons Decor from my stash. Switching from fingering to worsted weight yarn also meant that I could knit the piece more quickly.
• The cables: They pop nicely in this light, neutral colour. (Rachel was gender-unknown until birth, and code named Karma in utero.) I especially love the X & O cables. I plan to give Rachel lots of Xs and Os!
• Buttoned neck closure: Cause babies have big heads! The buttons are of pale wood, and suit the rustic feel of the sweater without competing with the busy cables.
• Finishing before Rachel's due date

Revisions

• The slope on the sleeves: I tried to adapt the increases from the pattern as written, but that made the sleeves bell out slightly where they attach to the body. A bit like leg-of-mutton sleeves. Next time I would distribute the increases more evenly, to give a straight slope rather than a curving one.
Posted by Alison at 10:28 AM | Comments (1)

Necking

[I love that word, necking. So adolescent and sweetly transgressive.]

Work on the Heirloom Aran continues apace. The sweater now has two sleeves and a front, which are partially sewn together, as evidenced in this photo here:

I've been trying to do more "finishing as I go", like weaving in ends and sewing seams before the entire piece is knit. I like that it keeps things tidier and reduces the amount of finishing at the end, because I am a PRO-crastinator when it comes to finishing. I have had sweaters that sat around for an entire year unfinished. I'm sure that's not a record, but still. A year is a long time to neglect an almost-wearable garment.

So when the first sleeve was finished I sewed it to the back, and then again with the second sleeve, so when the front was finished and everything needed to be together so I could pick up for the neckband, there wasn't much to do!

As of this writing, the sweater has been necked. Took me three tries to get the right ratio of picked-up stitches--the final magic number was 2 out of 3, and I had to do decreases on the front stitches that were on the stitch holder, because otherwise that bit flared out. So the next photo should be of a completed object.

I love photographing this sweater in natural light because it shows off the shadows made by the cable pattern. With the flash, it looks all flat and boring. (Unfortunately, I don't always get perfect focus with natural light. Need a tripod.) Fact is, I really love cables. So why haven't I made a cabled sweater for myself yet? Must rectify that soon.

I'm not freaking out about Christmas knitting because a) I have enough to freak out about with my NaNoWriMo novel; b) my family isn't exchanging gifts this year because we're going to PUERTO RICO!

Writers Fest Ends

Several weeks after the festival itself ended, my Ottawa Writers Fest sweater has reached completion. I added the collar and extended the sleeves about an inch from the provisional cast on before seaming. Then I sewed on four buttons (two yet to come - Fabricland only had four in stock). Tada!

Click the photo for another view.

And here's one that's a better picture of me than the sweater.

I'm very happy with this sweater. I feel virtuous for having used stash yarn, and gratified that I finished it so quickly. I'm happy with the fit, and the yarn makes it a comfy cozy article.

And since this sweater is done, you can probably guess what I've been doing with my free time ...

Celebrating Sleevember! *

Debbie Bliss Colour Blocks cardie is underway! This will definitely be a winter-long project. I'm still trying to get the hang of keeping the yarn balls from twisting up into a glob at the back, but I'm fairly happy with the intarsia progress. The DB Merino DK is sticky enough that I'm not having problems with gaps at the colour changes.

I've also finished a sleeve from the Heirloom Aran sweater. Awww, my first saddle shoulder.

And here's a gratuitous shot of the first socks I ever made, from Nancy Bush's Folk Socks book. I happened to be wearing them during the Writers' Fest sweater photoshoot.

**With apologies to Michelle at another knitting blog, who's observing Glovember instead.

It's an Heirloom!

I knit a lot of baby clothes. Sometimes I knit them with a particular recipient in mind. Sometimes I knit them to put into an emergency stash of baby gifts. Sometimes I knit them for my own baby trousseau. Sometimes I just knit them cause they're small and quick and satisfying.

This sweater is destined for a specific baby, currently in its early third trimester. I bought this Patons Decor on sale at Lewiscraft a few months ago, with the intention of making a baby sweater someday. I like the colour, Pale Country Blue, because I think it suits a boy or a girl.

In considering what pattern to use, I remembered the Heirloom Aran Baby Set from Interweave Knits Spring 2004. (The sold-out issue! Glad I got my copy.) The chances of me making an aran baby sweater out of hand-washable merino/silk/cashmere DK are slim, but I adapted the pattern for my worsted weight because I love the cable combination. Especially the X-and-O cable, on either side of the central staghorn cable.

Patons Decor is a hard-wearing 75% acrylic/25% wool blend, very well-suited to a baby sweater if you can find a good colour. I'm very impressed with how soft and non-sqeaky the Patons acrylic is.