Springing Back

I awoke to find that our early and uncharacteristic heat wave had ended, and my house was filled with blissfully cool air.  For those of you who also suffered in the last few miserably hot days, you have me to thank for this reversal of fortune.  I put our snow shovels away.  Ed, who is otherwise a no-nonsense, what-you-see-is-what-you-get kind of guy, hates cold weather.  To ward off the chance of snow, he insists on keeping our snow shovels and roof rake outside the garage, near the front door, to show the snow gods that we’re always ready for them.  On the first day of spring, I suggested that we wouldn’t need the roof rake any more, and then we had a heavy dusting of snow followed by some unusually cool weather.  This meant that the shovels had to stay where they were, and I largely ignored them until Monday.  When the mercury hit 86°, I just put them, without asking, back into the garage.  And yesterday the weather broke—so there you have it.  I think there are about three days a year when no one in this household is complaining about the weather.  Ed, a native Californian, hates the winter, and I feel most energized when the temperature stays under 60°.  Clouds don’t bother me; Ed needs blazing sun.  Luckily, I control the thermostat.

But spring is back, and so is my enthusiasm for knitting with heavier yarn.  I did press on with my adaptation of the Morehouse Farm sweater, and considering the heat, I got quite far. I’ve finished the waist shaping on the back.

I love this yarn for its softness and rustic feel, and the basketweave pattern does it justice.  

I’ve been a lot more casual on the measurements for this project than I am ordinarily because I’ve been basing them on the shaping of recently knit sweaters.  The red cable-wise cashmere has a basic shape that I wanted to copy, just making the basketweave about an inch bigger in the body so it wouldn’t fit as tightly.  And that sweater shape was adapted from Liv, and so there’s a progression of shaped sweaters that is getting me to the point where I don’t have to spend hours developing a schematic.  I think I gravitated to this point unconsciously because I worked with basic patterns called slopers in sewing.  When I took sewing lessons, the first thing I did in the now defunct trade school, The French Fashion Academy, and with my private teacher, Antonio, was to create a a sloper that would be the basis for all other patterns.  It was constructed to my exact measurements, so after that, I never had to draft another bodice or skirt.  I’d trace that and then adjust it for the particular design.  It never seemed as essential to do this in knitted patterns before because my sweaters were more rectangular, but it is working out for me quite well now.

One modification that I did add to the basketweave sweater was side slits:

I thought this would add to the comfort, since I expect to wear the sweater while seated at work. The slits would allow for stretch at the bottom without pulling the knitting out of shape. I decided not to knit the body in the round because as a combined knitter I do my purls much faster and more easily than in Continental—and I’d be forced to knit Continental in the round because there’s no purl row to reset the stitch mount for me.  I also love the even, square stitches I get from combined knitting.  Seaming is not a problem for me, and I expect to assemble the pieces using mattress stitch.  The Morehouse yarn is a little thick to assemble with crocheted seams.

This sweater is moving along quickly, as it must.  If I have any hope of getting close to 12, I need this finished in three weeks.  And the recent heat has been a wake-up call for the need to really consider what I want to knit over the summer.  There are no more snow shovels to put away, and so the summer heat will be here whether I like it or not.

Comments

[Linda M.]

The new sweater looks like it is off to a great start. I hope the weather holds long enough for you to finish it. I am just about ready to give up on wool for the summer. The air conditioner went on this week and I need to get used to summer again.

[Robin]

Good idea on the knitting sloper - I never thought of it quite that way before, but I do this in a way, as I adjust the waist/hip shaping on all my knit garments to match the Opulent Raglan, the one that fits me the most perfectly.

I'm with Ed, I love blazing sunshine. I can deal with cooler weather too, if I'm under a blanket, but I prefer warmth. I'm like a cat that seeks out the sunny spots of the house whereas Jim likes the cool basement.

[tiennie]

That is looking really great so far!