Summer Sweaters

The multi-project tech editing marathon that has been eating my life since last fall is almost over, and I am regaining my ability to compose rudimentary sentences that do not contain bracketed sets of numbers.

Except for beloved Knitty, I am planning to take a bit of a break from tech editing now. I have some other goals to pursue in the second half of the year, one of which is to do more design work... that is, designing things that will actually become patterns.

One of the first pieces I will pattern will most likely be a revision of this little sweater, which I knit in at the end of May.



It took less than six 95m (104yd) balls of Katia Mississippi, to fit my 116cm (46") bust. I'm planning to make the second version in Rowan All Seasons Cotton, which is the same weight and has a similar construction.

I'm really happy with how this one turned out. I worked it from the top down, and incorporated the waist shaping into the lace pattern.



In the next version, I will change the way the raglan lines and front neck shaping are handled. I may also change the lace pattern slightly. This one had a six-row pattern repeat, with patterning worked on the third (WS) and sixth (RS) rows. To make the pattern easier to write, I may change it to be all RS or WS rows... I'm still figuring out how I want to handle this. Or maybe I will suck it up and not be so lazy, because this really made a nice fabric.

One of my favourite things about this in the end was the buttons I used. They are from Zak's late grandmother's button box, and I managed to find five similar buttons that made a nice colour gradation (though I didn't manage to get a good photo of them). Unfortunately, the bottom one broke the second time I wore the sweater, and I have yet to find a replacement that pleases me as much as the original button.

The other sweater I completed recently was a gift for my sister Shawn's 30th birthday. This is the first sweater I have knit for her, since she is seriously allergic to animal fibers, and I really can't handle knitting with inelastic fibers. (I'm starting to learn about sister-friendly yarns that don't kill my hands, but wool is still my Most Beloved.) I have recently discovered that I enjoy working with some cotton/acrylic blends, like Mississippi and the delicious All Seasons Cotton, and seized the opportunity to design a sweater for Shawn.



This is All Seasons Cotton in Sea Foam, an unreleased (beautiful) shade which is being sold on eBay by Cucumber Patch and Jannette's Rare Yarns. It took just under 8 balls.

I won't be patterning this sweater, though details of it (like the patterning at the back neck) may show up elsewhere. This is partly because I've moved on to other things, but also because I like the idea of Shawn having the only sweater exactly like this.




Here are a few more shots: a detail of the buttons and lower border, and some crappy shots of me modeling it. I tried to get better photos, without avail.



As clothing sizes go, Shawn is close in size to me, though she is considerably more... well-endowed. She's a few inches shorter than I am, but is not as short-waisted, so I think the length should be good on her. She says the length is good, but I want to see it! If she sends me a photo, I will post it. Until then, these will give a rough idea of fit.





I foresee more little summer sweaters in my near future. These ones were fairly quick to knit (if you don't count all the agonized ripping and second-guessing I did at the beginning of the birthday sweater), they don't take much yarn, and they're fun to experiment with. If you think you'd be interested in the pattern for the first sweater, which will most likely be a pdf available for a few dollars, please let me know; it will motivate me to get off my butt and get it done!