Why does it feel like Christmas is about ten seconds away?
It’s still only Friday. Oh, I know why. Because with driving time, I have
worked EIGHTY SEVEN hours this week. Today I had eight hours off between
shifts. Excuse me while I yawn eight or nine more times.
So.
If you were here, you’d see me looking up at the clock,
shifting around in my chair, biting my pen, taking a sip of water. Can you imagine? Have you ever heard of such a thing?
I am BORING. I am trying to think of some way to amuse you,
some trick that I can pull out of a hat for this long drive to Grandma’s house.
You kicking the back of the seat is NOT going to get us there any faster, young
lady (or gent).
So this: What’s your accidental favorite handmade sweater?
By that I mean this: I have a few favorite sweaters. I love the recent
Venetian buttons. I wear my purple alpaca quite often. I’m proud of them – they
fit and they look good. (Click the Finito sweater on the left to see iffen you want.)
And then there’s the orange one. Remember Orange Alert?
Three years ago, I made it with a panel of five-stitch stockinette running down the
middle, because I was going to make it into a cardigan. But I never did, just
wore it occasionally as a pullover, usually while camping.
It’s Paton’s Classic Wool, so it pills something fierce, and
it looks all raggedy now, in any light. And for the last two months, I have been
living in it. Ever since the weather changed, it’s my dog-walking sweater. I
pull it on over my tee-shirt on my way to the dog park or the beach, and
unfortunately for those around me, I don’t usually take it off when I get home.
It’s the most comfortable, lightweight, warm-but-not-too-hot sweater I’ve ever
worn. And because I don’t care about it, have never Loved it, I’m not concerned
about the dogs jumping up all muddy or sandy on me. I don’t care about pulling
the sleeves up past my elbows to do dishes. It’s just right.
I keep a hat, and some big clunky mittens (have I shown you
those yet?) and a scarf and a big zipped hoodie in case of rain in the back of
the car, and I pull them on as I load dogs in or out of the car. But the
sweater, it stays on, and now I capital-L Love it.
Walking dogs, in the cool sun.
So, tell me about your favorite sweater, the one you wear the most, even if it’s not the best one, the most elegant one you ever made. Send me a link to a picture. Entertain me. Please?
My Malabrigo BPT.
It was the second sweater I ever made, and boy was Malabrigo a bad choice for it. Though at the time I got it for a lot less money than it goes for now (I think $7/skein), when it just lived at handpaintedyarn.com. It’s soft and squishy, and I bet anything it pills more than your Patons Merino.
I will never use this yarn for a sweater again because the pilling is so bad that it’s actually more like matting in places. (Not fulled fabric, but a matted layer of pills above the knitted fabric.) It was supposed to have a sweater, which I never put in, because it was my second sweater and I didn’t yet have the stomach for that sort of thing, or more accurately, the proper adventurous spirit. It’s a bit too big on me, partially because it’s grown a couple of inches, and partially because the smallest size was a tad bigger than I should have made for myself.
And when I’m in a bad mood. Or happy. Or just in need of hugging myself really tightly, in celebration of or mourning of whatever circumstance my life is in at the moment, it’s the perfect sweater. I don’t really wear it out, but I’d wear it every second I was home, if I could. With the hood up.
(uh, it was supposed to have a *zipper*. Why isn’t my tea water boiling yet? I’m in desperate need of caffeine, obviously.)
Rachael, I hope this is more entertaining than annoying. So why don’t I just comment for the third time in the space of a minute, and provide the photo link you requested.
http://flickr.com/search/?q=bpt&w=36318274%40N00
15 minutes into my day, and I can only hope that I’m making *someone* laugh, ’cause otherwise this is pathetic. 🙂
My favorite knitted sweater is the one I haven’t made yet. I have the pattern, the yarn….just not the time yet. Love your blog….
SueG
I would have to say that my Rowan bolero I made would fit those criteria. I don’t even think boleros are in style anymore, what with me not exactly being a fashonista, but it is so. comfortable. Just perfect to keep the chill off the shoulders. And Calmer is a great yarn to knit with, but it totally stretches out as you wear it. So the sleeves end up shaped like the bend in my elbow. But I don’t care, I wear it anyway. http://www.danimiller.com/KSC/Oct2005/october2005.htm (at the bottom of the page)
To date, I’ve only made two sweaters. One for the boychild which he grew out of in 7.3 seconds, and one for me. And I LOVE the one for me. It’s Gloria from the Noro Knits pattern book by Jane Ellison, and I Love It. I’d link to a photo, but I have neither a blog to link to, nor a photo of the sweater come to think of it.
Does it have to be a handknit? *ducks*
Rogue. I mean, not exactly accidental or unexpected, because I LOVED the pattern as soon as I saw it, but I had no idea how much I’d love wearing it. It’s my go-to layer for when it’s cool enough for *something* but not cool enough for, say, fleece, and I always pack it when I go anywhere in fall or winter. It’s what I put on when the house is too cold. And it fits just right.
Weeeellll… I’ve only made a couple of sweaters, but just made the manly one from IK with the simple fair isle design along the bottom? It was the highlight gift for the dude in my life – it turned out beautifully – I was so proud of it that I was dragging it all over the place to show it to people, it’s soft, the seams are perfect, its in proportion… and it’s about 6 inches too small for him all over! He was shaking his head even as he lifted it out the carefully wrapped box – first comment – “do you think you’re dating a midget?” Fortunately, it fits ME. (First clue??) ha ha. He believes that I intentionally made it too small. I have a photo of him in it & its quite amusing (when I don’t feel the urge to cry) but its still on the camera. Anyway – its my fave. Or was.
Most elegant goes to the Juliet Pullover
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bogiebogie/225621471/
I wanted to make it ever since the pattern came out in 2004, but was intimidated by the beads. It turned out better than I hoped and fits like a dream. There’s an issue with the symmetry of the ribbon in the front, but like most knitting goofs, it’s not noticeable unless I point it out. At least that’s what my knitting friends tell me.
But my other favorite is Zig Zag:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bogiebogie/65960016/
VA’s intricate cable & lace pattern looks great in double stranded DK.
Happy Holidays!
Oh chick-a-boom, thats the same hat I’ve been knitting (over and over again) for the last few weeks.
I’ve made about 6or7 now. I was doing them in support of our harlot’s sock-a-day crazness.
Hat-a-day, ribbed dude hats. duuude.
So Cal it hurts.
I have know idea what that means, my skater dude son has a sticker.cheers.
http://purlewe.typepad.com/purlewe/2006/04/does_she_even_k.html
does not knitting it but knitting the exact same pattern and sending sweaters to each other count? I knit boogie’s and she knit mine. Afraidit wouldn’t fit me she never wove in the ends or stitch the underarms. I wore it until I saw her almost everyday bumming around the house. She practically had to take it off me to finish it. I still wear it the same way.. to bum around toss something on and go.
PS she took hers I knit for her and steeked it. I’ll find that pic somewhere…
http://theboogerblog.blogspot.com/2006/08/hack-and-slash-thank-you-for-title.html is the one I made for her.
PS I meant: I wore it every day until I saw her. Some days I am not so quick.
I’ve made 4.5 sweaters, and I lovelovelove 3 of them. One is okay but should be frogged, and the .5 is almost done but wrong on several levels.
#1 was a top-down cardigan, out of Elann’s alpaca. My first sweater, and I liked it, and it’s so soft and warm, and quite purple. check.
#2 was a top-down short-sleeved sweater in Calmer. Just about the perfect sweater for summer, and I love how Calmer lives up to its name because it’s so soft when you’re wearing it. It might also be because people are compelled to touch me (or I make them do it) when I’m wearing it, because it’s so soft.
#3 is my Central Park Hoodie. Oh, how I love that sweater.
#4 was from a SweaterKit that I got at Stitches 2 years ago (and no lie, you know who wrote up the order? FIONA ELLIS.). It’s a silk kimono-sleeved thing, and it’s way too big around, and the sleeves are made for someone with about 8 more inches of wingspan than me. But it’s silk yarn, and soft…I totally need to frog this and make something better. The yarn deserves it.
#.5 is another summer cardi I started to make, and got nearly all the way done (I think it needs buttons and the ends sewn in), but between start and finish I lost a bunch of weight, so it’s too big. I should rip that out and make it smaller…it’s out of Crystal Palace Shimmer in lavender, and would be cute if it weren’t too big.
You’ll have to take me at my word on these – I don’t have pics except the CPH, which you’ve already seen. And I’ve got a headache, and pictures are just too hard right now. 😛
Sorry to hijack all of the comment space there. :O
Heh! I felt boring last week, so I announced an official blogcation. I feel much better now that the blogcation is over! I think the blogcation is an under-utilized, yet necessary, thing for every blogger. But you have to announce it and make it official, with a stated end date and everything, otherwise you’ll just feel guilty about not posting.
I have only made 1 3/4 handmade sweaters (Sienna is in time-out). But I have to admit that even though the Tux sweater is far FAR from perfect, I have been wearing it around the house every day since the weather turned cold. In fact, I’m wearing it right now.
It’s three times too large, the sleeves are different lengths, the neckline is so wide that it regularly falls off one or the other shoulder, and it bells out at the bottom like a maternity shirt. But it sure is warm and comfortable!
I knit a top-down Knitting Pure & Simple cardigan from some yarn with short color runs of an olivey-ferny green, tan, denim blue & rosey red that goes with just about everything I own so I wear it a lot. And the pattern was great. I’ll have to make another.
My favorite sweater is the one I’m currently knitting. I’m using Quebecois to knit a Shetland cardigan with some lace and cables and lots of stretch. I might just update it by making into a v-neck with a shawl collar. The color is a raspberry purple.
Or perhaps my favorite sweater is the one I haven’t knit yet. Because there’s the two bags of Noro Silk Garden in the stash which I just love, but the right pattern hasn’t appeared yet….
this is the one i wear ALL the time, from november to april. i even fish it out from the laundry basket to wear again before i’ve got around to washing it. well the yarn is a tweed so it doesn’t really show the stains. it’s not stylish or elegant, but it’s warm and comfortable, and i can even fit another sweater underneath if it’s really cold.
http://autoscopia.com/amelia/archives/2005/02/a_great_sweater.html
I love the dog-walking shot of you there — great hat, rosy cheeks, and sunshine! What more could you want?
I have to say that this year, the sweater I’ve reached for the most often is my skully sweater, which is Patons Classic, so you know about the pilling. But it’s lightweight and soft and comfortable. And despite the pilling, it’s the reason I’m knitting a sweater right now in, you got it, Patons Classic. (Bill’s like, why on earth would you use that yarn again?! I can’t explain it.)
http://brainylady-knitting.blogspot.com/2006/12/raglan-skull-sweater.html
And you’re not boring, darling. That’s crazy talk. Mwah!
The one I finished last monday. Ariann. In Cascade 220. I have worn it every single day – inside and outside the house – since I finished it. In fact, I’m afraid it’s ruined me for all other sweaters. Pictures on the blog.