Wish List – today’s version

Posted on November 29, 2014 by knitigatingcircumstances

I belong to a wonderful group on Ravelry in which we have a yearly goal of twelve adult sweaters a year. I’ve been part of this group for quite a few years now, and I have never managed to knit twelve sweaters in a year. This year, I have so far only finished three (!) and the odds of my hitting four are steadily diminishing. I am not alone in this regard, however – the group consists of some incredibly productive knitters who hit their goal of twelve within the first six months of the year, others who challenge themselves and struggle to reach twelve, and many others who know they will never actually accomplish that much knitting, but love the group anyway. I have looked at every sweater posted by each member of this group for at least four years now. They are an incredibly nice and inspiring group of knitters.

One of my favorite parts of the year is in late November and December when group members start posting their wish lists for the following year. Some people are so organized – they list each sweater in order, and already know exactly which yarn they will use for each project. (Often, they already have the yarn for each sweater lined up and waiting to go.) Some have very vague ideas of what they what to knit and say things like “a warm cardigan” or “something to match my blue dress”. Some can’t decide and have dozens of options. I love these posts in part because I can find new patterns and see which patterns are trending. Mostly I love them because there is a heady kind of optimism in the process. Maybe you only managed two sweaters this year, but next year is a clean slate – you can be as practical or as unrealistic as you like.

I have spent the last week thinking a bit about my Wish List. It is certainly a flight of fantasy as I will never have enough time to knit them all. It also changes every time I think about it – I suppose I am a rather fickle knitter. Here, for your benefit, I present today’s version of my 2015 Knitting Wish List. It is bound to change within minutes.

Since I knit as much for my family as for me, I have picked out 3 sweaters for each of us. We will start with me, because a Wish List should be selfish.

1. This year, I feel drawn to simplicity. I want garments that are easy and have good drape, that look comfortable but also have inate style. It could be because I have put on weight this year and all my clothes feel tight. Whatever the reason, my Wish List for me is all about easy, like Wake by Veronik Avery for BT Fall 14.

2. I love Pente, by Carol Feller. I have a favorite cashmere cardigan (purchased) that has roughly this shape, which I have worn pretty much to death for the last 10 years or so. And I just managed to leave it behind somewhere in South Africa! Definitely time for a snuggly, big, cozy cardigan to throw on with my jeans.

3. I’ve already bought the pattern for Soyokaze, designed by yellowcosmo for the lovely e-magazine Amirusu. Although I love it in grey, I will most likely go for a strong jewel colour, maybe green.

4. While I am attracted to ease and comfort right now, Emma loves a bit of tailoring. This is Touch by Kim Hargreaves. I think she’d like it.

5. I love knitting warm, cozy, fall and winter sweaters. But summer knitting can be nice too. The Belgravia Tee, designed by Robin Melanson, is super elegant and it just says “Emma” to me.

copyright Knitscene/Harper Point Photography

6. This is the Cable Round Sweater by Linda Marveng. It would look great on Emma. I like the versatility of the matching cowl; it makes this more like having two sweaters in one.

7. I like the look of the Flyaway Hoodie by Joji Locatelli for Leah. It is knit in Malabrigo and would be so cozy.

8. Ness, by the amazing Marie Wallin, is a knockout sweater. I love it. If Leah doesn’t want one, I’ll knit it for me:

9. Here is another one which I think would suit Leah, and would also be fun to knit. Behind my Back, by Justyna Lorkowska, is a plain crew neck in the front, but the back is a surprise of beautiful lace.

10. I think that Doug needs some vests. (This has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I hate knitting sleeves.) In fact, he should have two, a rustic one and a snazzy one. Here is the rustic: Laredo by Angela Hahn.

11. And here is the snazzy one: Machrihanish by Kate Davies. It combines the traditions of fair isle with a very modern sensibility. I love it.

12. Last, but not least, here is a new one. This pattern, Quiver by Megh Testerman, was just released this week in the new Twist Collective edition.

Quick! I must publish this before I change my mind again! Admit it, dear reader, you need a Wish List too!

Travel to the Western Cape, South Africa

Posted on November 23, 2014 by knitigatingcircumstances

I have just returned from Cape Town, South Africa! I spent two amazing weeks there, during which very little knitting-related activity took place. The Executive MBA programme at the Henley Buiness School has a required module on Reputation and Responsibility, for which the entire class travels to Cape Town to work with NGOs and Social Enterprises. My team was assigned to work with Shonaquip, a company which designs and manufactures wheelchairs and seating support solutions for disabled people, and which also provides assessments, fittings, follow-ups, maintenance and training.

We were blown away by Shonaquip, and the other NGOs involved in this project. It was an extremely emotional week for all involved, as we came to grips with the enormity of the problems facing South Africa, and the determination and talent and heart of its people. We were humbled by the dedication and boundless energy of people and organizations determined to provide dignity and solutions in the face of overwhelming poverty and the legacy of apartheid.

I saw very little of Cape Town, I’m afraid. Tourists to Cape Town usually go to the top of Table Mountain for fabulous views, and to Robbin Island, where Mandela was imprisoned. I didn’t manage either of these, nor did I get much of a chance to experience Capetown’s nightlife or great food. For the first 8 days that we were in South Africa, I spent virtually all my time either working with my team in the hotel or at Shonaquip or its clinics in hospitals and townships. I did manage some early morning walks with Doug along the sea wall and two lovely seafood meals with classmates. The rest of the time was late nights working and room service. I wouldn’t have missed the experience for the world.

After the presentations and the closing party with our NGO sponsors, Doug and I took off with four friends for 5 days exploring the Western Cape. This was amazing – the scenery is breathtaking! The rest of this post will be rather photo-heavy. We first went to Cork Bay (Kalkbaai), where we stayed in a fabulous B&B with a view to False Bay. We explored from there, first visiting a wild penguin colony along the coast:

We almost missed this little guy who was tucked away just inches from the foot trail:

The coast is beautiful and rugged, and around every corner is another breathtaking view. We drove through the National Park to the Cape of Good Hope. Yes, I went to the Cape of Good Hope!!!!! It’s an incredible experience as you stand on a spit of rocky promontory with the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Indian Ocean on the other.

The photo above looks down on a gorgeous beach along the Atlantic side of the Cape; if you follow your gaze out seaward from there, you can see a long line of white breakers where the two oceans meet:

We were there on a gorgeous day, very warm and sunny, but the wind and surf were quite rough. You can readily imagine why so many ships wrecked along this point. For those of us who grew up reading books about the early ocean explorers, this is a very romantic and powerful place to be.

The views across False Bay towards the Indian Ocean side were softer, and almost mystical:

Some of you may know that I am afraid of heights. I balked at walking out to the end of the Point. Doug said “No way are you going to come all of the way to the Cape of Good Hope and not walk out to the end of the trail!” He was right; I only had a few bad moments and the experience was totally worth it.

I asked our friend Kevin to take a photo of Doug and me at the bottom of the trail. He took about 20 and they all looked like this:

Once he stopped laughing, Kevin showed me the photos, I had a little scream, and then I asked Doug to hold my hair down for a photo. That didn’t work out too well either:

And this is what happened when he let go:

Oh well! I stood on the Cape of Good Hope, and I have the wind-swept hair to prove it!

We spent the next morning shopping in the very funky little shops in Cork Bay (it is a very bohemian town and the shops are much better and cooler than you will find in the bigger towns). We then drove along the coast to Hermanus, with a brief stop at Pringle Beach, a very beautiful spot with interesting rock formations:

Hermanus is widely-acknowledged as the best land-based whale-watching spot in the world. You don’t need to hop on a boat to see the whales here; you sit on the rocks and the whales play in the bay, sometimes just metres away. Southern right whales spend part of the year here – calving takes place in August and September and the males arrive for mating in October, when the season peaks. We were there past the peak season so we missed the sight of dozens of whales; nevertheless we sat on the rocks the first day and watched three whales, including a mother and her calf, play in the water just fifty metres or so from us.

I can tell you that it is very difficult to get photos of whales actually breaching the water. It takes great patience; kudos to Doug. He snapped this photo the next morning of a whale a little further out from us. This whale was slapping his tail in and out of the water and taking jumps for quite a long while. It was a joy to watch.

Sunsets in Hermanus are especially lovely. As the sun sinks, the rocks on the other side of the bay are bathed in beautiful shades of pink:

We left Hermanus in the morning and drove up north, through gorgeous scenery, to the lovely town of Tulbagh. There we stayed at the Rijk’s Wine Farm, which comes as close to perfect as any place I have ever stayed.

Tulbagh is in a wide valley, perfect for growing grapes, surrounded by mountains on all sides. Rijk’s is an award-winning winery that arguably makes the world’s best Pinotage. The hotel is beautiful, the wine is wonderful, the scenery is lovely – it was so peaceful and gorgeous, I didn’t want to ever leave.

What should one do while sitting in the shade of grape arbors, drinking in the frgrance of 1300 white rose bushes, and looking at the mountains, while your husband pours you a glass of fantastic wine? Why, knit of course!

Kevin, Carola, Chris and Mike – thanks for the company! I never thought that I would see Africa. Now that I have, I know I will return.

A better match

Posted on November 2, 2014 by knitigatingcircumstances

This post is about new mitts, and the story behind them. Because one should always start with the pretty, here are the mitts:

And here is the story.

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about a mismatch of pattern and yarn. I had a skein of Madelinetosh DK left over from another project and decided to knit a pair of mitts. The yarn is lovely, very soft and warm, and the colour, Composition Book Grey, is one of my favorites. I picked a lovely mitt pattern called Masonry Mitts by Vera Brosgol. Here is the pattern photo:

And here is my attempt to knit it up with the Madtosh:

I really didn’t feel like this was working; in fact, it was pretty clear to me almost from the beginning that it wasn’t going to work but I stuck with it for a while. Leah, who writes this lovely knitting blog, left a comment on my post, in which she says: “It is amazing how the wrong yarn can make such a huge difference in even such a small project as mitts. Good for you for not trying to force the yarn on the project. ” This comment made me think about what exactly was wrong with this yarn-pattern pairing – it also made me realize that there are other people out there who think about things like this. So, for those of you who care about such things, I will discuss it further here. For the rest of you, feel free to look at the pretty photos and ignore those pesky words.

The Masonry mitts are designed to be knit with Cascade 220, which is a plied yarn with a tight twist; it is a sturdy yarn, what we call a “workhouse yarn”. The Madtosh is a soft, fluffy, un-plied yarn which is very splitty. Cascade 220 could be described as architectural – it will keep its shape. It has substance. The Madtosh is lovely and light and unformed; if left to its own devices it will flop. When I tried to knit the Masonry knits with the Madtosh, there wasn’t enough structure to hold the shape. I could have attempted to mitigate this by knitting with a much smaller needle and forcing a tighter fabric. However, another design mismatch was also at play here.

The Masonry mitts have vertical columns of garter stitch and stockinette stitch. Most knitters get different row gauges with the two stitches. This means that one half of the mitt (the stockinette portion) will end up measurably longer than the other half (the garter portion). Garter rows are tighter and pull the fabric together vertically. If you are using a yarn with a tight ply and a good twist, this will still happen, but it will be less obvious and more amenable to blocking.

I frogged the mis-begotten mitt (this means I ripped it out so the yarn could be recycled into another project) and decided to try again with the pattern Toast and Jam, designed by Emily Foden. Toast and Jam also juxtaposes garter and stockinette (I guess I was finding this an attractive theme), but it does it in a smaller portion and over a field that is increasing rather than a straight vertical section. This keeps the mismatched gauges from getting too out of control. Not entirely, though, as you can see from the unblocked Toast and Jam mitts, where the row gauge of the garter section is clearly tighter:

A good blocking fixed this problem. The main advantage of this pattern over the Masonry pattern, with respect to the Madtosh DK, is that the Toast and Jam Mitts are knit almost entirely in Twisted Rib. The twisted rib pulls in the knitting and keeps tight control on the otherwise unplied Madtosh; in other words, it gives it structure and keeps it tight. It doesn’t hurt that it is knit with a 3.5mm needle (a US 4) instead of the 4mm (US 6) that I was knitting the Masonry mitt with. I knit Leah’s beautiful cardigan with the Madtosh and it has flow and drape – it doesn’t need a tight gauge and a twisted rib. But a Mitt takes a lot of punishment – it doesn’t need flow and drape, it needs structure.

One of the lovely features of the Toast and Jam pattern is that the garter stitch portion can be worn on the outside of the hand, or on the palm. Here it is on the outside:

And here it is on the palm:

The next time that you are considering substituting a different yarn for the one the pattern calls for, think carefully. What are the charicteristics of the fabric you want to create? How is it going to be worn? Does it need to be sturdy or delicate? Are you looking for structure or flow? And what are the characteristics of the yarn? Once you think you have a match – go for it, be creative, that’s what make knitting fun! And when you can see that you’ve got it wrong, don’t be afraid to stop. Rip it out and try again. Then, you’ll have a match made in heaven.

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Monthly Archives: November 2014

Wish List – today’s version

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Travel to the Western Cape, South Africa

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A better match

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