A few weeks ago, I showed you some photos of an epic yarn tangle and the start of a new project. After hours of de-tangling, the new project looked almost as tangled as the knots:
I began to think of this as “The Kraken”, a 3-D piece in which the cables are built up separately giving the interim apperance of little tentacles waving around. In fact, the pattern is for a pretty summer top with lots of drape and cascading cables which flow across the fabric. Here is the pattern photo:
© Interweave / Harper Point Photography
The pattern is the Ojai Top, and is designed by Andrea Babb. I think it is pretty and very different. Despite a clear lack of knitting mojo and opportunity this last month, I have made some progress, and the project is now taking on a more recognisable shape.
It is very bright and sunny today, so I am having a hard time getting the colour to photograph well. It is actually a deeper blue that it looks here. The piece is knit from side to side in one piece. I have just finished the last cable cross, so what remains is a lot of stockinette which will form the drape over the left shoulder and sleeve. The right arm is bare, while the fabric on the right shoulder is ruched from the cables.
I am still not convinced I made the right choice in yarn, however. I decided to go with a yarn with some silk content, rather than the pure wool used in the project pattern. (I’ve used DyeForYarn Fingering Merino with Silk, which has 25% silk, in the shade Fading Stormy Night.) The blocked swatch looked good, but the unblocked piece looks messy, without the stitch definition I would prefer. I am also very unconvinced by the colour variations in the yarn; I thought that it would look like flowing water, but so far I’m not seeing it. The truth is, I love hand-dyed yarn in the skein, but I am not always a fan when it is knit into a garment. My feeling with this project is that it will all come down to the blocking: either it will be totally cool and interesting, or it won’t. And on that very profound note, I’ll stop writing and start knitting.
Really pleased to see that you have been able to get knitting despite your lack of mojo. I know exactly what you mean about hand-dyed yarn and the lack of translation from beautiful, delicious skein to slightly strange knitted fabric. I have tried to train myself over the years to step away from the hand-dyes precisely because of this, and after too many purchases which looked fabulous but are ultimately un-useable. It will be interesting to see what you decide with Ojai – I can see your point re the variegations and fingers crossed that when blocked it has a beautiful drape which ends up combining with the colour to create your water vision.
My thought when I saw it was that it looked like water. 🙂
I too have learned to resist the allure of hand-dyed yarn for that reason – but the blues look very pretty. Thank-heavens for blocking!
what an interesting piece! I think it is going to be stunning when complete. The yarn looks lovely!
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