It’s not how big it is, it’s what you do with it

Posted on October 30, 2022 by knitigatingcircumstances

I’m happy to have a finished project to show you.

Not only is this shawl bright and beautiful, it is really, really long. Long enough to trip over if one is not careful. Long enough to flip about in a wide ark.

Long enough to wrap multiple times around your neck with room to spare.

This is the Gresham Wrap, designed by Michael Vloedman. It’s knitted in Blue Sky Fibers Woolstock Worsted. I was given this as a kit for my birthday last year by Doug and the girls.

The pattern gives the finished dimensions as 78×14 inches (198×36 cm). Mine measures 101×15 inches (256×38 cm). That 101″ measurement is along the long side of the parallelogram. If measured from tip to tip, it is 116″ (295 cm) long. I think that the before blocking length was around 88″ (224 cm) so it grew quite a bit.

The white parts of this shawl are knitted in half linen stitch and are very thick and cosy. Each colour stripe is knitted in a distinct knit-purl patterns stitch. I changed the texture stitch for the dark blue stripe (in the original pattern it is the only bit knitted in stockinette, so it came out looking and feeling flat). I wish I had changed the texture patterns for the two orange stripes; I’m sure with a little searching through a stitch dictionary or two I would have found something I liked better.

If you plan to knit this, you might think about changing up a needle size for the white parts: the linen stitch pulls the knitting in quite a bit, so that the width of the coloured stripes is quite a bit wider than the white middle section. I blocked it width-wise rather aggressively through the middle to try to counteract that, but changing needles would have worked better, I think.

In retrospect, I should have used one less skein of the white so that this was not quite so long. On the other hand, the fact that it is so long, makes it very dramatic and sort of fun to wear. I only have to take care not to end up like Isadora Duncan.

The yarn is really lovely and soft. I was worried about colour bleeding, especially from the red, but didn’t have any troubles. I did pour a cup of white vinegar in the soak when I washed it just in case.

I had hoped to take some more photos of it while wearing a different outfit – maybe against black or white. But it is raining and the time changed today, which makes the window for photographs even shorter. You will have to use your imagination.

I can’t help but notice that it is Halloween this weekend, so I will leave you with this shot:

By the way, you can thank Doug for the title of this post!

Thinking in colour

Posted on October 22, 2022 by knitigatingcircumstances

I am thinking in color these days. It’s hard not to when the trees are putting on a show.

Until this week, we have had really clear, crisp days, leading us to engage in “foliambulation”. (Not a word, you say? Check out this blog post from James Harbeck, whose blog Sesquiotica, is a cool site for word lovers.)

A few weeks ago we went to a jousting event at a mini-Ren faire near us. The jousting was all in good fun, but mostly I loved how colourful it was.

The following week, Leah took this beautiful shot along the river:

Gorgeous, isn’t it?

I’m also thinking about colours because I have signed up for Kate Davies new club, Allover Colour, which is going to focus on colour with knitting patterns and essays. The club hasn’t even started yet and I am enjoying the conversations around colour. As an example, in her most recent post, she asked readers for memories about colour names; the comments are so much fun to read. (Sign-ups for the club end tomorrow.)

Lastly, I’m thinking about colour because I am looking forward to wearing my beautiful Gresham Shawl, which has a lovely rainbow of colours set against a creamy white background. I finished knitting this one at the end of August, and have tried every day since then to work up the energy to block it. I finally managed to do it yesterday, and here is the obligatory blocking photo as evidence (the reverse side is showing):

This shawl is enormous! I can’t wait to try it on and wear a rainbow when the days get shorter and darker.

If that’s the case, why, you might ask, did it take me almost 7 weeks to block it? This is a very long story that I try hard not to bore you with, dear readers, but suffice it to say that when Doug and I got Covid in June, we drew the short straws. We both have long Covid and have really been struggling. I am back at work, but have significant fatigue and breathing issues still. They are resolving, but slowly. The worst part are episodes which Doug calls “pulling the plug”, in which I am fully functional and all of a sudden it is as if someone has pulled my plug, and I am nearly incapable of moving. As an example, Leah took this photo of me during a beautiful walk along the river:

About ten minutes later, this happened:

We were less than a mile from the car, but I struggled to put one foot in front of the other. Despite hanging on to Doug or Leah, or both, I tripped and twisted my ankle three times on the way to the car, as lifting my foot off the ground was too hard. Luckily, this doesn’t happen often. Unfortunately, its unpredictable. (On the topic of colour, the sweater I am wearing is Dyemonds, and I blogged about it here.)

Doug has had a difficult time of it, too. This includes a very frightening incidence of global transient amnesia, multiple ambulance rides, a spontaneous dissection of the carotid artery (due to covid), seven (and counting) brain scans of every variety, a headache that lasted 16 weeks, and pretty much scaring his wife and kids to death. He is recovering now too. Aren’t we a pair? (As a cognitive neuroscientist who used to direct a neuroimaging centre, I think he secretly enjoyed talking shop about brains with all of the specialists he had to see!) Luckily, we are now boosted yet again (that makes four each) and have our flu shots, and we are optimistic about winter coming.

I think this is one more reason I’m thinking about colour: because being sick can feel very grey and monotone, and recovering adds the colour back in. I’m happy to report that the colour is shining in.

I’m still knitting, never fear. I have a new project on the needles, and a knitting retreat to look forward to in a few weeks. Hopefully, my blogging energy will return soon.

Wearability Wednesday: Vodka Lemonade

Posted on October 5, 2022 by knitigatingcircumstances

Welcome to another episode of Wearability Wednesday, in which I take a look at a previously knitted garment and reflect on its wearability. Does it get worn or is it stuck in a drawer? If the former, how does it get styled? Has it held up? Was the yarn the right choice? Would I knit it again? Today, I look at Vodka Lemonade, a cardigan pattern by Thea Coleman.

I finished this in August 2020, and wrote about the completed garment in this post. I knit it for Leah, but as she was in Vancouver, I grabbed some quick photos of myself wearing it for that blog post, and then put it in the mail. This is the first time I have managed to get photos of it on Leah, for which I am very happy.

I picked this pattern specifically to wear with dresses. Leah has lots of cute dresses and tends to wear them. I wanted something that was stylish but simple. It had to be relatively cropped because that looks best with a dress. I wanted it to be hard-wearing and easy to style.

I picked yellow because it makes you feel happy. (And it just happened to match a lot of her dresses.)

One of the great features of this dress is that it is knitted in one piece with all of the finishing done as you go along, so once you’ve finished knitting, it’s ready to wear! No button bands to pick up, or buttons to sew in, no collar to attach, just sew in a few threads and voila! I also like the fact that the lapels can fold over nicely, or not, because the pattern on them is reversible.

I also really like the 50s vibe I get from this pattern. It is fun to style, and looks really good on a shapely body.

You can see here that after two years and some washing, the cardigan still looks great. I used John Arbon Knit by Numbers DK in the shade 19-385. It’s a 100% merino wool.

It was my first time using this yarn, and it was really nice to handle. Seeing it now, I am even more impressed. It looks like new, with no pilling! I would highly recommend both yarn and pattern!

I took these photos just last week, some in Henley-on-Thames, and a few at The Ashmolean in Oxford. It was gorgeous and sunny then, and now it is grey and rainy. But a yellow cardigan always brings out the sun!