I’ve just returned from a business trip to Johannesburg. I was away for 10 days, which felt like a long time. Interestingly, on the very day I left for Johannesburg, Emma arrived home for a visit. Yes, bad planning indeed! She landed at Heathrow only hours before my departure, and by the time she and Doug made it to the house, Emma and I had less then an hour of overlap. Alas, we were like two ships that pass in the night. The good news is that I am home now, and she is still here, so once I recover from the long flight and busy week, I can spend some time enjoying her presence.
I always take a knitting project with me when I travel. (As we knitters know, it takes much longer to pack one’s knitting than to pack everything else.) I took a very lightweight, mohair shawl, the Osaka Scarf, which I had originally cast on in July to take with me to Arizona. It seems to have become my travel project, mostly because it weighs next to nothing, is just miles of stockinette with nothing tricky going on, and fits into a tiny project bag. The shawl is knitted in blocks of colour, with five different shades of Ito Sensai silk mohair yarn.
I didn’t get to knit too much while I was there; a heavy teaching schedule and being super tired aren’t really conducive to knitting. However, I did manage to get in a few hours while sitting in the warm 30 degree sunshine out by the pool:
I am hankering for something a bit more meaty to knit now, something to keep my brain engaged and hopefully block out some of the horrible news of the world. (I am not going to discuss the horrible news here, which just keeps getting worse every day, because knitting is my safe space, so I am endeavouring to keep this a safe space too.) To that end, I have just signed up for a KAL (a knit-along) with Carmen Schmidt of A Yarn Story. The KAL is for any one of the 5 projects designed by Erika Knight for the Signature Collection using A Yarn Story’s yarn, Walcot Opus.
I have to admit that I am unsure about the project I chose from this collection. It is a shawl called A Walk in the Park:
This is not my usual type of shawl. For one thing, it is triangular-shaped, and I much prefer rectangular shawls. It is also outside of my usual colour choices. I ordered the yarn in the same colours as the pattern photo and was surprised when it arrived to discover that the colour I thought was black is actually a deep brown. Emma says she likes it much better with the brown, and that it gives it a beautiful depth. It still feels slightly out of my comfort zone.
Both Emma and Doug were surprised that I didn’t pick one of the pullover patterns from the collection, and maybe I should have. On the other hand, the whole family has been confiscating my hand-knitted shawls lately, and I am in danger of running out of shawls! I do have my mind on some glorious pullover patterns, however, which may very well make it to my needles. The top two contenders at the moment are The Checkerplate sweater by Lily Kate (for me):
and the Liv Sweater by Moreka Knit (for Emma):
Emma and I are planning to attend the Unravel Yarn Festival at Farnham next week, and I expect that some yarn will find its way home with us! So keep an eye on this space for some new projects in the weeks to come!
I’ll end with a photo of a visitor to our garden today:
Perhaps he is interested in my next project too?
Thank you for leaving the news from the world out of your blog. I also like my knitting to be a safe and happy place. I’m not sure about the shawl–I’ve followed you for years, and it is a different palette, but it looks fun to knit, and that might endear you (?) to it.
I like the Checkerplate sweater (your link is wrong BTW). What is your opinion on seamless top-down vs seamed in terms of structural integrity? I have a 44″ bust, so I am not a tiny person, and I was taught by my grandmother, who lived to be 100 and knit into her late 90s, to ALWAYS!! have seams in my sweaters for sturdiness. However, many sweater patterns I like (e.g., Checkerplate) are top-down and seamless. I’m 61, and I’ve been knitting (slowly) for about 20 years; I think of you as a more-experienced, similarly-aged knitter, and if you have the time, I’d value your opinion.
Hi, Brenda! Just adding my own opinion re structural integrity of top down vs seamed. Having knit seamed sweaters for 30 years and top down / bottom up sweaters now for 10 years, I much prefer top down and do not find this top down has sacrificed structure or sturdiness. Designers add different construction methods to ensure their designs have the required structure in their garments.
The ability to try on a garment while knitting it top down is a real benefit and simplifies making adjustments to fit and length. After wearing my top down knitted sweaters for many years I haven’t found that the change in construction has negatively impacted my sweater fit, wearability or durability. Highly recommend that you give this construction a try!
And I’ve added structure to top-down sweaters with a purl line down each side, crocheted together later to make a “seam”. Working for me so far. Kelly, the Liv Sweater – love it, thanks for drawing it to our attention. Very elegant, although I’d alter the bottom of the sleeves – balloon-y at the wrist doesn’t work with my life. Love your local fox.
Hi Karen, thanks for joining the conversation! It really depends on the sweater, doesn’t it? I have many sweaters with great fit that are knitted top-down, and as more and more designers go this route, I will probably knit even more of them. Trying them on, as you say, is a huge plus. I’ve realised that the sleeves on my Piping Hot sweater need lengthening, and since I knit top-down, it will be easy peasy.
Hi Brenda, thanks so much for writing! I once wrote a post called I am the Switzerland of Sweater Construction (https://knitigatingcircumstances.com/2017/07/05/i-am-the-switzerland-of-sweater-construction/) in which I counted up all of the sweaters that I had made since starting to document them on Ravelry, and discovered that exactly half of them were seamed and half were knitted in one piece. I wrote that in 2017 (incidentally while I was in Johannesburg in the same hotel as last week). I just did a quick check and discovered that since writing that post, I have knitted another 26 sweaters and, of those, 12 have shoulder seams and the rest not. So, I think I am still fairly even-handed in construction methods.
I think it really depends on the sweater and the yarn. If the sweater is heavy, then I usually prefer to have a seam at the shoulders to help distribute the weight and allow it to hang nicely. I also find that if the sweater is very lightweight and fly-away, then a shoulder seam also helps, as otherwise the sweaters tend to torque a bit. Yoke sweaters usually hang okay regardless. But designers are getting better at making sweaters that have good shaping in the shoulders even in the absence of seams (thus, all of the short row shaping we see). I do like the ability to try on a sweater as you go and get the length right.
Cute fox 🦊 I love the jumper with the split, very stylish. I’ve knitted a thick triangular shawl similar to that but find it too bulky to sit at the front and too short width for wrapping around shoulders. I hope yours works better. I just have stopped listening to or reading the news. Sometimes I spot something on YouTube and wish I could stop news coming through on that.
I know exactly what you mean about thick triangular shawls; I am working on a plan, however. Watch this space.
Thanks so much for sharing the Liv Sweater. I’ve added to my queue! Oh what a treat getting to see a fox. Supposedly we have some in our woods but I’ve never seen one. Lots of coyotes though.
Foxes have really moved into the suburbs here, and I hear they are in the big cities too. But this one is so healthy and beautiful, he doesn’t feel like a scraggly urban creature.
Glad you and Emma have some time together! You have some lovely projects picked out, and I agree about packing knitting for trips. It’s the most important thing to pack! Finally, what a beautiful visitor you had – thank you for sharing the picture 🙂
Thank you! It’s nice to have Emma around to share adventures with. I’m about to write about a yarny adventure we’ve had since.
Can’t wait to check it out!
Glad you got at least some family time. I can see why you’d be tempted by the shawl – the different patterns are intriguing and would make for an interesting knit, I think. Could you perhaps adapt them to a rectangular shape?
I’m with you, Liz! I am already planning how to re-shape this shawl. Wish me luck!