Recently a lot of knitters have been making Kate Davies’ design, Carbeth:
© Kate Davies
It is a kind of funky, nicely-shaped, bulky, cropped pullover which knits up really fast. Mason-Dixon Knitting started a Bang Out a Carbeth KAL and it seems as if everyone is knitting one. I spent a lot of time considering it, and finally decided against it, mainly because there is no way I could wear a bulky pullover more than maybe two days a year, if that. Especially a cropped one. I know that it would get put away in a drawer and never worn. (I am either hot or cold; mostly hot. If I am hot, I won’t wear this, and if I am cold, I don’t want it cropped.)
And then Kate came out with a Carbeth Cardigan, and I started considering all over again.
© Kate Davies Designs
I think this looks fantastic on Kate. But, to tell the truth, I am not sure that it would be fantastic on me. Yes? No? I have moved back and forth on this many times. And then, in a moment of weakness, I bought the yarn to make it: 14 skeins of Buachaille, in the beautiful dark grey natural shade she calls Squall (the one on the bottom in the below photo).
So now I have the yarn to knit up a quick, bulky cardigan, and I am hesitating. Do I really want a Carbeth cardigan? Yes. It’s adorable. But will I wear it? That is the million dollar question. I am trying really hard to knit things that I will actually wear.
If I don’t knit it, the yarn will definitely be used to knit something else; it is gorgeous yarn. The Carbeth sweaters are knit with two strands of yarn held together so I have plenty to knit a sweater with a single strand (it is a DK weight). For example, I have enough of it to knit either one of these patterns that I have my eye on; Kirigami by Gudrun Johnston:
© Brooklyn Tweed/Jared Flood
Or Cahal by Linda Marveng:
© Eivind Røhne
What do you think? Should I Bang Out a Carbeth?
In the meantime, I am still sick. It has been well over 3 weeks now. I have just started my second round of antibiotics. I am unhappy, and grumpy, and not able to concentrate on knitting or reading, and probably a bear to live with right now. But I have yarn…..