August 2007 Archives

Who knew my sleeve discussion would elicit so many differing opinions. I really didn't anticipate that. But, I'm glad it happened -- it really got me thinking about what I wanted to do, and what defined "St Brigid" to me.

In the end, I've decided to do a set-in sleeve with a saddle shoulder. Marnie was the first to suggest this, and I think it's going to work well.

I didn't come to this decision lightly. I sketched and sketched, and poured over pics of sweaters online to find something similar to each that I was considering.

What finally got me was when I stumbled upon a few pics of Demi from Rowan Vintage Knits. The button band works very much like a shoulder saddle and it was all I needed to convince myself that this option can work with a set-in sleeve aran sweater. Here's a pic of Kate's Demi to show you what I mean.

The Schedule

I am a bit behind on my schedule. I've been doing a lot of work on the house and garden, and didn't even knit 2 weekends ago at all. I'm almost caught up, and have knit until my thumb started to hurt. I should be back to knitting tonight, and if I finish the back by Friday I think I'll be OK -- I'll still have 2 weekends left to knit on the front, and that's really the bulk of my knitting time.

The Next Question

Once I start the front, I'm going to have to decide:

• Where to split the front for the start of the hood split?
• What to do with the cables once the split starts?
• What, if anything, do I want to do with the edge of the hood?

All these decisions are slowing me down, but they're necessary if I'm going to get the sweater I want in the end.

As I've been knitting I've been giving a lot of thought to how I want to tackle the sleeves. As I see it, I have three options, each with their pros and cons.

1. Modified drop shoulder
2. Set-in sleeves
3. Raglan

If you recall, I'm modifying the sleeves so I can reduce some of the bulk. Drop shoulders always add bulk. But, on someone who has a torso that's much bigger than their shoulders the drop shoulder is even less flattering. Why? As people get larger, their shoulders get larger at a much slower rate than their torsos.

A quick check at the CYC's Women's Size Charts shows that for women whose bust measurements range from 28 - 42 inches, their shoulder width only ranges from 14 - 17.5 inches. That means, while the body of their garments increased 7 inches (7 inches for one half of the body, say, just the front), their shoulders only increased half of that. The amount of additional fabric in the underarm area has doubled!!

What this means is that the larger your torso is, the more difficult it's going to be for a drop shoulder silhouette to look good on you.

The drop shoulder has got to go.

Shoulder Shaping

In addition to modifying the sleeve, I'm also adding in some shoulder shaping. This will also help with the extra underarm fabric. Shoulder shaping mimics the actual slope of our shoulders. You're going to get a better fit any time you can make the garment mimic your shape more closely.

OK, on to the sleeves.

Modified drop shoulder

Pros

• Most similar to the original design. I could even keep the shoulder saddles, which I consider a real plus.
• Least disruptive to the cable patterning.
• Easiest modification to execute.

Cons

• Will still leave some extra fabric under the arm.
• Hardest to estimate the true look of because I don't have any sweaters that fit this way.

Set-in Sleeve

Pros

• Best fit -- will eliminate the most bulk.

Cons

• I couldn't retain the shoulder saddles. Well, technically I could but I think they'd look very awkward.
• While I like the way this sleeve fits, I'm afraid it might change the overall look of the sweater.

Raglan Sleeve

Pros

• Will eliminate some bulk
• Fun to knit -- each row gets shorter!

Cons

• Since it's knitted from the bottom up, I'd have to figure out how to knit the sleeves so the cables match up. While not impossible, cursing and hissy fits will certainly be likely.
• If set-in sleeves would change the look, raglans will change the look even more.

Given all that, which way do you think I should go? Before I drew up the sketches I was strongly leaning toward the modified drop. But after looking at the sketches, I'm seriously reconsidering the set-in sleeve. Although, I keep getting stuck on that saddle shoulder. Hmm...

Kathleen and Vicki hit the nail on the head. It was the old guard article with the pic of Alice wearing her very own St Brigid that did me in. The moment I turned the page and saw that it was all over. I even picked a shade similar to hers.

I find it interesting that my St Brigid KAL buddies were the only ones to note that Alice was wearing St Brigid in the pic. Once that sweater is in your blood it's there for good. I've considered knitting it several times a year and have cast on for it no less than 4 times -- you can see 2 shades of green here in December 05, natural in December 04, and dark gray in August 04. I also remember a purple/black shade of Cascade 220 called Rainier Heather, but it doesn't look like I blogged about it.

So in this case 6th time is a charm because I am 100% sold on this color.

stop laughing Christy i'm serious here

It's no surprise either, given that it very closely matches one of my all-time favorite sweaters.

So are you curious who won?

Six of you guessed St Brigid out of 45 votes, and....

Kathleen won!

Congratulations Kathleen! It seems fitting that you won since you're a big part of the reason I started and have continued to be obsessed with this sweater for so long.

What did Kathleen win? Well, I'm not sure yet. We're in talks now :)

St Brigid in 10 weeks?

Yeah, it'll be tight. And, just like you'd expect, I have a few mods planned.

Firstly, I'm going to adjust the sleeves. I'm not sure yet if I'm going to do a modified drop sleeve or a set-in sleeve. I hadn't considered a set-in sleeve for an aran, but the Phildar Hoodie has set-in sleeves and it looks pretty good.

I'm also planning to adjust the neckline. While I love the look, a round neck is not a good shape for me. I'm considering a hood but I need to give some more thought to how the transition from front cables to hood can work.

Here's my rough schedule in order to stay finish on time:

• back: 2 weeks through Aug 26th
• front: 2 weeks through Sept 9th
• sleeve 1: 1.5 weeks through Sept 19th
• sleeve 2: 1.5 weeks through Sept 30th
• hood: 1 week through Oct 7th
• finishing: 1 week through Oct 14th

That takes up every weekend from now through Rhinebeck. I probably don't need 2 weeks total for the hood and finishing, but a little slack in a schedule is always a good thing.

For you, my dear readers, this may not be very exciting. This leaves very little room for me to knit anything other than St Brigid. This also means that my festival stash won't get any smaller.

But, if I can walk around Rhinebeck wearing St Brigid, I'll be just fine with that.

just in case you're thinking of warning me about indian summer and how Rhinebeck was really warm 2 years ago -- i don't care. it's not that i'm denying that it can happen, but Rhinebeck is all about celebrating fall knitting to me. if it's too warm to wear a sweater like St Brigid then i'll walk around in a tshirt, with my st brigid tied around my waist i'm sure ;)

There's still some time to vote! So far the most votes for a single sweater is 6 for the pewter coat (upper right in the big mosaic below). So if you get it right you'll have a good chance at winning.

I've been really enjoying reading the responses and the theories behind them. You've really been giving it some thought!

Keep 'em coming. Voting closes tomorrow (Sunday) at 6PM EDT.

I have a confession to make. I was -- depending on your perspective -- either a very bad knitter or a very good customer this weekend.

this is a long entry. just to keep you going, i'll let you in on a little secret -- i finally selected what my rhinebeck sweater will be, and i'm announcing a contest at the end of this entry.

Something's been in the air for me lately. I just haven't been able to get any projects to "stick". I'm sure it's part weather (I hate summer and I really enjoy knitting with wool so it's hard to do that right now) and part post-project ennui (I often have trouble getting into the groove after I finish a bigger project).

I've been doing lots of thinking about my Rhinebeck 07 sweater. I promised myself that I'd knit something fabulous to wear around the fairgrounds that Saturday.

Well, instead of the list getting smaller, it's actually grown in the past few weeks -- and really, most of the growing was this weekend.

Here's how my weekend went.

After compiling my Fall 07 Knitspiration list I was ready to get started on something new. Since I had to do some work-related clothing shopping anyway, it was easy to convince myself to add in a yarn store or two as well.

First stop was Woolbearers. They had gotten in the shades of Jamieson's that I had special ordered for swatching. While I was there I picked up the new Rowan, the new VK, and RYC Classic Style. Note: how did this pattern book fly under the blog radar? It's probably my favorite out of the whole RYC line. So, not too much damage at Woolbearers, and most of it was planned anyway.

Next stop was Loop, where they were having an 80% off sale on summer yarn. I got a sweater's worth of GGH Samoa in brown and light blue (I'm thinking hoodie next spring) and 3 balls of laceweight silk for Astrid. OK, not too bad -- you can't pass up a great deal like that.

Then I headed up to Tangled Web because they, too, were having a sale. I just don't have any luck with them. I left there empty handed.

So, on my way back home I stopped in at Woolbearers again. I had this idea for a knitted coat and picked up a few balls of various yarns to swatch.

I swatched Saturday night, but nothing was perfect.

So then, I noticed Harmony out of my new RYC Classic Style book. It was perfect and I wanted it now.

So, Sunday morning I went to Woolbearers again (no luck) and then I went to Rosie's. After spending 2 hours there I left with the new Jo Sharp Knit 3 book (the one that has this coat in it, with enough Jo Sharp Silkroad DK tweed to do it up.

Are you still with me? Unfortunately, I'm not quite done yet.

Later on Sunday, I'm sitting on the couch thumbing through my new VK (the 25th anniversary edition) and inspiration strikes. I have THE perfect Rhinebeck sweater. The one that I have to make.

And then I realize, I don't have any yarn for it.

So, I buy enough Cascade 220 in the aporto colorway to make my perfect rhinebeck sweater.

So there you have it. I'm ashamed to say that all in all I probably bought close to 60 balls of yarn this weekend -- my completely ADD unfocused shopping frenzied weekend that ended in the best possible way. I got my yarn yesterday, swatching it up last night, and dare I say it's perfect. It's everything I hoped it would be.

Are you curious which sweater I chose?

Not that quick!

Here's the whole list. You know which yarn I chose, so there are a couple you should be able to knock out pretty quickly. Keep in mind that I like to play with gauge, so don't dismiss a project just because the gauge doesn't quite match up. And remember that something in Vogue triggered my idea -- could be a yarn, a project, a designer, an ad, anything. But there's something in this issue of VK that directly correlates with my project choice. It's a huge issue and I can think of at least 5 possibilities that fit this description without even thumbing through.

Make your best guess by 6pm EDT this Sunday (August 12th). If you click on the image above you'll go to the Flickr version which lists what each project is called. And while this isn't necessary, I'd love to hear your reasoning behind your guess - gut instinct, project and yarn go well together, or the VK clue. Those of you with the correct answer will be eligible to win something from my stash -- something good, I promise. I'm inclined to say sock yarn but if you're not a sock knitter that won't be much fun. So, let's see who wins and we'll pick out something together that'll be fabulous for you.

I'll be back on Sunday to show you my progress.

ps - if you're one of the people i told this wednesday at panera then you can't play -- sorry :( i didn't have this contest in mind then or i wouldn't have ruined it for you

click for details

I love fall. I know, it's not fall. But, in the knit world it's certainly starting to seem like fall. And for a girl who can't stand summer, that's good enough for me.

I've collected a bunch of patterns here that are speaking to me somehow -- either a detail that I love, or a silhouette, or clever construction.

Or in the case of the man in the kilt, just because he makes me so, so happy.

I've typed up a lot of details in Flickr, but here are the highlights from my fall knitting world:

• love love love texture. can't get enough of it this season
• was there a sale at the alpaca farm? have alpacas suddenly become extra fertile? there's a lot of alpaca out there (berroco, rowan, ryc, just to name a few). am i the only one who has little interest in making garments out of alpaca? it's heavy. it has no memory. it's hotter than hell. the blends are just barely better. someone please enlighten me.
• colorwork is a close second in my obsessions, although i haven't found much inspiration yet. i'm thinking a few colorwork mitts are in order.
• i tried really hard not to pick anything just because i want to knit it. if i wouldn't buy it RTW, then it didn't make it on the list. same goes with colors this season. christy and i just talked about this on saturday. she mentioned there was talk of this topic in a "why do you knit socks" discussion on the stash and burn group on ravelry. someone said she could knit any kind of sock she wanted without diluting her fashion sense. great reasoning if you ask me -- it satisfies the urge to knit something quirky without being embarassed if one of your coworkers or that cute neighbor next door sees you

So what are you thinking about for fall? What's inspiring you? What can't you get out of your mind?

Need more details on what I've pictured? Go check out my full flickr set.