Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Sweater weather

No one who lives in New England will be surprised to hear that it was 12 degrees when I got my son off to the bus stop this morning (that's minus 11 Celsius). While spring sewing has been happening, it's hard to get in the mood to put it on display. I did a little photo shoot yesterday of a sleeveless top from the Shape Shape book, in a Liberty print no less, but I look so pallid, goose-bumpy, and tight-shouldered in the photos that I can't bring myself to post them. Not to mention cranky and petulant.








I have an idea! I'll take this opportunity to look back at some of my knitting, in the hope that this will remind me why I like living in a place that has real winters. My dear grandmother taught me how to knit when I was quite young. We alternated these lessons with exercising in front of the TV along with Jack LaLanne.

The knitting didn't take right away, but decades later I felt the urge to get back to it and I've enjoyed it sporadically ever since. (It's pretty much the same story for exercising, come to think of it!)



Here's a complete success of a sweater that I knit for my son in 2010. It's in Rowan Lima, the softest yarn ever. Of course the son kept growing, so we need someone to hand this down to.





When I sew for myself, I gravitate toward blue, black, and gray, but apparently that is not true of my knitting:










There's a fourth purple one, but I think this makes the point. What does it mean? Why would I be more adventurous with color when knitting than when sewing, even though everything takes me ten times as long to make? Will have to ponder this . . .

The sweater that took me the longest to knit is my husband's Seahorse, from the book Rowan Denim by Kim Hargreaves. Yikes, this would have taken forever even if I hadn't messed up the pattern and had to reknit most of the back.





Though I'm far more interested in sewing these days, I do enjoy knitting, and I have a glorious yarn stash to work through. And I just know that if I turn my attention to a knitting project right about now, the general perversity of the universe will make spring come along posthaste. So I'm going to do it! For anyone who wants to see more, my Ravelry name is pittypat; new friends are of course welcome.

11 comments:

  1. Patricia, I definitely feel your pain about the weather in New England! I enjoyed looking at your knitting projects though, and especially hearing about your grandmother and Jack LaLane! Wow, we should bring back some of his exercise suits for yoga. I remember that show as being hilarious, but also really ahead of its time.
    I used to love to knit, and you've done a beautiful job with all of those patterns.
    Maybe spring will actually arrive and you'll have better luck with your sewing pictures.

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    1. Thanks, Julie. Yes, those early days of TV -- Jack LaLanne, Lawrence Welk -- I'm not quite sure whether to be nostalgic or to cringe. Happy spring to you; it will be here one of these days.

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  2. I like the red cardigan - very pretty! I like the front ribbing (is that the terminilogy?). I just used to knit holes when I was "taught" to knit. Do you crochet as well? I have my Nanna's hooks and have done a few granny sqaures (thanks to the usefulness of Youtube).

    We had snow here today (London). About 30 seconds worth as I walked from one end of Leicester Square to the other. Not -11c though. You can keey that jolly cold weather. We've otherwise been very fortunate and had a mild (but wet and windy) winter.

    Have you had a look at the new Vogue releases? I'm gonna order the Claire Schaffer jacket (it's a grey tweedy thing in the cover photo).

    And in other exciting news - I've got a Threads magazine subscription!! It's so much better than the UK sewing mags and quite good value ($100/£60 for 3 years incl P&P)!

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    1. Hi Claire, nice to hear from you again. I'm so glad to hear you've gotten a subscription to Threads: that magazine has given me a lot of useful tips and techniques, and I hope it's the same for you. As for the new Vogue releases, I'm just going to head over there now to take a look. All the best to you!

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    2. Hello! I've just looked on my usual vogue/mccalls website and the V8991 is not available to buy in the UK yet :-( I could order from the US, but given that there is a dress that I would like as well, I'll be good and wait to save on P&P costs. I spent today doing odds and sods on 95% finished projects and have a few 100% finished garments *virtuous face*. Have you got the sewing bug back or are you still knitting? Take care, Claire x

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    3. Sewing again, thanks for asking! I'm working on a dress from the April Burda--making a muslin first because I love the fabric I'm planning to use and don't want to mess it up. Are you going to post reviews of your finished garments?

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  3. Wow, your knitting is impressive! Now I know who to call when I can't figure out my knitting ;) And your posting seems to have worked, it is much more like spring around here this week and hopefully we will have more days like this to come! Which Burda dress are you working on?

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    1. I will always be happy to help with knitting, Maggie, though it's not like I'm an expert or anything. If you need it, let me know and we can meet up: my email is pfarr at comcast dot net, in case that's a more convenient way to reach me. I'm making #124 from the April 2014 Burda magazine (you get it, I think?), but without some of the details. No lace on the peeking-through part of the underdress, no batting under the neckband, probably no piping, and especially no shirring on the sleeves. Afraid I will look like an aging Bo-Peep otherwise, haha!

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    2. That was exactly the dress that caught my eye as well! I love the way they have drafted the skirt, it looks like a fun piece to wear. I have put it on my to-do list, but I also might have to do away with some of the same details. I didn't realize that the neckband was padded?!?! That is weird. I am excited to see what your version will look like!

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    3. The skirt on Burda 124 is very similar to vogue 1371 https://www.sewdirect.com/acatalog/Vogue-1371.html which I have just made. No review written yet on PR as have not had time to take a good photo!! Attempt this pattern if you like pleating and ironing pleats!! The 124 in the European magazine is in a lovely spotted grey silk - will you do something similar? A drapey fabric is a must for that kind of skirt. I would add that I have not been terribly inspired by the last few Burda months' magazines....

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    4. You're right, very similar skirt; I think I like the one on Vogue 1371 even better as it does not look quite as full at the bottom. Looking forward to seeing your version once you get a photo. I just finished a post on the fabric I'll be using for the Burda dress, so you can have a peek when you like.

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