Random Ramblings of a Knitting Banshee

Amazing how much cables change the consumption of yarn in a project.

I bought enough yarn when we visited New Lanark in July to make a jumper. Then I decided against making that one, because it is worked in pieces and then sewn together, and I don’t like sewing knitwear.

So I picked another one to make. Kate Davies’ Port o’ Leith, which I’ve been meaning to make for ages.

Turns out I used less than half the yarn I bought (6 skeins out of 13) for that. I haven’t made the collar yet, but that should take just over one ball of it...

So I’m considering making another Owls jumper with the remaining 7 skeins, and leave the collars for later... I can always make that one with what’s left of the iris colourway of the yarn that I used to make the Sheperd’s hoodie.

 I have finished the jumper! :D I'm incredible proud of it. And it didn't take as long as I thought it might :D

Putting the zip in was pretty straightforward, even if it took quite some time to sew it in because I'm a bit slow at sewing. 

I'll see if I can post pictures at some point...

 I have finished both sleeves of the jumper now, and I'm almost done with the body - I just need to knit about 2 more inches, which shouldn't take long. After that, it's all washing, blocking, waiting for it to dry and adding the collar. 

The end is in sight! :D

As I mentioned in a previous post, I recently acquired a copy of "The Knitters Handy Book Of Top Down Sweaters" by Ann Budd, and decided to make the Unisex Zip modified drop shoulder for my partner. 

So, I started this quite a while ago. September 21st, actually. But it took a while to settle on the right needle/size combination for the yarn I’m using, but eventually settled for a size smaller than the measurement suggests (38” instead of 40”) and three needle sizes down (4mm instead of 5.5). With that, I’m getting the right shoulder width, which is promising. 

The book is very cleverly written, with lots of tables given you stitch counts and row counts and "knit until piece measures X" from" measurements so you can adjust to any size, gauge and yarn. It comes with a section on techniques, so you don't have to google any terms you may not be familiar with. As a "recipe book", it's great. 

The pattern examples, like the one I'm following, are a specific example of a jumper type, knitted at a specific gauge. The Unisex Zip is very well written, but I suspect it may be a bit daunting for knitters who expect very detailed, specific instructions. Fear not, the pattern might look sparse at times, but it only takes a bit of thinking! Just take it one row at a time :-)

So far, I've managed to make the first part of the back, and picked up the beginning of the front of the jumper. It's going to be a zip-at-the-top, jumper after that, so I've already shaped the neck but I'm still knitting the front in two pieces, to allow for the zip. It shouldn't be long until I can join the two pieces, and the front and back sections. 

All in all, very happy with the pattern. And the yarn is fantastic! It's KnitPicks City Tweed DK, in Brocade, a very dark purple. It's soft and bouncy, and has the flakes of white add just the right tweedy-ness. It also has a certain sparkle when the sun catches on it, which I wasn't expecting, but I'm very happy with. It knits like a dream, and can handle being knitted and frogged repeatedly (thankfully!) so all the false starts I had haven't resulted in wasted yarn. 

I'm wondering if, now that I'm knitting at a different gauge, I might have enough yarn left over to make something for myself. I don't usually like tweedy yarns, but this one is winning me over.