Maybe it's because I was born in the fifties, maybe it's just that I think that more is better when it comes to the sweater, but I have always been a big fan of the twinset. My closet is stuffed with them, but hey, I can always use one more. Especially since I have a habit of drooling coffee down my front while lost in thought at work. Which means that occasionally I need to retire a set. Like this morning, when I reached for a favorite, and realized that the coffee stains were so plentiful that it was toast.
Perfect timing, though, because I have a new twinset. I've been planning this one for a while. A long-time admirer of Ann Weaver's Tempest, I thought it would be a perfect candidate for twinning. I wrote to Ann, and she liked the idea, even offering up her vision of how she would approach the stripes on the under-sweater. She told me that she had no more of the yarn left, or she might make it herself, and in appreciation for her generosity, as well as her idea, I decided to make the second sweater in the manner she suggested.
The Tempest pattern is beautifully written, and one of the cool features of it is that there is no measuring involved. All of the transitions are done by row counts, but since you never have to count higher than twelve, it can all be eyeballed. No measuring tape or row counters was a real pleasure. I used the luxurious Koigu Silk/Merino, which made for a rather expensive sweater, but the recommended Fleece Artist Blue-faced Leicester would be a more economical option. I made a few minor changes to the pattern. First, I did not slip the first stitches of the rows since I don't find seaming difficult. I also skipped the buttons, since I made this sweater with a lot of negative ease and plan to wear it open to show off the under-sweater. And I changed the (no) button band garter stitch to seed stitch because I wanted something a little more structured.
In spite of the simplicity of the pattern, I managed to make a few goofs and knit almost the whole thing twice. My karma came back on the under-sweater, which was a real quickie---two days on the needles. And a pleasure to knit up right out of my head, allowing me one of those prideful moments of realizing that all these years of knitting have given me some instincts for imaging how a garment should be constructed. I simply knit the body the same way as the first sweater, lowered and deepended the armits, and eyeballed where i wanted the neck to fall, and it worked out rather well.
I was a bit crestfallen when I had to admit that my old twinset is hopelessly coffee-stained and inappropriate for the office, unless I want to cultivate a sort of madwoman look---not too advisable, I think. So this one is finished just in time to ease the pain of the good-bye to a gorgeous cashmere friend. And I am now ahead of the game for my NaKniSweMoDo project. My March and April sweaters are done, and I just cast on for May. Maybe I wil be able to let up on the knitting a little over the summer and take care of my plants---I've been kinda worried about that.
