theknittyvritti

sartorial splendor

 

At last, tumbling blocks is finished. Here are a few shots of the finishing. Thanks to a wonderful pattern by Martin Storey, found in Knitting for Men,I was able to incorporate the tumbling blocks pattern into a sweater with some elegance and thoughtful detail.

The sleeve and neck detail worked perfectly to pick up the colorful blocks pattern.

 

The final step before delivery was sewing on the row of buttons. Just in time for brunch on Friday, when B. got his sweater at last.

He liked it! In fact, it inspired a willing photo shoot, in which he demonstrated his implicit knowledge of what it takes to be a supermodel. He has all the poses. I've always said that B. is the best-dressed man I know, but now I can say that he may also have missed his calling.

Without further ado:

 

and

   

and 

and finally

 

And for you knitters, one more shot, of the back of the sweater

 

Tumbling blocks has come a long way since this: 

It was truly an epic knit. I'm glad that  B. asked me for this one. If he'd known what it meant, I'm sure he never would have asked, he's much too thoughtful. And if I'd truly understood what it would take, I might have found a way to divert him. Sometimes, innocence is bliss.

an end in sight

 

Hey, let's try that one right-sideup.

I'm sad that there's no Rhinebeck this weekend, but I've realized that I don't want to start counting down 'til next year. I have no interest in time passing any faster than it does.

Except for maybe when it comes to finishing the tumbling blocks sweater. This morning, in consolation for there being no fiber festival, I woke up and completed the body of the sweater. Only two sleeves and some finishing to go. I will not be sad to see the end of this one. Especially since my fingers are itching to start some of the new projects that I'm planning.

Operations Man agreed to be the sizing test model for this. It's snug on him, which is perfect, since B. is more slender. One source of anxiety gone.

I'm a bit in awe of the magnitude of this project. It's required a lot of patience and persistence. I'm pleased with the decision to work the body in one piece, since it's more appropriate for the pattern. And the choice of sweater body seems like it was a good one. Fortunately, so far I've been able to work out how to maintain the integrity of the pattern throughout, especially when it came to the reversal of the blocks down the center of the back. I do feel like I could have understood better the ways the colors would work before I started, since I might have swapped out a couple of them and maybe have laid them out differently. But overall, I'm happy.  B's been checking in on progress via the blog, and he seems happy, which is after all, the important thing.

21 inches and growing

I've never been so happy to get near the armpit of anything as I was to reach the armpit of tumbling blocks. To celebrate, here is a shot of the armhole bind offs.

I'm very happy, too, that my fears and anxieties about this one are starting to look like they are unfounded. It's actually steaming up quite nicely. Just in time to move on to anxieties related to the sleeves, since I have not thought out whether there will be any pattern problems as I join sleeves and body.

In other knitting news, the gathered pullover is not to be. After three attempts to get the fabric to look like something I would want to wear, I have frogged for the last time.

In a moment of weakness, I bought some Debbie Bliss pattern books, and found something I like better.

I have a sweater with this type of big collar and close-fitting body that is very, very flattering. So I'm pretty sure this one will look good on me, especially since I am modifying the waist ribbing. No one with hips needs a rib like that! I'm very glad this yarn which I bought just because I loved it, has finally found a purpose.

the loch ness project

I'm not sure why, but I thought of the Loch Ness monster as I was taking this photo. Maybe because tumbling blocks has emerged finally from it's long sleep in my yarn drawer, and basically taken over the living room every evening.

It has thirty five or so color changes per row, and is the least portable thing I've ever made. When I move it from room to room I inevitably end up trailing several long strands of yarn behind me, so I try not to move it very far. I did have to take it downstairs because I wanted to steam a bit of it and see how it looked cleaned up.  Something of an ordeal, that.

It's about eight inches long now, and I'd say it's knitting up acceptably. I'm not one hundred percent pleased with it. Now that I understand a little better what this type of thing is all about, I'd have to say that if I ever did it again (doubtful), I'd use a more substantial yarn The alpaca is gorgeous, but it's a bit delicate, and every little flaw just seems to be magnified. Of course, part of that is my hypercritical brain, and I suspect when the whole thing is done (looks to the heavens---pleasepleaseplease) all of the small flaws that I can't tear my eyes from will probably disappear into the overall overwhelmingness of the thing itself. Here's hoping.

cruising

It's finally going smoothly!!! Tumbling blocks is on it's way. It's a pleasure to knit, now that the latest set of technical problems have been solved. What fun to see the pattern emerge. And what a relief. I am committed to finishing this project no matter what, so the fun level was not really the point here. But that it finally is fun is a huge relief, especially given my quest to become a more selfish knitter.

While I've been working out the kinks on this one, I've been thinking about an unforgettable essay called  "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again", by David Foster Wallace found in a book of the same name. (I find that title comes in handy in many situations--it captures something in it's essence). Wallace agrees to go on a cruise, and has an excruciatingly funny bad experience. His story fits with my expectations of cruising life.

Now my oldest friend loves cruises. She wishes that I shared her sentiments, since she could then go on cruises with me. Not a chance. I can't think of anything less appealing. To me, a cruise ship is just a giant luxury apartment building with too much food and bad entertainment. Sound good? Not really. But some people love it.

Colorwork may be equally controversial. I got a bunch of comments suggesting that I was out of my mind to attempt this project. There have been moments when I thought so, too. But there is nothing as riveting, knitting-wise, as watching a picture emerge from string. I think everyone should try it at least once. However I'm not going on a cruise even if she thinks I should try it. Some experiments just aren't worth finding out what happens.

Still, I'm going to put this project away for a while. PrincessPea inspired me to stop and think about what it makes sense to work on right now. She's not just organized, she's also the person who introduced me to the Selfish Knitting group, after all. I should be finishing Myrtle, to wear this summer. I also want to knock out a little black lacy cover up for one dress before summer gets too far along. Still, I may steal a few moments for this sweater. Selfishly, yes, I mean selfishly, I'd love to see what a full repeat of the pattern looks like.

On second thought, maybe I do need to take a cruise. All that time, nothing much to do. Steward, which way is the knitting deck?

   

bye bye butterfly

I loved the march of the butterflies--so cute as they were set up in readiness to metamorphose into a sweater. but as previously reported, they were a nightmare to work with. Too many tangles. Now I know what my mother felt like when I still needed her to wash my waist length hair. She would have been justified if she snuck into my room and cut it off while I slept.

So all the butterflies got transformed into short strands. Short strands are apparently Kaffee Fassett's preferred way of doing color work. The downsides are that there can be a lot of waste, and a lot of ends to finish off, especially if the strands are too short.

But the beautiful up side is that this method really works. No more tangles. This means that you can actually knit, not spend most of your time fighting with the yarn.

And that means, lo and behold! some actual real life color work. Can't wait to see a few real blocks emerge.

cutting corners

I have been in horrible hurry to see what the tumbling blocks sweater is going to look like. I am rushing, only to find that rushing is actually slowing me down. Still, rushing did give me a bit of a rush, as the first hint of color appeared.....

I know of three different methods for holding the strands of colorwork. The first is to use yarn bobbins, which are devices that you can wrap the yarn around. The second is to use butterflies (see picture). As opposed to bobbins, butterflies are free (tra la la). You simply wrap yarn in a figure eight around two fingers, then wrap the little figure eight with a little more yarn and tuck in the end. The first end hangs out, and you pull on it to release yarn as needed. I really thought this was cool so this is what I tried.

Since I am knitting the body of a man's sweater in one piece, I have a total of thirty-five color changes per row. This is what thirty-five butterflies fighting for space looks like. Don't even ask about what it takes to untangle them so you can keep knitting. Adds another three months onto the project.

The third method sounds promising, and I'm going to be trying it next. Simply cut the yarn to the length you need, and let it hang down freely. At the end of the row, comb the yarns with your fingers to separate them and move on. Sounds simple--but it probably isn't.

twenty-first century knitting:part two

I finally settled on a pattern and a yarn for the tumbling blocks sweater for B. I'll be adapting the Argyll Sweater from Rowan's "Knitting for Him", using Alpaca with a Twist Baby Twist.

I was really excited when I made the decision. I've been thinking about this one for a few months, and it finally came together. A true techo-babe, I got on line and looked up what store near me sold the yarn. One traffic jam later, I was a The Point, a lovely yarn shop in the West Village.

I managed to snag a couple of big skeins of the basic color, and sat down with a sample sheet to select the other colors. All eight of them. Only one of them at the store. And of course, you must order in bags of ten, and it is almost summer, which means that they're not stocking winter-weight wools, and there were more eight colors, so...you see where this is going. No dice---er---blocks.

I decided to risk it, bought the beautiful yarn anyway, figuring that if this turned out to be futile, I could use the yarn for something else.

Then I got on line.  As Patti at The Point generously explained, all you have to do to locate yarn is do a search for the name of the yarn, even down to color if you so desire, and you will see where it can be purchased on line. In about half an hour, I had located all of the yarn I needed, and placed orders on it, at three different on-line stores. No traffic jam, either.

I can't decide if this is more of a good thing or a bad thing. I have bought over half of the yarn I've bought in the last six months on the internet. Certainly, I love to be able to get exactly what I want, but I wonder how the stores keep going. In a way, they are like libraries or research centers to me now half the time. And that's not a good thing for them. Note to self: try to keep buying yarn in stores--it's like contributing to public radio.We've all got to do it or no one gets to do it. And thanks, Patty, I'll be back.

the large forebrain problem

Things have been going too smoothly around here, so I decided it would be a good time to start working on B.'s sweater, an adaptation of Kaffe Fassett's Tumbling Blocks pattern. B. fell in love with the pattern, and wants a cardigan in it. The cardigan in Glorious Knits is not a good shape, so I needed to find one that I like better.

I found a pile of knitting magazines from the eighties in the basement a while back, and this pattern looks like it might work (goofy tie not included). I'm going to have to do some adapting, which will involve some arithmetic, and where there's arithmetic there's usually a melt-down or two. Hopefully I will be able to figure out whether this will work before I start it. I've promised B. that he will get a sweater before next winter, so there's no rush, but I have a sneaking suspicion that there will be a lot of chapters to this episode.

My name for the human condition? The Large Forebrain Problem (LFB). We have a little too much grey matter, and we need to keep coming up with things to keep it busy. A lot of what we come up with is downright ridiculous. It might be better to be a sheep--not much to think about, just eat and grow hair, and earn the love and respect of knitters everywhere.......

Speaking of love and respect.....thermal update coming soon.