Pransellknit

After many years, many mistakes, many stints in the naughty corner and much procrastination, Matt’s Suave Sweater is done. It’s a big mixture of relief that it’s done and that it fits well, and sadness.

“Jumper” (seriously, that’s what it’s called) from Patons Bluebell pattern book 353, Suave Sweaters (circa 1970s)
5 ply olive green crepe from the magical and slightly mystical Bendigo Woollen Mills Bargain Room
3mm needles
Started: Some time during 2005
Finished: November 2009
Ravelryed here

If only I used Bluebell, this project could have been completed a lot quicker and with a lot less tears. However, I thought it would be a good substitute and was determined to make it work.

As I was finishing it off, I thought about all the things that have happened while it’s been in my knitting basket. I remember working on it while on the tram coming home from the last time I saw Matt’s dad before he died. I remember it being one of the ‘special’ projects that came with us when we overloaded my little car and made our way up the Hume nearly three years ago (but strangely, it was trusted with the removalists on our return. It must have been in the naughty corner at the time). I don’t think there’s been a project that has carried so many memories, but this may be purely because of the length of time it took to finish it.

Being a pretty plain diagonal rib jumper, it’s probably an unremarkable project to everyone but me, but I’m really proud of it. I worked through the gauge issues, the sleeve cap issues and the ‘losing the pattern’ issues (thank you to Australian Country Spinners for helping me out there) without ever thinking about giving up. Best of all, it fits and he likes it a lot.

The only concern I have is the sleeves. Does anyone else think it looks a bit strange at the shoulder? The amount of staring at the sleeve cap may have warped my perception but it doesn’t look quite right, a bit lumpy and baggy. Having said all that it’s unlikely that I’ll unpick it, it can just be a charming character flaw.

Now that it’s done, there’s one small diversion to deal with and then a new project can be started. I’ve been fawning over the yarn and pattern for the last couple of weeks when the end was in sight, so it will be most pleasing to get a start on it.

The back of Victory is sort of finished and the front is well on the way. I can’t quite claim the back as finished, as the stripe sequence is a bit… off. While idly reading through the pattern after finishing the back, it became apparent that I really hadn’t paid enough attention. On the right hand side of the photo is the back piece and on the left hand side is the in-progress front piece, featuring the correct stripe sequence.

Normally a mistake of this size would result in the offending project (because it’s obviously its fault and not mine) being placed (or tossed, depending on mood) into a corner so it can think about what it’s done. Projects like Matt’s Suave Sweater received such punishment. This project’s a bit different. I kept going, following the pattern properly for the front. It really comes as no surprise, but it does look better with the correct stripe sequence. So once the front is finished, I’ll rip out most of the back and redo it.

The ribbing is excruciatingly boring and the combination of 100+ stitches, 4ply yarn and 3.25mm means it’s by no means a quick knit. However, the non-ribbing sections are really enjoyable and I can’t wait to see what the finished product will look like.

I’m hoping I’ve turned a corner as a result of this recent large boo boo. Hopefully I’ll avoid the silly mistakes by not rushing into a project. Hopefully I’ll be a bit more relaxed when things go awry. I’ll just have to wait until the next spate of dufferism to find out I guess!

This blog had an unintentional break in transmission, largely due to the lack of writing material. I have been knitting, but they are projects that I can’t quite blog about just yet. In the meantime, I thought I’d break up the radio silence with a story about my next (bloggable) project.

This project was started in 2005, after finding the pattern in a local op shop. The title of the pattern book is Suave Sweaters. Unfortunately I seem to have misplaced the pattern book, but if you think along the lines of ‘Men’s jumpers from the 70s, vacuumed sealed onto the model’, you’re in the ball park. Within this gem of a book, was a nice diagonal rib jumper that I thought would look good on Matt, in a non vacuum sealed form.

So off I went, and in my usual slow and steady pace, finished all parts of the jumper by 2006 (admittedly it was a 5ply pattern, using 3mm needles). As I was seaming it up, I got Matt to try it on, and it was HUGE. The sleeves were more like drop, rather than set in, sleeves, and you could reasonably fit 1.5 Matts in the body.

Down, but not out, I frogged it all and started again. The second time round it took me a bit longer due to a slight lack of interest and the gauge conversions to get the parts right. Being slightly wiser, the parts were measured against Matt at regular intervals and everything seemed to be going swimmingly. Until seaming.

I had managed to screw up the conversion at the armscye, so the sleeve caps were waaaaaay too small. Slightly more forlorn than the first time, the suave sweater sat in my pile of ‘to do’ knits for another year or so. Now I think I’m ready to tackle it again.

I have a handy dandy calculator in hand and a little bit more knitting experience under my belt. Hopefully it’ll be third time lucky.

Does this make me a process knitter? Or just stubborn (or foolish)?

It recently dawned on me that I haven’t posted any progress photos of the Victory Jumper. I think that’s a bit rude of me, expecially given the much appreciated (and needed) help I received when starting this project.

Apologies for the photos as they are a bit below par. The light’s a bit weak here today, and surfaces that aren’t boxes are in short supply ’round here still.

It’s not a fast knit by any means, but it’s still enjoyable. The pattern write up suggests that it’s really easy to remember, which has been true for me. Whenever I see “easy” mentioned in a vintage pattern I’m a bit wary, as rightly or wrongly, I tend to think that the general skill level of knitters was higher back then, and there’s a lot more assumed knowledge. That said, it’s all been pretty straight forward so far.

The only drawback of this project is that it’s not very portable. The three balls of yarn get tangled up pretty easily so I can only really work on it when I’m at home. It’s a little bit of a pain because I’m back to using public transport in my commute to and from work, but it’s really only a minor irritation.

Salina has been a work in progress for quite some time, a year in fact. It was a project that I didn’t much confidence in from the get go, starting with worrying about the orange slubs in the yarn, and ending with the seaming job. Nevertheless, Salina is finished.

Salina
around about 5.5-6 balls of Grignasco Tango, green
3.25 and 3.5 mm straights
Start: August 2007
Finish: August 2008

There’s really only one problem with it… it’s too big! The body fits ok, and is passable as a sloppy jumper, but the sleeves are just too big at the top. The sleeves look a little loose on the model, but not enough to fit a whole ‘nother arm in there. I’m not too disappointed though, I can see enough good in it to reknit it in a smaller size in the future.

The big lesson for today: don’t take so dang long to finish a jumper!

WIPs aren’t nearly as fun to photograph as FOs, but I’m finally starting to enjoy the process of finishing up this one.

I started Salina from Vintage Style about a year ago, and although I had finished knitting it ages ago, the seaming really tripped me up. The first time I set the sleeves in, it was in a haphazard ‘she’ll be right’ manner. She really wasn’t right, so the second time I was a lot more careful, pinning and basting the sleeves in before seaming. The results are a lot better using the latter method, I think.

The sides are now being seamed up, and although it seems to be taking forever (seaming in front of the computer probably isn’t really helping its progress), I am enjoying watching it finally come together.

Now as it’s nearly finished, my mind’s been turning to the next project that I’ll finish up. Although it makes progress seem really slow, I am determined to finish most, if not all, of my half finished projects this year. It does mean that I pretty much only knit on the bus to and from work, while finishing work happens at home, but it’s a nice to feel that projects are being seen through to completion, no matter how long it takes.