Tag Archives: sweaters

2017 FO 17 : Vanilla cardigan

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Finished: Ivory cardigan (free pattern)

This here is a case of a sweater that was begun on a whim, aimed tentatively in a certain direction, took some turns over the course of the knitting, and wound up being exactly what I’ve always wanted.

I cast this on one night after finishing my fisherman sweater, having a couple of skeins left over, not wanting to be done with the yarn, and having been craving this cardigan in this yarn since as far back as my black yoke sweater. (Yep, this is my third sweater in this yarn, Arranmore. True love.) It wasn’t what I was “supposed” to be knitting next, and I thought I might get it out of my system just by knitting a few inches, so I didn’t even put a basting stitch in the raglans. But I was hooked in no time, bought enough yarn to knit it for real, and carried on.

My original sketch was significantly different, pocket-wise, but along the way I ran into this photo and was reminded how much I just really wanted this to be simple, old-school and snuggly. That I have wanted that for ages and can never quite get it. And now that I’m wearing it, I’m so glad I heeded that voice. Between nailing the scale of the pockets and taking time to get the cuffs exactly where I wanted them,* it’s pretty damn perfect. (Still without buttonholes at the moment, but it might stay that way!)

As always with my Improv sweaters, all my notes and counts and measurements are below. I highly recommend copying this one in some nice snuggly yarn — it’s a gem.

Pattern: Improv top-down (free pattern)
Yarn: Arranmore in St. Claire (6.5 skeins)
Buttons: Bone narrow-rim from Fringe Supply Co.

You can scroll through all of my posts on this sweater here, Instagram posts here, and like it at Ravelry if you do!

Finished: Ivory cardigan (free pattern)

GAUGE

4.25 sts and 6.25 rows = 1 inch (measured over 4″ = 15/25) knitted on US7; ribbing and band on US5

TARGET MEASUREMENTS

22″ back = 94 sts (46 sts/front) = ~44″ chest (9.5″ ease), inc to 46″ hip
14″ upper arm circumference = 60 sts (10 at underarm)
9.5″ yoke/armhole depth (60 rows)
17″ body length (2.5″ hem ribbing)
26.5″ total length
14″ sleeve length (2.25″ cuff ribbing)
9″ cuff circumference
6″ x 6″ pockets (30 sts, 1.5″ ribbing)

DETAILS

— CO 64 sts, divided with markers as follows ( 1 | 4 | 10 | 4 | 26 | 4 | 10 | 4 | 1 )

– Planned on 10 sts cast on at each underarm, and divided the raglan stitches evenly between sections when separating sleeves from body

— Increased at front neck edge every 4th row 11x

— Worked raglan increases as kfb on either side of the 4 raglan stitches

— Increased sleeves at raglans every-other row till 44 sts, then on 4th, 6th, 8th rows (50 sts), then work even

— Increased back/fronts every-other row until 84 back sts

— Separated for sleeves at row 60, cast on 10 per underarm

— Increased body at side seams 2x, at 2″ and 8″; stockinette for 14.5″ then ribbing on US5 for 2.5″

— Knitted sleeves flat; decreased on rows 21, 41, 61; on row 81 dec evenly to 42 sts, the ribbing on US5 for 16 rows

— Worked patch pockets separately and grafted on

— Picked up sts for garter-stitch button band, worked on US5: 14 sts along the hem ribbing (could have been 12), 56 up the front, 51 along the slope, 2 out of 3 around the cast-on edge, mirror down the other side

— No buttonholes (more on that here), may do aferthought buttonhole; buttons are symbolic in the meantime

*I have the sleeves very slight/unevenly pushed up in the photos of me wearing it. Despite how that hanger photo looks (taken just after wearing them unevenly like that), the sleeves are exactly the same length!

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PREVIOUSLY in FOs: Pants and more pants

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Poor photos of me in a dreamy Cline sweater

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Poor photos of me in a dreamy Cline sweater

Since I posted here and on Instagram last week about trying on and casting on the Cline sweater, I’ve had a lot of people asking about the fit. Anytime I get to try on a sample of something, I snap quick photos in order to be able to reference them later if I’m ever actually knitting it. (Now where did the sleeves hit me? Did I like the length? The neck? …) I did the same here and, as usual, they were meant only for me and my camera roll, not for public consumption. I regret not having gotten better photos, but I get why everyone is wondering about this, so here they are for all the world to see! Tweaked as well as they could be. But certainly enough that you can see how it fit me and my big shoulders.

This is the sample size (gorgeous in this mushroom-colored Rimu), 47.25″, and my bust is about 34.5″ — so it’s roughly 13″ of positive ease. You can see the difference in how my shoulders fill it out, versus the original model with slightly narrower shoulders or darling petite Jaime, who also tried it on that day and just finished hers in the same size. So what’s oversized and adorably funky on Jaime looks like a more traditional fit on me.

This one was knitted by Christine, a professional sample knitter, who goes as @a2kiwi on Instagram and a2kiwi on Ravelry. I’m so grateful to her for letting me try it on — thank you, Christine! You can see her project page for it here, and all of her knits here. She’s incredible.

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PREVIOUSLY in Cline: Queue Check, November 2017

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Idea Log: Cocoon cardigan

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Idea Log: Cocoon cardigan

In addition to everything I talked about yesterday, there’s one more idea rolling around in my head that won’t let go. I have this wool coat I got at Elizabeth Suzann’s sample sale a couple years ago (no longer available; you can see it on me here), and it’s one of my favorite things I’ve ever owned. It just slides right on over everything, with its cocoon shape and dolman sleeves. So cozy and easy, and makes you look fabulous no matter what you throw it over. I actually wore it all summer at Fringe HQ (before we got control of our climate, finally!) and I find myself wanting a sweater version to snuggle up in through the winter. I even already have a swatch! What I’m envisioning is sort of in between the ES coat and something like Cirilia Rose’s Gezell Coat — less long and maybe slightly less voluminous than my coat, but with the stand-up collar and dolman sleeves. And pockets. But of course I still also want the sweater that swatch was originally envisioned as. Actually, I want about four sweaters with that yarn, but I think this idea might ultimately be the winner.

I haven’t searched for patterns, but it wouldn’t be hard to make up. If you happen to know of a similar pattern, though, let me know!

(Fashionary sketch templates from Fringe Supply Co.)

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PREVIOUSLY in Idea Log: Big pleated top

Queue Check — November 2017

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Queue Check — November 2017

My already beloved ivory cardigan is essentially finished — just waiting for me to have time to sew on the pockets and buttons — so you should be seeing it here soon. Doing the finishing on a voluminous cardigan didn’t sound like a good road-trip project when we were packing up for the recent family extravaganza, so instead I used the drive time to cast on my Cline sweater in Junegrass.* I’m so happy to finally be knitting myself a plain grey sweater, and to have this incredible yarn in my hands.

Through an act of kindness, I got to try on someone else’s Cline while I was in Denver in September, which is what made me a convert to this sweater. (More on that here.) The only change I’ll need to make is that the sleeves were several inches too short for me. They’re rather unusual sleeves, so I need to think through how best to implement a mod, which means I’ve started with the back instead of a sleeve. And as it happens, knitting a big stockinette rectangle has been the perfect thing for me here in the thick of crazy season.

All of that said, I haven’t given up the idea of casting on a big shawl-collar cardigan in a rush — there’s a red-hot debate about it raging in my brain. As I watch our forecast shift from mid-60s to low-40s in the next two weeks, I’m feeling increasingly nervous about having gone from two shawl-collars to none. I know from having knitted it once that I could cast on a Bellows with my blue Harrisville special and be wearing it by New Years’ (if not Christmas), and I would be extremely happy to have it as we roll into January. (The Sourcebook Chunky Cardigan thus being saved for another yarn, another day.) On the other hand, I have so many plates spinning in general right now that I’d rather be finishing things up, not starting new ones. Plus I might be a skein or two short on the yarn for that. Plus I don’t know how the back of my neck and that yarn get along.

Then there’s also the little matter of my planning and swatching for the Log Cabin Knitalong that kicks off in a month and a day. The smart thing to do would be to stick with the Cline and the swatching for the next month, and go straight into my knitalong project. But especially since that means going from stockinette into garter, I have a neurotic urge to cast on some cables in between! Which brings me back to those cable hats, and specifically the Bulletproof Aran Hat.

Decisions, decisions.

*Mine is from last year’s Batch One, no longer available. There’s currently a Batch Two.

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PREVIOUSLY in Queue Check: October 2017

New Favorites: from BT Fall/Holiday

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New Favorites: from BT Fall/Holiday

When the Brooklyn Tweed Fall ’17 collection came out, I mentioned there were some sweaters that would come up here sooner or later. I was referring to Galloway by Jared Flood and Voe by Gudrun Johnston. What I didn’t imagine is that, in the meantime, they would put out photos of second samples in their holiday lookbook that are even more stunning in wintry shades of greys and blues. I’m now yearning to have Galloway in my closet in this exact color combo. And while Voe would look terrible on me — I can’t do a motif that encircles the shoulders like that — there is now a Voe Hat! (below) It’s fingering, but maybe I have the patience for fingering-scale colorwork at hat proportions! It’s just so gorgeous.

IN OTHER NEWS! We’re having a holiday pop-up here in Nashville this Saturday, in conjunction with our friends at Mason-Dixon Knitting — the first-ever Taylor Yarn Co-op Pop-up! We’ll both have all of our goods (including our new holiday lovelies and theirs), and we’ll also have some special Field Bags at markdown prices: samples, slight seconds and floor models. (Available only at this event, not online.) It’s happening at 100 Taylor Street in Suite A22 from 10-3, at the same time as the Shop Small Makers Fair is happening, so there will be lots to choose from! If you’re in the are Nashville area, please come see us!

New Favorites: from BT Fall/Holiday

 

Stella Tennant and the age-defying sweaters

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Stella Tennant and the age-defying sweaters

Feeling the need for a good ol’ fashion bask last night, I went combing through the Spring 2018 runway collections, and wow did they leave me wanting. (At least we had this.) The only thing that really lit me up was this photo of Stella Tennant (one of my all-time favorites) looking amazing on the Balenciaga runway. Which reminded me: Over the past few years, I’ve run into multiple references to an editorial that apparently ran in the November 1996 issue of Vogue — more specifically Vogue Paris, it turns out [who knows where, see Update below] — in which Stella swanned around in some of the most perfect knits imaginable, which is exactly what I was craving. So I googled. It’s hard to be 100% certain of anything under these circumstances, but I believe all of the images here are from that editorial. And since I could gaze at them forever, would like to be certain about which others of all the images that come up in a Google image search are from the same story, and want to see the whole thing in its original glory, I actually went to eBay and found a copy for sale.

1996 is the year I moved from Austin to Columbus to San Francisco — changing jobs and cities twice — and I remember the state of fashion pretty vividly as a result. Especially the state of street style in SF that winter. There are a lot of similarities between that moment and this moment, but even so, if I told you these images were from the November 2017 issue, nobody would doubt it for an instant. In fact, plug in any year between then and now and it works.

The cardigan in the top photo brings to mind the Lauren Manoogian version that’s been all the rage for several years now, but in a somewhat more gossamer form. Or something like an oversized Cabernet? The turtleneck worn with it is essentially a shorter Forester, with wider waist ribbing. (Or try Carrowkeel with two strands of fingering held together for the marl.) And the coat below makes me think of Brandi Harper’s new Carmen Coat.

[UPDATE 11.22.17: I am now in possession of both the US and Paris Vogue issues from that month, and neither of them includes any of these images, although the US one does have a Stella Tennant-in-the-woods feature in which she wears another lovely, simple turtleneck sweater like this. So I’ve inadvertently contributed to misinformation about these photos! If anyone knows when or where they actually did run — if they are even all from the same editorial — please let me know!]

Stella Tennant and the age-defying sweaters

By the way, did I mention that Paulina Porizkova was at Rhinebeck? Sadly, I did not bump into her.

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PREVIOUSLY in Fashion: First of the Best of Spring 2018

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Queue Check — October 2017

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Queue Check — October 2017

October is by far the busiest and most stressful month of the year for me, with everything that goes into having Fringe Supply Co. stocked and ready for the holidays, trying to keep up with #slowfashionoctober, travel and guests, photo shoots, and all the normal day-to-day of running the shop and the blog. I did finish the purple pullover since last month, though, and have somehow managed to make late-night progress on this big, delicious cardigan (Improv in Arranmore). I even took it on the Rhinebeck trip* with me, hoping to get deep into the second sleeve, but all I got done was the buttonband. Instead of casting on a sleeve of my grey Cline sweater by now, as I had proposed last month, my tiny alternative project has been this tweaked Stadium Hat for Bob (in the squishy smudge-colored yarn Purl Soho sent me last year), which has only a few stitches left to go.

At this point, I’m still eager about the Cline, wardrobe-wise, but I’m also desperate to be knitting something more engaging, so I’m back to pondering what will take up the shawl-collar role in my closet (after I went from two to none). I’m about 90% decided on Norah Gaughan’s Sourcebook Chunky Cardigan, and think that might be what the blue Harrisville yarn I got at Rhinebeck is destined for. So getting to knit that swatch is now the carrot at the end of my stick!

*If you fly with a Porter Bin tucked into a Woollelujah! tote, like I do, there’s no reason not to take an entire gargantuan sweater with you!

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PREVIOUSLY in Queue Check: September 2017