I’ve knitted small items to use up small amounts of yarn, I’ve birthday cardigans for my mother, I’ve knitted hats, scarves and a cabled sweater for the Man of the House, I’ve even knitted a squirrel-shaped cushion for the dog, but in recent years I’ve knitted not much in the way of garments for me.
This year that is going to change, and my new outlook is – WARDROBE BUILDING!
That means finding interesting patterns, that I’ll enjoy knitting; and it means making sure what I’ll knit will suit me, and that I’ll have occasion to wear it.
It also means using the right yarn – I’ve made some lovely sweaters in the past that have been relegated to dog-walking and housekeeping duty because the yarn was wrong. And balance that with using the yarn I have in hand.
It works as theory – whether it works in practice remains to be seen.
But enough pontificating, on to the project in question.
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There were lots of lovely garments in Rowan 56; and when I’d eliminated the unwearable and impractical, the ones that would require more work or more finance than I felt was justified I was left with two.
I’ve accumulated the yarn for Franziska – the garment on the right – in a slighly different colour scheme, and not quite so over-sized. I plan to start knitting soon.
But the sweater on the left – Heike, came first – because I knew it would be quicker, because I needed some simple knitting after all those cables, and because I knew I could use yarn I had already for two of the three colours.
I had five balls of Rowan Scottish Tweed in a rich dark brown shade called ‘Thatch’, and I had a single ball in a shade with the self-explanatory name ‘Oatmeal’.
I’d bought them to make a short sleeved sweater, but my initial love of the pattern I had spotted in a magazine wore off and it had been waiting for quite some time.
I really should wait until I’ve lived with a pattern for a while, ideally until I’m ready to knit, before I buy yarn. Or, if I can’t live up to that high ideal, at least buy yarn that will stand the test of time ….
I needed my third colour, I knew that Rowan Felted Tweed was much loved, and I knew that the Aran knitted to the same gauge as my Scottish Tweed, and so I studied a shade-card. And I ordered a complementary shade of green called Glade.
This was going to be an autumnal sweater, a countryside sweater, but I liked the colours and they worked together.
It was a straightforward piece of knitting, and I followed the pattern exactly, except that I made mine a little bit longer. Oh, and I reworked the shaping towards the top, because the tops of the sleeves looked as if they had a little too much fabric in the pattern picture.
So here it is:
Definitely an out in the country with the dog kind of sweater ….
The fit is as I wanted, the yarn was lovely to work with, and the only other thing I should mention is that I think the yarn quantities in the magazine were a little off. The Thatch and the Oatmeal went as I thought, but I only used half of the Felted Tweed – and it was the yarn specified in the pattern!
The Man of the House said that he liked the colours, that he’d wear something in similar colours, but I have another project in mind.
For now though I’m working on a cardigan; something a little more girly, and wonderfully cosy for next winter ….
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Beyond Eden Rock 
That’s a lovely jumper.
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Thank you – I’m very pleased with it.
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I love both of them, Jane, but especially the Franziska, having a penchant for oversized, cozy, warm sweater. But both are wonderful and I love the colors on the one you completed. I know what you mean about using the right yarn. I learned a long time ago that it takes as long to knit a garment from inexpensive or lesser quality yarn than it does from the right stuff for the garment, and if you’re going to put that much time into it, it had better be made to last. One never regrets it.
I love knitting but do it less now that I am getting arthritis in my hand and it takes longer. I’m going to be vicariously following your progress!
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Ah, so we’ve learned the same lessons!
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I love the colors you’ve used for the one on the left, but I especially love the one on the right! Can’t wait to see it.
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I want to get on with knitting it – but I need more hours in the day and faster fingers!
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Jane….. that looks awesome! One of these days I will learn to knit…you inspire me to do it sooner than latter!
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You must – it takes practice but it really isn’t difficult when you know how.
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I have yet to attempt anything so large. I will stick to small stuff at the moment and admire your work from afar.
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This is probably easier than the toys and socks you knit – I was brought up to knit garments, but it’s lovely that we can do such different things with the same craft.
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This looks great and comfy 🙂
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Thank you – it is lovely to wear.
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Love the styling, Jane, and felted tweed is one of my favourite yarns to work with. Well done, you!
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Thank you – I’m a new convert to felted tweed, and I understand now why so many knitters love the stuff.
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I just adore it and the colors are lovely! I’m still trying to improve my knitting and have made a few scarves. One day I hope to make something as beautiful as your sweater.
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You will – it really isn’t difficult and there are some lovely patterns and wonderful resources out there to help you.
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Gorgeous!
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Thank you!
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Lovely, Jane – I’m always so impressed with your knitting skills!
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Thank you – this was actually quite straightforward but I’m looking forward to some more complicated knitting come autumn and winter.
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What a beautiful jumper! I wish I could knit but I have tried SO MANY TIMES and I just cannot. I particularly love Franziska as it would be perfect for working from home in! Just catching up with your blog after some non-blog-reading Doing All The Work times so sorry, you’ll get a slew of comments over the next few days!
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