My Fashionable Life

January 04, 2009

A knit's fate

Awful when precious knits are lost (I still, periodically, mourn the disappearance of my Dundonnell stole) but despite the pain of the loss, and given the alternatives, this must be one of the best possible fates for a handknit?

Of course, the finest honour is that it should be worn out. Worn to holes, darned, worn some more, clung to despite being no longer actually fit to wear (reference the sleeve of my Great Sweater waiting, for a year now, for a few stitches to secure this disgraceful sleeve) and then gracefully, regretfully, retired. An attractive and well-fitting pair of socks and an appreciative owner will usually secure this noble destiny. No less desirable, but not always appropriate, is the knit which is outgrown, then preserved, carefully, for a younger sibling - it being too precious to place in the round-robin bags of infant clothes that travel between parents of young children, who do grow (you may have heard) like weeds.

And yes, perhaps they may be lost. The Ene's scarf I made for my aunt the Christmas before dear John died, escaped. It's disappearance even made the front page of the local newspaper ('Reward offered!'), but alas the absence proved permanent; snagged (maybe?) upon some wire croft fencing, no doubt by now shredded by the elements and the animals, vanished into the air, earth and water of the Highlands.

Better to be lost in the course of regular wearing, though, than ignored! Pity the poor handknit, received with a smile but relegated to the dresser drawer, it's woollen heart swelling with hope each time it peeks the daylight, only to be disappointed once more. The creases where it has been carefully folded set more firmly with the passing months. The fabric takes on a faint layer of dust. The garment barely knows what it would do with itself were it ever to be worn.

Christmas knitting invariably raises this issue. For the most part, people are polite and would not dream of expressing disatisfaction with a knit gifted them. No matter how many times I invoke, "Please, if you find you don't wear it, return it to me and I will give it a new home! Believe me! I will not take offence!"

I only wish I had the confidence that they would all be allowed to fulfil their only wish - to be worn, and to warm their owner - like this one.

This is Ann Hanson's Wing of the Moth shawl, made from some Sirdar laceweight probably as old as I am, liberated from a stash organisation undertaken a couple of years ago. The yarn belonged to John's mother (an expert knitter before she lost her eyesight) and I hope that in its new incarnation it will warm the neck of his widow. What it lacks in the beauty of the berry colours of Ene's scarf, I hope it will make up for in sentimental value.

Posted by Anna at 02:25 PM | Comments (19)

October 17, 2008

Jet pink

It's an adventure sending things away to be knit. 'Will those instructions I wrote, and sent off with some balls of wool and a packet of beads actually come back as a garment?'

As you can see (thanks to the wonderful Pat, who, may I say, could not resist trying on the sweater and modelled it with great élan), they did. I love the semi-solid Handmaiden sock yarn as a background to the strong, black 'jewellery'. Yes it's pink, but quite a masculine pink, if you can imagine such a thing - it leans toward the grey/mauve. The inspiration was a catwalk piece, possibly Armani, which had beads or sequins appliqued onto a fine knit pullover. Once I've woven the ends in I will try and get some shots of me in it - the pattern is already written and sized, and if I hurry it may even be possible to make one in time for the party season ahead. If I were to make another, I'd love to see it in a watery, pale blue-green... or in dove grey, with silver beads... or cobalt, with bronze...

There's another beaded sweater in my sketchbook, with beads falling down the sleeves to land in a thick, heavy layer at the cuffs. I'm so pleased with how this one turned out, it may be the motivation I need to go in search of the perfect yarn and bead combination once more.

Posted by Anna at 10:56 AM | Comments (26)

October 03, 2008

Tiggy pattern

Sizes S (SM, M, ML, L)
Finished size: 39 (43, 47.5, 53, 59) inches

A drop-waisted jacket with gathered pockets, three-quarter-length balloon sleeves and applied ribbon detail. A lightweight top layer in spring and early autumn, a cozy layer in winter (to show off those long gloves or wristwarmers).

Knit in an aran weight wool blend. Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed is a wool/silk/cashmere blend with a stated tension of 4.5sts per inch. 50g (95m/104yd) 
14 (15, 16, 18, 19) balls.

Gauge: 15 sts and 22 rows in St st, to (4 inches) using 5mm needles.

£3.50 - you will be sent a link to download the pattern as an electronic (pdf) file, approx 0.67Mb

There are lots more photos of this jacket here.

Posted by Anna at 07:58 PM | Comments (3)

September 18, 2008

Possibilities - the Chart

I love those Mason Dixon girls. I love their books. Their books make me wish I had only just learned how to knit, so I could experience the wonder of all those knit possibilities opening before me. But what am I saying? I've been knitting for by far the greater portion of my life, and their books still have that effect on me.

December 2006 I went to meet Ann on New Years' Eve, she was visiting London, and I was completely honoured when she invited me to come up with a pattern for the new book, published yesterday. I received my copy a week ago and have been wasting hours of valuable time, poring over the pages when I could be knitting. It has had me visiting online yarn shops, filling my virtual basket over and over again, before sternly reminding myself that I have far too many unfinished projects awaiting attention to justify any more new beginnings, and navigating away.

The Errant Socks, which you will find on page 48, were originally conceived as fraternal twins, a non-matching pair, but space limitations brought the eventual published number of errant sock possibilities down to one. But in the wonderful world of web, there are no such limitations! So here is the prodigal Chart 3. To make your Errant socks even more errant, complete Sock 1 exactly as written in the book, for Sock 2, replace the second paragraph of instructions under the Foot section thusly:

&c from pattern. Enjoy the mismatchiness - which is after all the nature of handknit socks; and the movement from chaos to order - the nature of knitting.

Posted by Anna at 07:39 PM | Comments (11)