The Callie Bib Tee is complete. You can see that there are several modifications. First, I added waist shaping and extended the overall length of the project. I also knitted the lace sections in a complimentary second color and increased the length of the sleeve and body lace sections. I am super happy with how it turned out, despite it being yet another brown sweater. (aren’t you all supposed to keep me from knitting in brown?)
There was quite a bit of finishing to this project. It is worked in pieces (two front lace panels, one front, one back, and two sleeves.) As I was sewing away, Phillip asked me what I was doing. I explained that I had to seam everything together but that I hated finishing. He said that maybe he would learn to do finishing so that I wouldn’t have to do it but that he didn’t want to be called a “finisher.” He wants to be called “the closer” instead. My husband is hilarious. I have no delusions that he will learn to seam sweaters together. None whatsoever.
So now that the Callie Bib Tee is complete, I had that amazing feeling that I could start something else! I love this feeling… no stress or anxiety about starting something else while three other sweaters sit on needles in my yarn boxes…nope. I finished something which means I can start something else. It is like paying off a credit card and being excited that you can put more on it (this isn’t productive, I realize, but the feeling is still there.) So rather than work on one of several sweaters on needles in my closet, I started another sweater. I had snagged three hanks of Madelinetosh Pashina in Composition Book Grey a couple of weeks ago when the first shipment came in. Now I just needed to figure out what to do with it. (Please note that Composition book grey is NOT brown or any shade of brown.) I had originally wanted to knit the Kowloon Cardigan because this color seems to call for lace. AND because I love everything that Connie Chang Chinchio designs. I bought the pattern, printed it, found my needles, made a swatch and then sat down to start the cardigan only to realize that this lace pattern and I aren’t going to be friends. It can’t be memorized easily enough and it involves p3togtbl. That is just too many letters in one stitch. I hate p3togtbl. They are like torture. Kinda like twisted rib stitch…something that our dear Olga loves to throw into patterns. Ok, lets not talk about that because it will remind me of the other project that is only a few hours from completion yet sitting in my yarn room because it involves twisted rib stitch. Anyways, we aren’t talking about that. Back to my Pashmina dilemma. Now Pashmina is sport weight, a gauge that is entirely underrepresented in this industry and, as a result, has much fewer patterns. Since Blue Sky Alpacas has four or five yarns in this gauge, we do have a solid pattern selection from them, but beyond that, the internets is rather sad for sport weight patterns. Here was what I found that seemed to work:
Henley Perfected from Interweave Knits and by Connie Chang Chinchio (or you can get it on the new Interweave Knits CD collections that we have at the shop.) I have had this one in my queue for a very long time but just haven’t found the right yarn for it. The original is worked in BSA Alpaca Silk. It has the lace that I was looking for a just enough boring stockinette stitch to make it something that I can actually complete. Plus, a henley seems like the most perfect thing to knit with Pashmina, since it will be such a soft and cuddly object.
Goodale by Cecily Glowik MacDonald (Ravelry download for $5). This would be a lovely straightforward knit and has the most creative pockets! AND it is knitted in the exact color of my Pashmina…so there was that.
Miss January by Kristen Rengren, available as a download from Ravelry for $7. The small bits of fair isle in this are adorable and easy. I love the neckline. I just couldn’t figure out what color to pair with the Composition Book Gray…
Elemental Pullover by Veronik Avery from the Knitting 24/7 book. We just got the book in at the shop and this was one of my favorites. I love a yoked sweater. The cashmere silk in the Pashmina would feel amazing around the neck!
Manu by Kate Davies – download on Ravelry. This is a lot of easy stockinette stitch, which we know I love. It just looked “snuggly.” Love the neckline and it gave me a good reason to grab some of our new buttons.
Lorelei from Twist Collective, by Tonia Barry. This was one of my favorites from this issue. It has the lace that I was looking for as well.
Carnaby Street Pullover by Melissa Wehrle available from Interweave Knits as a download. I adore this pattern! It looks simple enough but has just enough to keep my attention. I think it would look amazing with a pair of jeans in the fall.
So in the end, I went with the Henley by Connie Chang Chinchio. It just seemed to call to the Composition Book Grey color. I will have a fun time picking out the buttons as well. I started on Friday and have a solid 8-10 inches done on the back. I can’t wait to be able to wear this. The yarn is so lovely to work with. At least three of these other sweaters will be on my hit list for this fall. We have so many new sport yarns coming in though, so I am excited to see the colors again and match them with the projects. A Pashmina order with all new colors is set to arrive soon as well…so perhaps I will end up with another Pashmina sweater…hmm…
OK, so maybe the sport weight pattern offerings online aren’t as bad as I originally thought. This is a pretty solid list of options and certainly has plenty to keep me busy for a few months..