Well friends, I've got the fall knitting bug. It's the time of year where I start bugging my extended family about their favorite colors to wear so I have enough time to get gifts made before Christmas. This year I'm planning on using the Sentro machines to make hats and scarves and whatnot for those who live in cold placed, so I'm making sure I have the right colors and sizes of yarn on hand. I've been plugging away at the sleeves on my Susan Shaw cardigan and man I am so ready for that thing to be done. It's going fine, but at this point I've had to redo so many things to fit that I've knitted that sweater 1.5 times since March and I'm just ready to be making something else. I have the lovely Rose Street Cardigan waiting in the wings as my next fingering weight sweater project, but I've just recently felt the need to have a worsted weight project on the go again. Everything I have going right now is fingering weight and even my most recent finished project is a lace weight shawl, so it's time for some thick and quick satisfaction.
I started looking through my Ravelry stash and matching up patterns with yarn I have on hand. I have quite a few sweaters in my queue, but I just didn't quite feel the draw for those at the moment. I felt like finding new inspiration, so I spent a little time doing just that. I'm trying to visualize my wardrobe I am currently wearing and decide what patterns and yarns would integrate into that in the foreseeable future, which is no easy task let me tell you, especially when you are trying to work through a huge yarn stash. I only want to make plans with things I have on hand, but are the things I have on hand the right color and weight and quantity to make up a sweater that will get lots of wear? It's all a big puzzle that I am trying to figure out.
The one I have actually cast on is the Belladonna by Andi Satterlund. This pattern is no longer available, but I was lucky enough to get it while I still could. I love Andi's vintage designs - fitted style, cropped length, some kind of interesting lace or cable but not too crazy. This pattern really didn't excite me too much when it first came out, but now it's been so long since I knit one of her designs that I've changed my mind about it. When I searched my stash for the required yardage, I discovered that a yarn I was given in March would be the perfect match and close to the same color as the example. I have 750 yards of Dream in Color Classy in the Spring Tickle colorway, which I really thought would not be enough for a full sweater so I never considered it before. This sweater only uses 690 yards in my size, but I usually extend her designs for my long waist, so I'm thinking 750 yards might be perfect to make this up.
The other contenders for what I would knit include another of Andi's patterns called Chuck. This one is a cropped, fitted cable knit pull over. I have knit very few pullovers because it's just so dang warm here all the time, but they are saying this will be a cold winter and that has me a little more excited about knit wear that stays on all day. I have 3 skeins of Cascade 220 in the Palm colorway that I bought when I first started knitting and didn't realize that only 660 yards probably wasn't enough for a sweater. Lo and behold! This sweater says it requires 680 yards. I'm thinking I could make the sleeves shorter or possibly make contrasting ribbing and neckband? Not exactly sure there, but I tend to come out with excess yarn when I knit Andi's patterns anyway. But again - will this color work for my wardrobe? Particularly with it being a cropped pullover? So it would really need to have an established outfit to be worn with. This would be cute on top of a pinafore that I plan on making, but we will see if I actually make that happen. I also have potentially just enough of Must Be Merino yarn in the Tobacco or Rust colorway that would work as well. I have been all about wearing mustard and ochre yellow tones, so the tobacco would fit that wonderfully.
Next up I have a sweater quantity of Chic Sheep yarn in Creme de Menthe which would make a lovely thicker sweater. The problem is I just can't figure out what design I like for the sweater itself, so it has sat in my stash for years. I'm trying to decide between Sorcha by Andi Satterlund, Vignette by Amy Herzog, Analeigh by Irina Anikeeva, and the Lydia Military Spencer by Annie Modesitt. They all have interesting patterning in some way - which is not as common as you'd think. So many bigger sweaters are just plain stockinette and that is so boring for me to make. The first 3 all have cables or lace to make things interesting, and the 4th one is from Jane Austen knits and is modelled after a spencer jacket from the Regency era, which would be really cool since I have been making other regency clothes. Will I actually use up this yarn I bought in 2018?
I'm also feeling really drawn to another set of Dream in Color Classy that I was given in March. I have 5 skeins of the Happy Forrest colorway and I just love everything about this color. I think it would be a great over piece in general and I'm really feeling this green would look great in a cabled sweater. I like Fickle Heart by Justyna Lorkowska, which has a chunky cable design all over and a hood. I can't quite decide if that's "the one" for this yarn though.
Anytime I plan sweaters, I always come back to this one. I got the Louisa Harding Cardigans book for Christmas the year I learned to knit. I had seen it in Barnes and Noble and fell in love. I've had it all these years but have yet to actually make a single sweater from the book. I know! This sweater has always been in my plans - the Viola. This is actually similar to a lavender cotton sweater I had back in college that stretched out horribly and I had to get rid of it at some point. I loved the sailor collar style then, so when I saw this pattern I wanted to make a new version ... but then I looked up how much the appropriate yarn would cost. The original yarn is long discontinued, and I can find it on ebay and Ravelry, but it would take something like 15 balls, so even secondhand it would cost me over $80 and I'm very limited on available color choices. It's just not something I can justify. I check for this yarn periodically and I check prices with the Knit Picks equivalent (Shine) anytime there is a big sale, but it still just isn't do-able. I still would love to make this up, so now I'm contemplating just using some 100% wool from my stash and not worrying about the difference in drape and not having a shine. I have this Cloudborn Wool Worsted in Teal Heather I've had for years as well as a single skein of Rozetti Bamboo Glam in Poolside that I inexplicably picked up from Tuesday Morning on a whim. It would be nice to finally have these skeins of yarn used as well as to have this design to wear, so we will see.
Finally I keep contemplating the Dalloway Blouse by Syndey Crabaugh. She has it designed after a vintage Jiffy knit pattern, so it's supposed to be a very quick knit. I have a bunch of Louisa Harding Simonetta mohair yarn that I immediately thought would be great for this top, but Syndey said that it would be very hot and that really made me reconsider it as a summer make. Now that I may be up against a cold winter (for Florida), I'm tempted to make it. It's so hard to deny myself a quick make after being so diligent with my longer term makes this year.
It's really hard coming into colder times as a knitter and knowing that many of my hand knits are too big for me now. I've knit a lot of Andi Satterlund's designs over the years, but as they are all designed to be fitted and now I've lost weight, they really look pretty sloppy now. A few of them are mentally relegated to be unraveled if I want a new sweater in that color of yarn, but they will live their life as is until that day. I will love having one of Andi's designs back in my rotation again this winter :) I will certainly only be able to make maybe one of these sweaters now, but it's nice to feel like there's a tentative plan if the mood strikes to cast something on.
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