Thursday, September 15, 2011

That Time of Year

It's that time of year again. Every year at about this time, I start to feel the itch. I try to resist. I know it will only lead to disappointment and heartbreak. I know the goal is unattainable. Nonetheless, every year I give in and spend weeks thumbing through knitting magazines, trolling Ravelry, scanning blogs, searching for it.

Most knitters have sought it. A few have thought they found it. None has ever captured it. Still, we pursue it.

I'm referring, of course, to The Perfect Cardigan.

This year I am further along than most years. I have found The Perfect Yarn. For the moment, I mean. The REAL Perfect Yarn is even less attainable than The Perfect Cardigan. But I am nothing if not fickle, and my idea of The Perfect Yarn changes with the wind. At the moment, it is some Berroco Peruvia in Chipotle that I just hadtohaverightnow. I found some on cones on eBay for practically nothing. Less than $20 for a sweater. (And another $11 for shipping, unfortunately. Still, less than $30 for the equivalent of seven skeins. Not too shabby.)

But having The Perfect Yarn has not made coming up with The Perfect Cardigan any easier this year than any other year. If you were to look at my Rav queue, you might notice that it has grown considerably in the past few days. I've found a few contenders, such as this, and this, and this (which, yes, I have already knitted once)...but none of them is IT.

The process is complicated by the fact that I'm not quite sure what I'm looking for. Maybe a shawl collar, maybe a hoodie. Maybe with buttons, maybe open. Maybe with cables, maybe not. See what I mean? What I need is the knitting equivalent of a Sorting Hat to tell me what I really want to knit. Lacking that, I thought I would ask the blog--because that worked out so well for the collar of Francis Again.

What is your current favorite cardigan? (Extra points if it uses aran or worsted weight yarn.)

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Heeheehee, I know *just* how you feel. This is the one I would do if I were looking to do a fancy cardi. Although, I wonder how often I'd wear it in So. Cali. But it does use worsted weight!

Unknown said...

BTW, I have 40 cardigans favorited in Ravelry. :-)

Anonymous said...

It uses DK but I love Knitting Pure & Simple #241 Neck Down V-neck cardi.
PS I used to live in SD & don't remember EVER wearing a sweater!

Wanderingcatstudio said...

Im my queue I have "Vinelle", "Helmi", "Hallet's Ledge" and "Lore"

Suzanne said...

I've been going through the same thing. I just ordered all the yarn to make the Knit Picks Fair Isle Palette Cardigan. Am I nuts or what? It will be the mother of all knitting projects for me. Steeks and everything!

So many cardigans.... so little time!

sophanne said...

I can totally see you rocking the first "this".#63? What a relief to realize that it was a "this time of year" thing that makes me think I'm going to design the perfect cardigan. I have opted for doing it on size 3 needles so that I can delay the disappointment.take that KG.

Val said...

I am making Solstice by Cecily Glowik MacDonald

It uses aran, There are a bunch by Thea Coleman including Vodka Gimlet which uses worsted.