FO: Not So Sahara

Pattern: Sahara from stitchdiva, sort of. I modified it to work with a heavier weight yarn and to create a shallower, shawl collar, and to have narrower sleeves and a different trim. But the basic shape is pretty much the same.

Size: Um. Maybe about 35".

Yarn: Cascade Ecological Wool in Chocolate, just over two skeins. This is a satisfying yarn. It's "minimally processed" and undyed, so it's still pretty woolly, but there was no vegetable matter and not much lanolin, as far as I could tell. It didn't smell particularly sheepy, either. But when I put the finished sweater in to soak, the water turned very brown. I thought, "Oh, look, the dye is running." And then I realized it's not dyed yarn. Ugh. I washed it four times before the water was finally clear. The finished sweater is also lighter in color. Amazing what washing out the dirt will do. The yarn is fairly soft even in the skein, and softens and drapes more after washing, but it's not what I would consider next-to-the-skin soft, although I am an acknowledged wool wimp and there are probably plenty of people who wouldn't be bothered by it.

Needles: Size 8 Knit Picks Options 32" circular.


Thoughts: I intended this to be a very basic, throw-on winter sweater, and I think it fits the bill admirably. I did add a tiny bit of fussiness by crocheting a little edging around the collar. I don't think it's my favorite sweater ever, but I do think it will get more wear than most of my sweaters, just because of its simplicity. I am a lazy dresser. My more impressive and dramatic knits always seem to demand more of an effort than I am willing to expend; it's the simple ones I reach for over and over again. Sounds like there might be a lesson in there, somewhere...

Not So Sahara

I bought this yarn some time ago. Well, okay, not that long ago, actually, but saying "some time ago" allows me to pretend that it has been in the stash for a while, and that I don't quite remember how or why it came to be there, and therefore bear no responsibility for its presence and/or purchase. Work with me, here.

It wasn't so long ago that I don't remember exactly what I bought it for; I bought it to knit Rogue. In a frenzy of lust a few weeks back, when it occurred to me that temperatures might, eventually, drop below scorching and require, maybe, a wool sweater--and in a fit of selective amnesia that allowed me to ignore the closet full of wool sweaters already awaiting such an opportunity--I came across Rogue (again) on Ravelry. I was seized with a sudden and powerful urge to castitonrightnownomatterwhat, and, as knitters yourselves, you know how pointless it is to even try to resist that particular urge, so I didn't. I had some yarn in the stash that I thought would be perfect, so I popped right over and downloaded the pattern. I printed it out (all 14 pages of it), but maternal duty called and I couldn't cast on immediately.

A few hours later, I sat down to read the pattern and thought, "Hmmm. That's a really long pattern. Maybe I'll just swatch for now." So I did. And the yarn that I thought would be perfect was decidedly...not. Too light, too fuzzy, too scratchy. I wanted a dense, soft yarn, but one that would hold up to a lot of wear. Something a little rustic, but still a little drapey, and not variegated, but not entirely solid, either. You know. The perfect yarn. And then, in one of those moments of serendipity sparked by a rather large glass of red wine and entirely too much time on Ravelry, I was struck with a brilliant idea: I would buy the perfect yarn and it would be Eco Wool! Eco Wool gets rave reviews from, oh, just about everybody, and I have in fact touched and fondled and considered using it a time or two myself; I have even kept it in the back of my mind as the sort of yarn I would remember if I ever came across the right pattern. If you are familiar with Eco Wool, or even if you are not, but are the sort of knitter who considers matters such as yarn weight and gauge, you may be thinking, "Hmm. That's an interesting idea. I wonder if Eco Wool knits to the gauge called for by Rogue." And it would have been quite useful to me had you been there when I placed the order, because I didn't think about it at all.

A few days later, the yarn arrived, and it was perfect. Rustic and soft, dense and drapey, solid, but not too solid. Perfect. But not for Rogue. Rogue calls for a worsted weight yarn. Eco Wool is an aran weight. And while I could probably force it to knit to 18 stitches to four inches, this is a yarn that is clearly more comfortable at 16 stitches to four inches. And, yes, I could just modify the pattern, but I am lazy, and was already planning to make the smallest size, and besides, it occurred to me that I don't really like hoodies anyway. (What's that? Fickle? Why, no, not at all!) But it's true; I don't like hoodies. I like the way they look, I just don't like wearing them. The hood always pulls the neckline back and makes me feel like I'm choking, and then it wads up behind my head when I sit in the car, and gets in the way of my purse strap, and I always wish I had just made a collar.

But I still love the yarn, so I have been on a mission to find a great use for it. I have searched Ravelry, and the entire Drops pattern line, and every knitting magazine I've ever bought. Nothing has quite done it for me. There were a couple of close calls, but I've always pulled back at the last minute. That great Drops cardigan? Awesome. Really. But I don't like A-line anything (emphasizes the butt, no thanks). And I could modify it to be more shaped--that would be cool--but I'm not sure about the buttons just at the top. How about a basic turtleneck? Oh, yeah. Wool around the bare neck=sweater that never gets worn. Maybe a cardigan? Well, maybe. But I really need a pullover I can just toss on.

Finally, I accepted that I was going to have to come up with my own design. I enjoy designing sweaters. But, as we've already established, I am lazy. I don't always want to go to the trouble of coming up with my own design. Sometimes, though, there's just no alternative. So I started thinking about what I wanted. Some time ago, I made shawl collar sweaters for my boys. I didn't have a pattern, but it wasn't that hard, and I was pretty happy with the results. I always thought I'd like to try making one for myself. I like a nice, cozy shawl collar, and I don't own any. I don't want a boxy sort of sweater, though. Recent projects have taught me (slowly and painfully) that: a) I am smaller than I believe I am; and b) fitted sweaters are more flattering on my not-so-endowed body than oversized ones. Which means I want a sweater that, though not clingy (I'm going for cozy, remember), is still shapely. Enter waist shaping. And a shirttail hem would probably look really nice with that, wouldn't it? Maybe with a garter stitch hem and cuffs. And perhaps some slightly drapey sleeves to offset the fitted shape?

And then it occurred to me: I was picturing Sahara, only with a shawl collar and garter stitch edging and a different gauge.

Well. That simplifes matters considerably, doesn't it? Sahara is a fabulous pattern (and it's top-down, to continue my on-going love affair with all things seamless). Both the mechanics and the finished product are elegant and pleasing. I've wanted to make another since even before I finished my first one. I've never made the same pattern twice, but with the changes I have in mind, this won't actually be the same pattern. I need to spend a little time with the calculator, but I think I can adjust for gauge by simply knitting a smaller size. And I think I can just pop a shawl collar into the existing neckline, too. One way or another, it will be an interesting experiment. I'm off to cast on!

FO: Sahara Revisited

Sahara was a peculiar project for me. I loved knitting it. The pattern was wonderful and the yarn, Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted, is my all-time favorite. But the end result did not please me at all. The variegated yarn did what variegated yarns so often do and looked completely different in the finished project than in the skein. I also tried to skimp on the yarn (because, folks, this is not cheap yarn), and ran out while the sleeves were still quite a bit shorter than I wanted. All in all, I ended up with a fairly pricey sweater that I knew I would never wear. Here is the "Before":

After the rather painful crash and burn that is the Round Yoke Jacket, I needed a win. I found someone on Ravelry who had a skein of the same yarn I used for Sahara and talked her into selling it to me (by the simple expedient of offering money). When it arrived, I divided it into two equal balls. Then I took out the bind off on the short sleeves of my Sahara, put the live stitches back on the needles (oh, how I love top-down knits!), and worked until the sleeves were the length I wanted. (Dividing the skein up front allowed me to work each sleeve to length without having to worry about running out of yarn for the other sleeve.)

The colors did not match. Not even close. The new skein was much darker. And it pooled something fierce. But I wasn't worried about any of that, because I had already decided the only thing that would save this sweater for me was overdyeing it. I did this once before, with a beautiful angora that was originally dyed an inexplicably unfortunate combination of orange and purple. In that case, I tried to dye it black, but it turned out more of a heathered sable color. Unexpected, but very pretty.

This time, I decided to try for a warm brown. Because the original colors were red, green, orange, and yellow, I was kind of limited in my color choices. I figured red would turn to brown when it hit green, green would turn to brown when it hit red, and orange wouldn't work with much of anything. So brown seemed reasonable. When I got to the grocery store (yes, I used RIT dye from the grocery--I was too impatient to order real dye), I saw a bottle of scarlet dye next to the brown and thought, hmmm, a reddish brown would be nice, so I grabbed a bottle of that, too.

I mixed up the dye bath using the very scientific approach of adding about half of the brown dye and a couple glugs of the red dye to a half a large pot of water. [Please note, though: I seriously underestimated the dominance of the red dye. My dye turned out much more red than I intended, even after I added the rest of the bottle of brown to the dye bath. Just for your information, should you choose this approach.] I soaked the sweater in warm water, brought the dye bath to about the same temperature, then transferred the sweater to the dye bath and simmered it for about an hour, stirring (gently) every few minutes. This yarn is superwash wool, so felting wasn't too much of an issue, but I used the same method when I overdyed my angora sweater, and it didn't felt either. I think the key is not changing temperatures dramatically and not agitating the sweater any more than you can avoid.

Once the dyeing was done, I let the dye bath cool a bit, then transferred the sweater into a dish pan and began rinsing it, beginning with hot water and slowly reducing the temperature with each rinse. It took a LOT of rinsing. More than a lot. [Note: Wear gloves. Repeat: WEAR GLOVES.] The drawback to using RIT dye is that it is a multi-purpose dye, meaning it actually contains two different types of dye to address different types of fabric. Only one of the dyes adheres to wool, so the other one just sits on the surface of the fabric and must be rinsed out. I also used far more dye than I needed to, just to be sure it would fully cover the original colors.

Several hours of soaking and rinsing later, I put the sweater in a gentle spin cycle in the washer, and then tumbled it in the dryer until it was damp. I find that superwash wool stretches like mad when you wash it, and a short trip through the dryer really helps to set it right. I laid it flat to finish drying, and that was it! Here is the finished Sahara Revisited:


(Yes, that's a little excess dye that still needs rinsing out on the sleeve.)

I am thrilled with the results. This one went from a sweater I would never have worn to one that I will use often. In fact, I think I am going to cast on for another Sahara next!

FO: Sahara

I'll be honest with you: this project was a disappointment. I love this pattern (Sahara, from stitchdivas). It is beautifully written and fun to knit. And I love the yarn, Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted. I suspect my lack of joy is, once again, the variegated nature of the yarn (this colorway is called Glenwood). I was so excited to get this yarn. The colors are so cheery and pretty. Alas, this finished fabric also looks like colorful tv static to me.

I also ran out of yarn and had to make short sleeves. I generally don't like short sleeves, because my arms are so skinny. In this case, they are particularly unflattering because they are so wide. I would probably like this project better if I could lengthen the sleeves to at least a 3/4 length, but that would require buying more yarn, and I'm not sure it's worth it.

The details, such as they are:
Pattern: Sahara, by stitchdivas
Size: Small (about 1" negative ease--I could have made this smaller)
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted in Glenwood
Needles: Size 6 Knit Picks Options circular
Modifications: None, really. I made mine longer, but that's not really a modification, since the pattern calls for custom length. I also left off the beads on the edging, since the yarn was busy enough.

I suppose I'll have to give this one some thought. Perhaps we'll revisit it later.

Say It Ain't So!

Last night after dinner, I cleaned the kitchen, walked the dog, got the kids headed toward bed, and settled in for a bit of knitting, movie watching, and chocolate. I was working the provisional cast on for Sahara, so I was a little distracted when my husband handed me a piece of chocolate and said, "Here, try this." But it was chocolate, so of course, I paused long enough to pop it into my mouth before going back to my counting.

About halfway through the cast on, I started scratching my chin. Not because of the cast on, although that would have been legitimate, but because it itched. And then my neck started to itch. And my face. When my back and chest started to itch a few seconds later, it got my attention. Not wanting to put down my knitting mid-cast on, I turned to my husband (scratching frantically at my head, which was starting to feel like a colony of ants had sprouted in my hair). "Do I have bites or something on my face?"

He looked up and examined my face and neck, then my back. "Nope," he said. "Hives. Bad ones. I think you're having an allergic reaction. And you'd better go take some Benadryl. Fast. Probably a food allergy. What did you eat?"

Pregnant pause as the horror slowly dawned on me. "Only the chocolate!"

Can it be? I've eaten pounds of chocolate in my life. Maybe tons. Candy, ice cream, brownies, cake, hot chocolate...I am an equal opportunity chocolate lover. And aside from the occasional stomach ache (and that fudge incident when I was a kid that I prefer not to recall), I've never had a reaction to it. But last night I did a pretty good impression of someone with a definite food allergy, and the only thing I had consumed in the previous two hours was a single piece of Hershey's Special Dark.

While the full import of this appalling turn of events sinks in, I'll show you this:

This is the beginning of Sahara, worked in the Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted I showed you yesterday. I'm getting perfect gauge and the fabric is a delightful texture. I'm liking the way the colors are blending together. I'm knitting with two balls, alternating every other row, to prevent any unattractive pooling. I'm a little concerned that the finished product won't look good in a variegated yarn--all the FO's I've seen are solid colored--but I'm going ahead with it anyway. What the heck--it's just yarn, right? If it's ugly, there's always the frog pond.

Fly By

I have not one, but two FO's to show you, but I've had no time to get pictures, so it will have to wait. What with the end of the school year and all the associated programs, performances, competitions, and field trips (not to mention a birthday party to plan, Father's Day, and my best friend due to pop out a baby any day now), this time of year would be crazy enough even if I hadn't just picked up a complicated legal project that needs to be done asap. (I've spent the past two days mired in legal complexities--and spent last night dreaming about them. See? This is the problem with working. It's actually work. And it interferes with my knitting.)

So how about a little conciliatory yarn pr0n? This came in the mail today:

This is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted. I've lusted after it since the first (and only) time I bought some, which was for a sweater about two years ago. I drool over it online, pet it at the yarn store, scan the internet for deals, imagine projects...but I never buy any because, for wool, it's bloody expensive and it never, ever goes on sale. Contrary to popular belief (at least, my husband's belief), I am cheap when it comes to yarn. I buy a lot of it, but only on clearance or some other 50%-off-or-better deal. I just can't bring myself to pay retail when I know I can find something just as good at half the price. The thing is, nothing is just as good as this stuff. It's incredibly soft and smooth without any itch at all (and I'm wool-sensitive), hand dyed, superwash, and holds up beautifully. My two-year-old sweater shows no signs of pilling or wear.

I found this on ebay at a reasonable price. Still not cheap, of course, but the colors got me. Well, the colors, and the realization that I could knit Sahara with elbow length sleeves (a la Tammy--Ravelry link; I can't find it on her blog) for under four skeins. It looks pretty colorful in the skein, but my previous experience with this yarn has taught me that the colors really blend together when knit. The repeats are very short, so instead of striping, you get only a couple of inches of each color before it changes again. I found this disappointing with the darker colorway I used before (it looked muddy to me when knit), but I think it will work well with these colors. I haven't swatched yet, so we'll see.

With the exception of a second sock that's nearly done, and Sligo, which is in time out with only half a sleeve to go while I solve a color-matching issue, I have no WIPs. Not one! So I'm planning to reward myself for all the tasks I've had to plow through lately by casting on for Sahara tonight and watching a movie. Throw in a glass of wine and some chocolate, and it's my own little slice of paradise.