Thursday, March 20, 2008

March Sweater Madness

As we head into Spring (well technically I don't think we actually had what could be classed as a winter) here in Fresno and I don my flip flops (which makes it hard to finish those Pomatomus socks-they're slow knitting) a crazy voice inside is persuading me to spend time working on sweaters....perhaps crazy or possibly intentionally organized....you see if I work on these now then they'll be all ready for selling when cooler weather is on the horizon again!
First up is the aforementioned design that I withdrew from publication and which I can now reveal here: (No Name Yet)!





YARN: Jaggerspun Zephyr Wool-Silk DK weight in "Ice Blue" (50% Tussah Silk/50% wool)
Took 1 cone (1120 yards) to knit ......great value, an amazing range of colours...love this yarn!

CONSTRUCTION: This is a bottom up raglan using an all over Shetland lace (Same as I used for the Unst Cap).
The shaping was created by changing needle size so as not to disturb the lace pattern to much. Definitely intended to be close fitting-negative ease means the lace pattern opens out when worn.

Some of the pictures have pretty intense colour issues going on - taken before I got my new camera- sorry about that!
I originally designed this for my sister (who now has it and loves it) and right now only have the pattern written up in rough. So I need to get some test knitting done (I'll be contacting you soon Christy), write up the pattern properly.....tech edit it and all that good stuff....shouldn't take too long right?.....I'm so impatient!

(removed the part about a sweater design I'm working on)

and....I decided to knit myself a "Slipped Hours"...(is it weird to knit one of your own patterns?)...I really loved how the original turned out but wasn't able to keep it....and I had the same yarn (but in this gorgeous burnt golden colour)...and I'm hoping by knitting another in a different size and colour I may inspire some of those folks on Ravelry who have this in their queue!



Then there's the other stack of Malabrigo that may arrive on my doorstep today destined to be a sweater (not sure which one yet) for a friend in Scotland......told you it was madness!

10 comments:

Connie said...

Wow, you've been busy Gudrun. I especially like the peek at the Malabrigo sweater. It looks so yummy. And no, it's not strange to knit your own designs. I've knit a Henley Perfected for my mom and a Drawstring Chemise for my friend. I tend to design things I'd like to wear so it's sometimes hard to give those samples up!

mel said...

I've been meaning to email you about your last post, I'm still behind, but nearly caught up, I think!

I think that sweater is so great!!! I'm glad you've decided to share it because it certainly deserves to see the light of day - I love it. And I love the start of the malabrigo sweater too, what a lovely stitch pattern.

I just finished another Chrysalis - I have to admit, I was a bit sad to let the first one go; but now this one is going too (on it's way north to a friend); so I may have to knit a third for MEEEE! It is unusual for me to knit something more than once though, so only time will tell ;) Slipped Hours is a lovely pattern, I think this colorway will be beautiful!

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Gryphon said...

Very busy indeed! The sweater and the Malabrigo start are both lovely. I'm thinking about adding a new yarn - what do you think about something like the Malabrigo worsted but 50/50 silk/wool, maybe a spot of angora? Maybe some wool other than merino so it won't have such bad pilling issues. The Malabrigo, alas, is dreadfully guilty in that dept.

Anonymous said...

I love the blue sweater, very cool. And the colours, specially the last picture, LOVE IT!

Just call me Ruby said...

Love the new sweater. Gorgeous shade of blue. The burnt gold Malabrigo looks good enough to eat. I love that yarn, looking forward to seeing what it is going to become.

I regularly knit up my own designs as too,I think its a really good way of evaluating your work, to just knit from the pattern. You can see how things could be done better.

Anonymous said...

wow! gorgeous sweater. i'm totally smitten.

Christy said...

Feel free to contact me about that sexiness. Great design.

Anonymous said...

Hi,
I'm new to your blog and patterns. I am in COMPLETE love with the un-named blue sweater. Do you have a pattern for it yet? It is the project that I want to knit for myself to be my "I can't wait to put that on once the rest of the weight is gone." article of clothing that hangs on my wall.

Gudrun Johnston said...

Hi Simple Fancies
Thanks for your lovely comment about the un-named blue sweater. No pattern yet but it will be getting written up. It will be a couple of months before it is available as I also need to have it test knit etc....but it will come!