knitting art

now that’s what i call a sweater

haven’t knitted in ages (and i don’t care) – too busy gardening. but i still keep an eye out for knitting-related things, and i loved this picture:

the ultimate turtleneck sweater continues

this is the state of my quest for the ultimate turtleneck sweater as of last night:

that’s right folks – i frogged that sucker. between the aforementioned overshaping issue and my own doubts about gauge (swatch? what swatch?), it seemed best to start anew.

the upside is that i have some great new ideas for shoulder-shaping thanks to elizabeth zimmerman and brooklyn tweed’s big blue sweater. i also took a gander at rowan’s jude sweater, which uses a superchunky wool similar to what i’m using. it will be better for it!

hope springs eternal…

would someone please invent

circular needles with a retractable cord? or if such a wondrous thing exists, please let me know.

The UTS (ultimate turtleneck sweater) continues apace. As you may notice from the accompanying photographic evidence, I may have gone a tad overboard on the shaping. It’s never good news when a sweater requires a corset to fit properly. It looks like some frogging lies ahead of me. On the plus side, this sucker knits up fast – I got through a ball of wool during the biggest loser last night.

the ultimate turtleneck sweater

I’m on a quest to knit the ultimate t-neck that combines two opposing forces: bulky yarn and shapely curves. I have to admit, I love the bulky – it’s cozy, warm and snuggly – just what you want when heading into a frozen Prairie wasteland (upcoming trip to see family). I bought 10 balls of Sandnesgarn Rondo (discontinued) on sale last year, and I feel that it has now ripened sufficiently in stash time to be born as a garment.

The next issue: the pattern. I’ve browsed heavily in the knitting section of my local bookstores, at great personal risk to my book budget, but haven’t found anything that really grabbed me. Plus, I have the same problems most of us do – a non-standard size body. If I wear a big bulky sweater, I do not resemble Cameron Diaz cutely swaddled in her boyfriend’s sweater, with gorgeous long slender legs heading for the ski lodge. Instead I look like Stumpy McStumparina – a giant rectangle on treetrunks. Most girl-size sweaters are both too short in length (as you all know, the cropped top allows wintry breezes to swirl up around your most delicate bits) and too wide – there’s always a big back bulge. For the love of Pete – the curvy woman needs shaping!

Overconfidence in my own knitting skills never having been a problem, I have decided to try my hand at designing. Having knit a grand total of one sweater (skully on ice), I feel fully qualified (ahem). Knowing my own limitations, I am trying to make this as easy as possible, avoiding all hints of seaming, swatching and counting if possible.

Progress thus far:

Cast on 81 stitches, joined in the round (down to 80 stitches), knit 4, purl 1 for a couple of inches (i like a very loose rib bottom), knit for another 3 inches to cover the widest part of my ass, started decreasing on the sides (a few failed attempts, before settling on the standard sock toe approach – k2tog, k2, ssk – knit 2 rows, repeat), down to about 56 stitches, knit 12 rows.

We will see how this plays out…