A sweater that took 3 years to knit. And some thoughts on making teeny tiny steps forward.
I’m working on my transitional weather sweater (hopefully). This sweater took 3 years to knit, and it has prompted some thoughts on making teen-tiny-itty-bitty steps forward.
I knit a lot.
I have a handful of unfinished sweaters hanging about, and thanks to a swift kick in the butt from the self-made wardrobe project I’m finishing a bunch of them up.
This particular sweater has taken me 3 years and 1 month to finish.
As far as sweaters go, this one is pretty straightforward.
But the interesting thing about it, is how much my knitting has changed since I started it.
My actual gauge hasn’t changed (thankfully), the actual number of stitches per inch is the same as it was three years ago. But my knitting has changed.
My stitches are straighter.
My tension is more even.
You can definitely feel the difference.
And up close you can see the difference.
The fabric looks and feels smoother.
If you had asked me, before I picked up this sweater, if my knitting had changed in the last three years I would probably have said “yea, but not a whole lot.”
But it did.
I did some quick guesstimates of the number of stitches in most of the shawls I’ve published patterns for between starting and finishing this sweater, and the total comes out around 788,000 stitches.
I can knit about 30 stitches a minute. (In a lace pattern, relaxed, and following a chart. Averaged over a couple hours with breaks, pauses, etc.)
788,000 stitches.
437 hours.
16 shawls.
When you think about the fact that that’s only the knitting I’ve done for the patterns I’ve published, (no swatches, no sweaters, no unpublished shawls), that’s a lot of stitches, and a decent amount of time.
Turns out my knitting has changed quite a bit over three years.
One stitch at a time.
Over 788,000 stitches later.
Review: Cascade Yarns “Forest Hills”
I picked up a new lace weight yarn at my LYS the other day, started knitting with it, and thought it would be fun to do a quick little review.
The yarn is Cascade Yarns “Forest Hills,” a 51/49 silk/merino, lace weight yarn.
With 785 yards (717.5 meters) to a 100 gram (3.5 oz) ball, the yardage isn’t bad, and you can definitely get a shawl from one ball. My LYS had it for $21 a ball, so it’s not a bad price either.
It’s 51% silk 49% merino, (not sure why they didn’t just do a 50/50 blend) so it’s very soft, and drapey with pretty good stitch definition.
It’s a two ply yarn and despite the silk has a very nice body for a lace weight yarn. Unlike some lace weights it doesn’t feel like you’re holding nothing, which is really nice when you’re knitting with it.
The silk creates a very slight halo, which gives the yarn depth, but it’s not so much of a halo that you loose your stitches, and couldn’t do lace work with it.
I’m using this yarn for a very simple stockinette shawl with some eyelet detailing, knit on a US 5 (3.75mm) needle with the yarn held double, in colorway #9 “Nugget Gold.”
If I were to hold the yarn single I would probably use a US 1 (2.25mm) or a US 2 (2.75mm) needle. The ball band recommends a US 1-3 (2.25mm-3.25mm) needle.
I’ll be interested to see how this yarn holds up over time. I wonder if that silk halo means it’ll end up pilling. I’m not super hard on most of my shawls so I don’t see it being an issue, but it’s something to keep in mind if you’re hard on your shawls or are using it for something else.
An Anti Disclaimer:
Cascade did not send me this yarn to review, and they did not ask me for my opinion about it.
It was new at my LYS, I thought it was interesting, I bought a ball, started knitting with it, and thought I’d do a quick review.
first shawls of the new year
I might have accidentally cast on two more shawls the other day.
But one’s on a US 7 (4.5mm) and one’s on a US 5 (3.75mm) needle, so they’ll go fast and don’t really count.
Right?
