The Winter of the Jumper

It’s been cold. I’m sure it’s not overly cold by a lot of the world’s standards. Definitely not by Canadian Standards, or Scandanavian standards, or Russian standards, but by little old Aussie standards? cold. there’s been SNOW. I mean come on!

Mid last year i finished my lettuce pullover with a few mods. It looked a little like this:

I love this jumper. completely and utterly. It’s lightweight, warm and flattering.

So I decided to knit another one.

I can hear you all now. what? are you crazy? that took you 6 whole months. It’s a jumper done in freaking LACEWEIGHT you fool!

I said the same things, believe me, but when i saw that Loop had gotten in some new wollmeise lace in my favourite colour, it was only a matter of time before i managed to talk myself into it. About 30 minutes, to be precise. There was the knowledge that great colours go quickly in the WM lace, the love for this beautiful object i’d created, excitement about perfecting it even more with a few more mods, and the knowledge that I would be flying to and from Australia at christmas.

That was the cincher. After all, I’d started my first lettuce on the plane to the UK, seemed only fitting that I take one solitary stocking stitch project back with me.

And now, less than two months after casting on, I have my second, even more perfect, lettuce pullover

forgive the fuzziness, my camera never knows where to focus in the mirror!

But this was not the only jumper knitted for myself these past cold months. Late last year I finally got to knit with the delight that is Rowan Lima. I’d been wanting to knit Briar by Kim Hargreaves in this yarn for a while, and when the colour i wanted was discontinued i thought it was time to buy it, and after knitting a jumper in laceweight, one in a gauge of 20 or so stitches over 4″ seemed very appealing.

It was damn speedy too!

It’s a deep boatneck, and sadly the alpaca is stretching out, so it’s sort of slouchy and sloppy, but SO warm and cuddly!

And super soft too! very touchable.

So my body has been nice and warm, but lets not forget about my hands and head! while i came prepared with many mittens and gloves, fingerless and otherwise, I used the lovely shetland yarn purchased in Edinburgh to create some finger warming beauties. I’m highly aware that mittens are overkill for aussie winters, so i’ve been getting the most out of them!

I love them! Anemoi by Eunny Jang! I haven’t blocked them, because i started wearing them, but they’ve been settling with wear, so the stitches look nice and even, if i do say so myself!

I also used some of the left overs from Briar to create a super warm squishy (if not completely suited for my head/face) hat – Kat, another Kim pattern!

I’m working on some spats so I can wear them over stockings and little flats when on my way to swing dancing, and two vests for a dear friend’s daughters back in Aus. Then it’s time for another jumper!

The Winter of the Jumper*

Given that the last few garments i’ve knitted have been more jacket-y/outerwear-y type things – see my origami bolero, my kid silk haze wrap/cardigan (which I’ve been meaning to post about!!), my one button jacket and my cherish bolero – I have decided that, given i have a lot of sewn coats as well, what i really want to make this winter are JUMPERS! nice, warm, snuggly jumpers that actually fit, are long enough, have nice neck lines, in gorgeous fibre that i LOVE.

So, with this in mind, I have bought the yarn to make Fay and Prudence by Kim Hargreaves.

For Fay I’ve chosen a beautiful purple (called Damson) in the most luscious Pear Tree Superfine Merino 4ply. huzzah for work discounts. It is almost cashmere like this yarn! I’m REALLY hoping my boss continues to stock it as it’s just wonderful. I like Fay because of the interesting stitch pattern, the little button details and the scoop neck – very flattering on my shape!

For Prudence I’ve gone my signature teal, ordering a darkish shade in Blue Sky Alpaca and Silk. NOM NOM NOM. This pattern was originally designed for bamboo soft – a gorgeous yarn to look at and touch, but by all accounts a BITCH to knit with and it drops so drastically that it can grow up to 3 or 4 sizes! I got the idea of substituting alpaca silk from the lovely mooncalf at make do and mend, who has very similar tastes to me :). In theory it should work, since the alpaca will have drape (though without the ‘growth’ of the bamboo) and the silk will have shine :). Prudence has a great boatneck (the kind that actually suits since it really shows off my collarbones) and is nice and drapey for days when i want a more comfy look. also lookit the adorable sleeves!

I also already have the yarn for this intarsia pullover from Jo Sharp. I’ve loved this since i bought the book since it’s such a challenging, old fashioned form of knitting (and birds are so in right now – pity it’s not owls lol) BUT, i would definitely have to scoop the neck a little more. I might even look at changing it to a v-neck. If I really decide it’s just not going to suit, I can always resell the yarn as a sort of ‘kit’ for the large size! Lol.

I also have 10 balls of Rowan Alpaca Cotton in black . I toyed with doing Emily in it, but i think i want to do that in either the original yarn, or something with a touch of silk in it and i’m pretty sure i want to do it in colour. Instead I like the idea of doing Thea in this, since it’s an outerwear type garment, which black always suits and the alpaca cotton should have a nice feel for this. hopefully it won’t drop too much!

I think that’s a good start for jumper and cardi plans (although I also have the yarn to do this just lying around waiting for me to learn stranded knitting – now accomplished), plus i’ve got a mountain of sock yarn to work through, some plans for some lace work, including working with some of my handspun, present knitting and of course far too many other things i want to get done! bah! can anyone say ‘high expectations’?

*A jumper in Australia is a sweater/pullover.