Slightly Conflicted

I think I mentioned that I’m knitting little Lou a little sweater.  His mum Katie knits a bit, and has a great appreciation for the hand-knits bestowed upon the  guy.  He had a good cache of sweaters going on when he was born, but he’s growing fast, and Katie has been unsubtle about his need for some new ones.  His Auntie Kelly knit him that little grey and white one a few weeks ago, and I sewed it up – so he has that, but when I gave Kate the sweater, she sighed a little and said some magic words.  "Oh – now he only has ONE sweater."
She said it exactly like one sweater wouldn’t even begin to cover his needs, and I immediately started planning a little something for him.

It’s a tiny little aran, and I’m knitting it out of some beautiful yarn that I got at Rhinebeck last year.  It wasn’t labeled when I bought it,  and I didn’t label it, because I was sure I would remember where it came from.  (I bet someone who was with me that afternoon can remember. We were shopping in a little herd of knitters, and we all fell down at that booth and bought some.)  It’s wonderfully soft and cottony, and the perfect thing for a little guy. 

I have no pattern,  I just did a quick swatch, guessed at his chest size and cast on what seemed like the right number.  I think cardigans are infinitely more practical for those who can’t dress themselves or even sit up to help – so I cast on 25% of that number for one of the fronts, 50% for the back, and the other 25% for the other front.   I was travelling at the time and didn’t have all my stuff with me, so I sketched a quick cable chart on the hotel notepad,  filled in the gaps with double moss stitch, and set off. 

After one repeat of the chart, I could see that the sweater needed to be three repeats tall, so after one and a half repeats, I divided the sweater into two fronts and a back, and knit those up separately, then did a little shaping around the neck to allow for his charming double chin.  (He’s still too young to really have  a neck.  His chins just sort of give way to his chest.) I sewed up the shoulders, and now I’m picking up stitches around the armholes, and knitting wee sleeves down – and I’m having a really hard time.

It’s not the knitting. The knitting is easy peasy – it’s that the whole time I’m knitting it – this other yarn is staring me in the face and whispering things to me like "Vests are nice."

I’m trying to hold on, but while I’m determined to finish the sweater before I start with the lace, it’s super hard, which is bizarre, because this yarn – It doesn’t even know what it wants to be.  It’s Space Cadet laceweight, and I have about 750m.
Do you know what it want’s to be? 

117 thoughts on “Slightly Conflicted

  1. If I didn’t look as though I needed the Last Rites when I wear yellow, I’d say it wants to be MINE.
    I think it would make a lovely lacy faroese style shawl for you.

  2. What a beautiful color! I’ve got no suggestions, sorry. But I’m sure it will be gorgeous.

  3. Your comment about “no neck” reminded me of Carol Anderson’s talking about taking measurements to sew a dress for her little daughter: chest 21″, waist 21″, hips 21″. At that stage they are really cute rectangles with arms and legs. That is going to be a lovely sweater that his Mum will appreciate.

  4. I completely agree with mamayaga, this yarn needs to be a Shattered Sun Shawl.

  5. The yellow yarn wants to be a vest? That doesn’t sound like you (or your stash-talk). Wasn’t there a shawl called something like summer in kansas? Doesn’t that yellow look like corn tassels?

  6. i’m thinking a yarn pet? knit it a little outfit and carry it around cuddling it and calling it Charles. That way it’s never knitted and gone 😀

  7. How about a “Good Day”, knitty Spring 2012. I adore it, but for some reason (reason and rationality escape me) I started and am working on a “wingspan”. Hmmm…

  8. Oooo Space Cadet, I have wanted to try yarn from that dyer at some point. With your seal of approval it might get a little more difficult to sample.
    Obligation knitting can be tough sometimes, you might need a nice long string of projects knit just for you to make up for it. It is an adorable little sweater, small wee sleeves should be quick to knit. The end is near!

  9. It looks like the lovely yellow Trousseau Wrap that I am knitting for a friend’s wedding shawl! Hmmm! I’m sure you will find the perfect thing for that lovely shade.

  10. 1. I’m with Millie. The Atalanta is a great idea!
    2. a knitted toy is a good idea
    3. Is it cool enough up there for kids to still need sweaters? really? wow!
    4. Vests are nice. 🙂

  11. That is an amazing yarn. I’m working on 32 leaves, which is a lot of fun, but I don’t remember off the top of my head how much meters it requires for the 32 leaves size (as opposed to 22 leaves).

  12. I don’t know what the lace weight wants to be, but my four year old daughter routinely exclaims that things are, “Easy peasy, lemon-squeezy” so often, in fact, that I read that instead of just Easy Peasy and so I think perhaps the lace weight should be something lemony and light.

  13. Lovely magic glowing gold …Rapunzels Tresses wants to be a simple lace tunic…you can wear it year round and layer layer layer your handknits. Dress it up or not.

  14. Citron? Too lazy to link to ravelry pattern; I believe it was from Knitty?

  15. I love using SpaceCadet yarn!!! You are in for such a treat! I just finished a Song of Zion using some Luna lace weight and it is stunning! I have casted on with some fingering weight of Izarra and am loving it! She has such an eye for dying brilliant colours together.

  16. Nothing – it wants to be nothing until little Lou is bundled in his own Aran sweater (not vest).

  17. Hi, Stephanie,
    For the golden yarn, how about this beautiful bit of lace. And they are sending money from the sales to Susan Komen. There is a kit, but I’d bet they would sell you the pattern too. http://knittersbrewing.com/storename/knittersbrewing/ViewDept-276538.aspx
    While you are on their site check out the Portland roses and bridges socks, or some name like that. The cables look like bridges and the there are roses added. The whole thing is for Portland. You’ll love them.
    Julie in San Diego

  18. I think it would look great in the Omelet shawl pattern by Joyce Fassbender in the Knitty Spring/Summer 2011 edition.

  19. I’m sorry, Diane, but the yarn wants to be mine! 😀
    Actually, I agree with the Shattered Sun shawl. In fact, I think I should break out my skein of yellow lacewieght…

  20. The yellow laceweight wants to be:
    Jared Flood’s Bridgewater?
    Anne Hanson’s Pine and Ivy shawl?
    Hannah Fettig’s Featherweight Cardigan with half sleeves?
    Sivia Harding’s Norwegian Woods shawl?
    Paon shawl from the new Twist Collective?
    Margaret Stove’s Rosebud Faroese Shawl?

  21. If Baby Lou has inherited his mother’s gift for knowing a soft touch when she sees one, then he’ll never in his life have only one sweater, not as long as he has an auntie Steph.

  22. Semele gets my vote, but your knack for creating your own design should not be overlooked (as evidenced by Lou”s beautiful new sweater!).

  23. A Damask shawl – and keep this one for yourself. Too much intense hard work – you deserve something gloriously beautiful, just for you!!

  24. Did you really say, “It’s wonderfully soft and cottony”– are you knitting a cotton aran? I’m so confused. I believe I have read you expressing the opinion that cotton is too heavy for cables before. Is this a cotton blend, then? Please, put my mind at rest!

  25. One of Dorothy siemens patterns – possibly spring or autumn from four seasons

  26. That’s going to be a beautiful Aran sweater. I hope we get to see a pic of the cute little boy wearing it.

  27. What a gorgeous color! No matter what you make with it, it will be stunning!

  28. I am amazed at just guessing and knitting a sweater. I need the pattern in front of me, quietness and time – even then things don’t always turn out the way I had hoped. Spellbound and beautiful.

  29. The Aran sweater is so adorable. Hope you will be writing up the pattern!

  30. *gently but firmly elbows Diane, Norma and Joey B. out of the way*
    Oh, I’m sure that’s meant for me — just look for my name on that little card at the back there. It was there, but it might have faded away because of that lovely, sunshiney colour!

  31. I just bought Jared Flood’s pattern, the Rock Island shawl. Aside from the fact that it makes me sing that train song, it is gorgeous. As my friend says, first you have the frustrating bit with lace knitted on both sides, then you have the boring bit of garter stitch, so, perfect!

  32. I don’t know what your yarn wants to be, but I’m sure hoping you post s pic of Lou in that sweater!

  33. Vest are perfect for this time of year! And doesn’t every baby need some layering items in his wardrobe?
    I’m not sure what that scrumptious yellow yarn wants to be, but I see spending some quality time with Ravelry in your future.

  34. That lovely yarn would make a beautiful, lacy vest or cardigan for a baby girl. Do you know any pregnant ladies?

  35. Thanks for sharing the pictures and details of the sweater, it really looks more gorgeous with every bit more knit 😉
    Really doesn’t sound so difficult, maybe I should try to get out one of my stitch books and just give it a try too, after all, you just have to get it big enough, if it is a little larger it is only a matter of time until it is a fit…
    Well, yellow is not my color, but seeing this, maybe a lacy bolero? Great color to pep up any thing in spring/summer (after all seem to have finished already some shawls 😉 ).

  36. How about ‘Aase’s Shawl’ by Kristi Holaas? It has some beading in the border, and this is my new favorite shawl! I’m waiting till next week to cast on a blue one for the ‘Camp Loopy 2012’.

  37. Well, maybe Hiker’s WaistCoat from Fibre Company? Might have to double-up or add a skinny bit of a silk yarn with it. Nice fitted vest.

  38. Like the Aeolian suggestion. I loved working on it with the beads. The large version needs too much yarn, but one of the smaller options would work.
    My first thought today when I saw Cookie A in my favorite yarn store today was of Kinnearing her, but I restrained myself. The things I learn as I catch up on previous years of your blog.

  39. Trolling the comments a few hours later, I see a TON of recommendations for Good Day Sunshine. I don’t think these people have actually knit it. I tried knitting it as written but the increases caused that weird bubble near the co edge before straightening out. EVERY SINGLE FO HAS IT. I couldn’t stand it, so I ended up making up my own.
    I did come up with something else! Bakau by Åsa Tricosa. It has a nice art-deco feel to the arches, and is a pretty mindless knit for the stockinette section, before the lace. And even though the lace looks pretty straightforward, don’t let it fool you! There are some sneaky decreases in there. I love the one I knit. http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/bakau

  40. For a lace project I’m really loving Firebird Shawl by Lilia Komosa. I’m also intrigued by her Violet Moth shawl.

  41. I’m holding out for the identification of that delicious yarn. I have a new niece coming in the fall and I think she must have a sweater knit out of something that sounds so wonderful.

  42. Vests ARE nice. Esp as the “warmer” season in parts north approaches yes? By the time it’s really cold enough for him to be bundled in it for days at a time, he will have grown right past it anyway and you will be working on another.
    Nothing to offer for the yellow, but when yarn calls you like that, you are beholden to listen without delay.

  43. It wants to be something in MY closet. What an AMAZING color. covet. covet. covet. personally I would make a light little cardigan out of it.

  44. I was so surprised when I saw that VEST because it’s almost identical to the VEST I made for my son oh so many years ago–and he wore it a lot!

  45. You could do the same Elfin Lace shawl that I’m currently knitting… Actually what I’d like to know is what you used for a pattern for the sheep shawl that you wrote about in Yarn Harlot. I’ve googled sheep shawl and mostly get sheep to shawl contests, other than the one Evelyn Clark pattern that’s also mentioned on Ravelry, but that doesn’t look like I pictured from your description. So, is that the right pattern or do you have a hint of where to look elsewhere?

  46. Love the sweater for Lou.
    Love the yellow yarn. (although like someone else said, put it on me and I’d look dead! LOL)
    And I want to thank you for aksing for suggestions and to everyone who responded. I have spent a lovely 30 minutes reading posts here, doing copy/paste of pattern names and looking at LOVELY things on Ravelry, many of which are now in my favorites. I’d never have found then otherwise!

  47. See I knew if I read you for long enough you would make me happy about my lack of knitting prowess.
    I never face your current dilemma cause I look at any yarn & it says
    “Scarf”!!!
    That’s all. LOL
    Lush
    London, UK
    PS The fact that you can produce such a lovely article from nothing makes you a Goddess in my books. Truly I am in awe o.O

  48. lucky little lou — and lucky any future sib of either gender. what a beautiful sweater auntie steph is creating! (it should be published sometime soon.)

  49. I immediately thought of Damask by Kitman Figueroa (since it is what I am knitting up next in a similar yummy yellow lace yarn), but I gotta admit that the Good Day Sunshine shawl by Knitty that others have mentioned sure makes sense to me, too!

  50. Brandywine Shawl by Rosemary Hill on Ravelry – gorgeous, and 5.00 on you purchase of the pattern goes to Haiti Relief.

  51. Don’t you already have a lot of shawls? And can’t you always use another sweater? I think Laura’s idea of Hannah Fettig’s Featherweight Cardigan would look great on you. But then Shattered Sun would have that flattering color close to your face too….oh dear. Glad it’s not my decision. Whatever you come up with will be perfect, I know.

  52. That special skein needs to be….the shawl I am knitting now. It is the Brigewater Shawl by Jerrod Flood. That was all that came to me. Keep knitting my dear. I know how it feels to have something keep speaking to you while you do another project….that was speaking to you and you put down another project….that was speaking to you……

  53. For road rash – polysporin or similar then cover with telfa pads and then mesh burn netting if it is on a limb. If on your butt or torso, just telfa pads and secure with a combo of gauze pads and tape. Keep it covered until healed, do not let it dry out and scab over even though lots of people will tell you to. I’ve been fixing bike racers for 20 years. For saddle sores, get some chamois cream at a bike shop, it’s worth the money also I hope you have proper cycling shorts and someone let you in on the no undies under them thing! Oh and your butt will get used to it after a while, if it doesn’t try a different saddle, again, bike shop, big help!

  54. Adding another vote to the ‘Omelet’ camp, along with a pro-tip for anybody making it: do a crochet cast-off with an extra chain between each stitch. It blocks out really big, so the cast-off edge needs a lot of stretch!

  55. I see a lacy vesty tunicy something. Something you can knit in basically three rectangles with miminal neck shaping. Maybe even just do some simple faggoting or something with predominantly vertical lines. Screw using a pattern.

  56. …I make an amendment. Forget Bridgewater and go with the Shattered Sun piece. I may just do the same…althought I am not a yellow type person. I guess that could change…right?
    bjr

  57. Lace shawl . Look in Sock-Yarn One Skein Wonders there`s a couple of lovely shawls ( I know cause I started half of them )that are just hard enough to be interesting . Seriously , try it .

  58. I think it wants to be the Tiffany Triangle Shawl by Wendy Johnson!!!! I’m making one in a beautiful cobalt blue. It requires 700 yds of lace weight yarn. Knits up fairly quickly!

  59. I bought the prettiest skein of Space Cadet yarn at the Pittsburgh Knit and Crochet Festival in February. It is very soft and has shades of light blue with a line of shiny silver running through it. Completely out of character for me.
    I planned to make fingerless mittens out of it, I even bought the pattern. But…I just love the yarn so much I hate to use it! Isn’t that crazy?
    I even unrolled it once to put it on the swift and wind it and I just couldn’t do it. I just like looking at it too much!
    I figure now that it is summer I can get away with not knitting it for a few months longer. But when the weather turns colder, I will have to wind it and then knit with it so the yarn can be what it was meant to be.

  60. HELP!!!!
    In Wingspan I noticed you also have a “line” at each new section.
    Anyway not to have it???? I really don’t like it

Comments are closed.