Maybe this year will be easy

This morning before I went downtown to do seventy five things and ended up buying shoes and yarn (some days are perfect) I knitted a little swatch for my Rhinebeck sweater and set it out to dry. I wasn’t planning on getting gauge for any particular sweater, although I did have a short list of candidates for this years epic, I was just having a first date. A flirtation. A chance to hang out together a little bit and see if we were going to get on.  It was a pleasure, and the swatch looked like all was going to be well – and off I went.

Truth be told, when I left this morning the list of sweaters I was considering was really short. So short there was one on it.. Little Wave. I was pretty sure it was the one I wanted, but I knew the new Brooklyn Tweed collection was coming out today, so I didn’t want to commit until I saw that. You never know – and I usually love that stuff, so I left room to change my mind.  While I was out I perused the thing, and you know what, it’s lovely (I especially love the options for guy fit vs ladies fit… very neat) but there were none I loved so much as the Little Wave that was already alone on my list.

I trundled home to have a look at my swatch, see what my gauge was, and start experimenting to get gauge… except you know what?

stitchandrow-2016-09-14

I have gauge. Perfectly. Both stitch, and row, and without fudging, fussing, or thinking about it. It’s like a magical unicorn with a comfy saddle just decided to live in my backyard so I don’t have to take the bus anymore.

Stitch, and row. Without trying, on the first go. Beat that.

PS. I do not have a tatoo.

94 thoughts on “Maybe this year will be easy

  1. I saw your title, and immediately thought “Steph’s going to jinx herself”. But you have gauge! Excellent. And no tattoo. I wonder how many people are going to be disappointed about that. The tattoo, not the gauge…

  2. That’s a sign if there ever was one. The sweater looks lovely.

    Bummer, thought the tattoo was really and was looking forward to the story behind that.

    • I must be on the same knitting wavelength at the moment. I have yarn in a very similar colour (bmfa targhee worsted spawn of scum) and little wave is on my shortlist of patterns for it.

      • I am working with Berocco Remix in Lawn (same colouring as your swatch). Your sweater selection was on my list for next sweater. Good luck with your knitting.

  3. I’m so impressed that you can start a Rhinebeck sweater on September 14 and know you can actually wear it this year. I was just about to put away my fall sweater yarn and get out the red yarn I didn’t knit last year because I think a sweater I start today might be done in time for Christmas and I think by then orange and purple might not be what I want.

  4. Glad you are giving yourself enough time to make the sweater without too much drama. I look at that pattern and smell hot apple cider and wool. Happy knitting.

  5. Well, Steph, you’ve had an adventurous year, with lots happening, good, bad and difficult. Perhaps it’s time for easy. May it be so.

    • *~ pulls up a chair ~*
      *~ opens the wine, and hands Presbytera a glassful ~*

      I was silly enough to think it was The Christmas Spreadsheet already — forgot about Rhinebeck ….. duh!!

      • I thought the same thing — Christmas spreadsheet! (Way too early I guess.)

        And I knew not to mention popcorn or wine until I checked whether Presbytera had posted yet.

    • I live in Wisconsin so I’ve got the cheese. We found a dairy about 30 miles from us owned by a Dutch farmer who makes Gouda with raw milk using his Grandma’s recipe. Think that’ll go okay with the wine, Presbytera?

    • Isn’t she generous to do this for us every year? It’s like your favorite author publishing a new book (except that she does that, too. Shut up.) The familiar structure, the foregone happy ending, but oooo, here come the spills and chills! Starting with that swatch, since, as Franklin’s Rule of Swatches #2 abbreviates, SFL. (The last word is “Lie.”)
      Wheeeeeee!

  6. Those shoes are soooooooo beeeeeeauuuuutiful. They go with the yarn for the unicorn sweater, as it has flecks of brown and mustard, like those shiny, shiny gorgeous shoes. Have you read A Girl of the Limberlost? Lenora’s perfect school shoes and gorgeous new sweater for high school always transported me with delight, and I always imagined them looking so much like these shoes and that sweater.

  7. Took a peek at Little Wave what a beautiful sweater!

    Took a peek at Brooklyn Tweed collection there are some very nice looking sweaters in that collection too. After I finish my sister’s sweater I may have to look harder at a couple in Jared Flood’s book. I wondered about whatever was on your upper arm/shoulder.

  8. Uh, oh. Better make an offering to the Knitting Deities — and offer Millie some catnip (or cream). Otherwise, you might end up with a bolero that has three orangutan-sized sleeves.

    Glad the skin graffiti (a.k.a.: “tattoo”) was only temporary. I’m still trying to get a niece to visualize what one might look like when she’s 80…!

    • I don’t know.. some of the ladies in the building I work in have tats around their ankles or leg. When they wear crop pants you can see them. These women aren’t youngsters so I imagine they got them years ago. Still looks pretty good. Now an American Beauty rose in unmentionable place…maybe not

  9. First, thanks for the heads up about the Brooklyn Crack Collect- I mean, er, Brooklyn Tweed Collection. I will have to peruse that shortly.

    Beat getting gauge on the first try? How about never knitting a swatch and always fitting perfectly: Several scarves, hats, at least a couple dozen pairs of socks and one sweater that is almost complete (it’s got one sleeve to go, and I’ve tried the sweater on already and it’s perfect)

  10. Little Wave is so much fun to knit! I knit the manly version for my partner and it was great. Gudrun is a master. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

  11. My God, woman! Call the Vatican and apply for miracle status!! 😀 I’d say that was a pretty big sign from the universe that Little Wave was meant to be… also, it being a Gudrun design doesn’t hurt. She’s currently high on my “love” list. 🙂 <3

  12. Oh. Nice shoes.

    I bought shoes the other day – the pair I went out to get, and pair I didn’t. They are silver and sparkly, and flat and lots of fun.

    I am not going to mention that swatches are duplicitous lying so and so’s.

    It. will. be. perfect.

  13. Yarn and swatch look great. My colours exactly – autumn. Welcome to the Fluevog Club. Vogs are addictive LOL I have two pairs of boots and one pair of shoes. Hope you will love them. They look gorgeous.

  14. I’ve done Little Wave, and I love it. Shelter was lovely to knit with and is delightfully warm. It is my go-to winter sweater, and I think you will love it.

  15. Wait. Are you saying that this year there won’t be a sweater blocking/drying on the hotel bed the night before? I won’t get the suspense of will-she-make-it-in-time like the stress I feel at the end of ARGO – wondering if the plane will get away to Canada in time??

    I love the sweater choice. While I haven’t been to Rhinebeck yet – I am coming to believe that the perfect Rhinebeck sweater must have an interesting back (like your choice) for the knitters standing behind them in line for yarn and artichokes. It’s only neighborly to provide entertainment for the next knitter during a long wait.

    Rock on. Love the color yarn too – it will look beautiful on you!

  16. Going to spend 2 days at Rhinebeck as a volunteer. Wow! I did not think I would ever get to spend two days! I usually just go Saturday afternoon and then..home. Will help judges score fleeces Friday and then work the fleece barn Saturday. Will be fun and busy! Congrats on the gauge perfection. I have yet to ever get it right.

  17. OMG I have been slavering over Little Wave for months but am afraid to try such a complicated-looking pattern. (I’m more of a trial-and-error sort of knitter, not so good at precision knitting). So I’ll be on the edge of my seat waiting to see how this one turns out.

  18. Given that any burst of rapid tapping (such as the happy little flamenco-type dance done when one gets gauge straight off) can be called a tattoo then, I reckon, you got one 😉

  19. It feels like insider status, reading something like this and knowing exactly where a fad for a particular knit will have started from. Sometimes all a beautiful pattern needs is a little signal boost like that. You’re going to love your sweater!

  20. Are you absolutely certain about the tattoo? Because that certainly looks like one. Just saying. I mean it’s all right if you have one unless it involved massive amounts of alcohol and a possible blackout. In which case it’s still probably okay if you like it and had been wanting one. So…about that tattoo?

  21. Nice choice for Rhinebeck! Last year I made Little waves and loved knitting it especially the shoulder construction. I can’t wait to see yours.

  22. Question: The gauge on the Little Wave is supposed to be in the little wave pattern. Does it matter that you did St St? I always hate it when gauge is given in a pattern.

    • (Though I do feel like I ought to follow this up with a Wayne’s World “and monkeys might fly out of my butt” clip. Fortunately?, the only YT clips I could find ended with some celebratory text about butts, which just didn’t seem appropriate to post on the Blog.)

  23. Can’t wait to see that sweater unfold… (wine and popcorn indeed!) And the pattern is tempting – I’ve been meaning to take the plunge and try my hand at my first sweater, this looks nice but perhaps a bit complicated? Any suggestions?

  24. I was right with you on Little Wave. Then I went back to the look book. Mohr is divine. Little Wave for 2016, sure. But Mohr for me.

    Let me guess about the “not a tattoo”. You were recorded on entering the park so the park rangers would know to look for you if you didn’t turn up at the right time. A safety precaution. At the pool the kids are coded so the lifeguard knows who is allowed in the deep end. Same idea.

  25. “I have gauge. Perfectly. Both stitch, and row, and without fudging, fussing, or thinking about it.”

    I’m sorry to tell you, but I think this means the sweater will spontaneously combust.

  26. I absolutely love that all Steph has to do is mention a pattern in her blog and it instantly pops up on the top row of the “Hot Right Now” pattern search on Ravelry.

  27. Beware! It’s trying to lull you (which autocorrect thought should be “kill you”), and before you know it, you’ll be 3/4 through the sweater and you’ll find out the yarn doubles in size one week after washing, etc.

  28. Oh dear, I clicked on the link. BT sweaters aren’t much my style, but the DH would look so handsome in the Carver, in a lovely dark blue. I’m okay with the seed stitch and cables combo (though might regret it), but the yarn-held-double put me off. Foresee some gauge swatching with hold-it-single yarn alternatives in my future.

  29. Oooo love it! I too was looking at the new BT patterns but there’s NO way I’d have one in time for Rhinebeck. Not even sure my Rhinebeck sweater will be done in time for it…so it may be an old sweater kind of weekend for me. But it’s my first time going (with sweater wearing husband and baby in tow!) so I’m suuuuuper excited. I hope I see you and may request a selfie if you’ll oblige!!

  30. You mean there’s an awesome wool substitute yarn for Brooklyn Shelter that looks beautiful, woolly, and light just like Shelter and costs less than half as much??? (and interestingly also has Z twist, so could work for twined knitting!) *where’s my credit card…*

  31. What a beautiful combination that will be. The wave patterns looks incredibly fun to knit – not that I could do it without a few extra IQ points. Row + Gauge is amazing.

  32. Glad you do not have a tattoo. It took you a very long time to commit to marriage. Marriages can be easier to get out of than the commitment of a tattoo. Just sayin. I put a fake one on many years ago and my boss continually commented on it. I told him the package said it would come off with alcohol, and I told him I was drinking as much as I could. And it was still there.

  33. If this were me, I would run out and buy a dozen lottery tickets because I never ever ever have both stitch and row gauges. I can usually get stitch gauge without issue…but row gauge and I……….I usually require more rows. ::sigh::

  34. After the harrowing adventures of “will she, or won’t she” of the wedding shawl, although it was a foregone conclusion that you would finish it up in the nick of time…you deserve easy! The yarn is gorgeous! I can’t wait to see the finished sweater and wish I could see it in person at Rhinebeck.

  35. Little wave was purchased and queued last Fall as my hope for a sweater to bring to the Knitters Retreat last year. Never did saddle shoulder so held off and Sooooo happy your are going to lead the way! I so want one. Can’t wait to see your version. You rock and glad the arm marking was not permanent – I ❤️Jennifer’s comment above.

  36. I will patiently await the screams when there are 2 days to Rhinebeck and there are 2 left fronts. No wine for me – I’m still jones-ing on Root Beer and Rumchata.

  37. Love the colour!!! So, what do you do if you have stitch gauge and not row gauge? Is there a physical adjustment or just math?

  38. Really? I could’ve sworn I saw a tattoo. But it’s early here, it’s bucketing rain and I awoke thinking I left my sunroof open. So my mind may play tricks on me.

    I love the yarn. Can’t wait to see the sweater!

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