If you ever doubted

When I headed out the door for Rhinebeck last Thursday, things were tense with the sweaters though I felt pretty hopeful. I was pretty sure I could finish, but I’d also made a commitment to myself to remember that knitting is fun, and Rhinebeck is fun and not to let anything get too crazy in the knitting department.  Turns out that there’s a wide range of what’s considered crazy though, and while I think that trying on an unfinished sweater in an airport lounge bathroom is pretty normal, I could tell that this wasn’t the prevailing attitude in that facility, though as a rule I’m pretty poorly understood as an artist, so that didn’t bother me much.

Neither did asking Kellee to put all our luggage in the backseat so we could block the Must Have Cardi as we drove…

as a matter of fact, I think it was her idea.

I rolled into Rhinebeck eve with two finished (but wet) sweaters, and they both dried by morning and do you know? That made two sweaters in eighteen days not as nearly dramatic and insane as I thought it would be. I did have to set aside other knitting and display a kind of knitterly monogamy that’s not really me, but still – look at this.

Sweater: The Must Have Cardigan.  I love this pattern, and knit it as written, with only two changes. I made it a little longer (because despite being rather on the short side, I still don’t really like a cropped sweater) and even though the pattern says to just hold the stitches for the back neck button band, I tried that last time and it was too stretchy.  This time I cast off and then picked the stitches back up again, and I am much happier with that.  Yarn: the very sadly discontinued Blackwater Abbey.

Sweater: Remi – oh do I love this, and I’m not alone. Two of my Rhinebeck friends said that this was their favourite, of all of the Rhinebeck sweaters I’ve ever knit, and I don’t know if I’d go that far, but mercy do I think it looks sharp. Yarn: Wingenhooven DK in Revival.

Good looking sweater, am I right? I’ve never thought that circular yoke sweaters suit me (in fact I’ve always thought that since I have shoulders like a quarterback, it isn’t really a good look for me) but I think maybe I was wrong.  It looks just fine, and I am going to wear the heck out of it.

I won’t be wearing the heck out of it over the next several days, because 36 hours after landing from Rhinebeck I got on a plane with Joe and headed out to visit his parents in Ajijic, Jalisco, Mexico, and the weather here-  while well suited to my nature, is not exactly the sort of place you’d wear a wool/silk/yak sweater.  In fact, it might be dangerous.

More tomorrow – though my office couldn’t be nicer today, I’m going for a walk. Extreme sweater knitter, out.

94 thoughts on “If you ever doubted

  1. I must knit the Must Have Cardigan. It’s been in my queue for years!
    Seeing yours had spurred my resolve! Congrats on two sweaters done! 🙂

    • I’m with you Samm. The yarn is ready, I’m considering it one of my winter projects. I’m hoping mine can look half as good. Let’s go!

    • The Remi sweater makes you look really sexy. The next time you are in Canada and going to dinner out with your hubby, wear it and see what happens. I also really like the green one, but for different reasons. I’m sure the Rhinebeck folks were impressed.
      Julie in San Diego, where it’s hot, dry and windy. Wildfire weather. I hope no fires this year.

  2. YES! We knew you could do it, Queen of Impossible Goals. They both suit you. Remi is probably the ‘girliest’ of the sweaters I’ve seen you wear, and maybe that was what surprised you about it. The Must Have Cardi fits you perfectly… oh, no, there you go raising the bar for us again (let’s rip it out and fix it)! Have fun with Joe!

  3. I too have “shoulders like a quarterback” and I have been contemplating a yoked sweater as well. You and your gorgeous sweater give me hope at I can have a yoked sweater too!

  4. Huzzah!! Well done and beautiful work, as usual. Enjoy the warmth in Mexico, then go home to bask in the warmth of woolie goodness!

  5. I knew you could do it! Congratulations on both. I had hoped to catch sight of you wearing one of them at Rhinebeck, but with 35,000 people attending . . . well, in my dreams.

  6. Actually, I’m a bit envious of quarterback shoulders. I think clothes hang better on them and from them. Both sweaters fit you to perfection and are gorgeous.

  7. I think the reason that Remi is so flattering for you (and all us other wide shouldered ladies) is that the neckline is lower than most circular yoke sweaters. Anyway it is terrific on you for sure and I wish you would come to my house and finish the three (3) sweaters I have all done but for sleeves and finishing. Or at least give me a deadline so I would follow your lead and just finish! Nice job, both of them; congratulations.

  8. Both sweaters are amazing of course but the Remi is outstanding. That right there is a going out to dinner sweater. And, possibly made from the right yarn, an evening sweater for Hawaii.

  9. So impressed that you pulled that off. When I last saw you at that airport in Saint John, it seemed an impossible dream. Don’t know where you get that knitterly drive–I sure don’t have it, especially when a deadline is involved. And yes, both look fantastic on you.

  10. Both sweaters look gorgeous on you! When you first wrote about the Must Have Cardi I was so impressed that I went out and bought the pattern, but never bought yarn. Now I am again so impressed I’m all enthused about it again.

    I love the Remi too, almost a bit more than the Must Have Cardi.

  11. OMG! Two sweaters, with (rather) minimal drama! The cardigan even has buttons attached to it! You might even get your X-mas knitting done before X-mas. . .nah, probably not ;-)! (Have fun in Mexico with Joe. The dust bison can feed themselves.)

  12. Two thoughts… 1- I can’t even imagine knitting TWO sweaters in 18 days! (I’m more of a 2 sweaters in 18 months type of knitter 🙂 )
    2- How do you pronounce the name of the place where you are in Mexico?! Enjoy! <3

  13. The best part of this is that you’re going to wear the heck out of those sweaters. Over the years, you’ve given away some of my favorites and I’m just glad you’re keeping these, because they suit you.

  14. Remi works on broad shoulders because the yoke design is more vertical, with V-points at the end, as opposed to fair isle’s concentric circles around the neck, drawing the eye across instead of down. It looks terrific on you!

    Must Have is definitely a go-to sweater that you’ll be wearing often, and also looks great. Good move in making the body of it longer, another vertical line.

  15. Amazing!
    I also have shoulders like a rugby player (no quarterbacks in Britain) and also thought yoked jumpers were no good on me so I’m really pleased to see just how good Remi looks on you. I think the wide neckline helps. I’ll definitely add that to my list.
    Great work, enjoy the sun

  16. Congratulations! Both sweaters are lovely! I am partial to Must Have as a rule, but your pumpkin sweater is really lovely. Enjoy your well-deserved vacation!

  17. THIS “Turns out that there’s a wide range of what’s considered crazy though, and while I think that trying on an unfinished sweater in an airport lounge bathroom is pretty normal, I could tell that this wasn’t the prevailing attitude in that facility, though as a rule I’m pretty poorly understood as an artist, so that didn’t bother me much.” is one awesome sentence. Fine bit of writing there which is only fitting as that’s a _Really_Fine_ bit of knitting you did. I am very impressed and so happy for you as they both look smashing!

  18. The best part? (Besides two gorgeous sweaters completed in 18 days, of course.) The car providing space for blocking is the same color as the sweater! Very tasteful, Stephanie, I love it!

  19. As beautiful as Remi is, I’m in full swoon over the Must Have. Any future daunting goals you come up against now will be instantly squashed with the phrase, “Yeah, but remember that time you knit 2 sweaters in 18 days?”

  20. Both sweaters are beautiful. I’m going to have to figure out how to make a larger version of the Must Have Cardi, because what a great layering sweater. So happy to see you got them both done!

  21. This post made my day, and added another two sweaters to my list. Here it is definitely sweater weather. Maybe double sweaters first thing in the morning.

  22. Congratulations on completing your tasks, and the sweaters look great (and I am sure that, if you hang out in airport bathrooms, stranger things than women in partial sweaters happen!). I personally think blocking the sweater in the hatch a brilliant idea. I have a cover over my luggage so I don’t have to move my luggage to back seat (usually).

    Enjoy Mexico!

  23. Congratulations on finishing the sweaters!! (dare I confess I had some doubts even though you almost always pull these feats off??)

    I thought the weather in Ajijic was fairly cool – am I wrong?

  24. You even got buttons on the cardi! They both look great on you and are well fitted to you! Enjoy your non-sweater weather, they’ll be waiting for you when you get back.

  25. I had that Must Have pattern and now I can’t find it – the first thing I have considered knitting in over a year – woe is me ;-(. Love all the sweaters though the Must Have is better than fabulous!

  26. Ok this is the post that has inspired me to graduate from knitting accessories only. Once I’m done with school in the spring I AM KNITTING A SWEATER. You all heard it here first.

  27. So awesome! The Must Have sweater does fit you much better than the one you unraveled to make it, too! (Though I thought that one was also pretty.) No one could say you didn’t get every last bit of enjoyment out of that discontinued yarn.

  28. All Right! I love both of them and may make both! of them. Way to get them both knit for you. It is so nice to see you knit for yourself. I love it.

    Mexico? You are one very lucky knitter to be in such a lovely spot after Rheinbeck! Double Lucky!

    I did wonder why there was no news …

  29. They are both beautiful and extremely flattering on you! I think it is possible I must have the Must Have Cardigan, too… in fact I might have a good yarn choice in my stash…

  30. I guess the sweaters look extra-great on you now because you look great after getting super-fit doing all those cycling challenges … you are an inspiration.

    Also, the lack of rolled or doubled neck edge on the yoked sweater helps keep the volume down. I never contemplated doing that to a sweater but it makes a lot of sense for a top-heavy person.

  31. Remi is flippin’ gorgeous! Though I’d modify by adding a couple of inches at the bottom to suit my longer torso, it makes me want to knit a sweater, which I haven’t done in more than 5 years because I’m a bodyworker now and need to use hands and wristst to make a living. But I’m sorely tempted and it looks stunning on you!

  32. The yoked jersey is gorgeous on you! I think the key detail is it isn’t circular stripes with not vertical elements and you have a great bust to complement your shoulders. With the vertical lines in the yoke it draws the eye downwards so the contrast is between bust and waist, not shoulder and midsection.
    This one’s my favourite too! Beautiful!

  33. It is crazy, but it made you happy. And made me happy to read, that somewhere lives the woman more insane than me. The sweaters are beautyfull.

  34. Remi looks like it was designed for you!!
    Very flattering!
    How are you keeping yourself from knitting more of them in different colors?
    Only the Harlot could pull off a double sweater knit marathon for Rhinebeck!!
    Extreme knitter indeed!

  35. My daughter and I kept our eyes on lookout for you at Rhinebeck, but never caught site of you in either or your gorgeous and finished sweaters!! Knew you’d make it to the finish line on time, you always do!!

  36. Standing ovation here!!! I knew you could do it. The Must Have, well I’ve just gotta knit another one now. The colors of both are very flattering on you.

  37. That bit about casting off the back neck edge–I’ve never seen anyone say that before but it gave me this instant burst of both recognition and validation on the idea and thank you.

    I knew from other people’s pictures that you’d gotten one sweater done but I’d had no idea you’d gotten both. Wow wow wow. And they and you look great!

  38. Two sweaters in 18 days?! I’m working on my first sweater ever, steadily…going on 1 year. (Just now, had to pause for mittens for my children). Great job! They are beautiful. And as a fellow football shoulder gal, inspiring.

  39. I am in AWE!!! If I knit 24 hours per day I could not finish two sweaters in 18 days.
    Both sweaters look wonderful on you, quarterback shoulders notwithstanding. Enjoy your rest in the warmth of Mexico. <3

  40. Without reading the gazillion other responses…both sweaters look **marvellous** on you! Well done with blocking in the back of the car. Must keep that in mind for future reference.

    P.S. I too have ‘football shoulders’ and at 67 am a bit more square than you are…but I’m inspired to try a sweater like Remi. I should look as terrific as you in it!

  41. Yes, please! A blog entry with all the Rheinbeck sweaters in it would be gorgeous. Or actually, iwhat about… a book with all the patterns in, if you could get permissions from the copywright holders? I would so buy that.

  42. See, I’m was considering making an entire outfit in two months for a KAL (not required, just a spin off whim) and I’ve spent all day talking myself out of it, and saying it’s crazy. And here you are waving your two-sweaters-in-eighteen-days around, and I am reconsidering, damn you!

  43. The sweaters are beautiful. When did knitting a sweater in 2 weeks become a thing?! I am going to pick up yarn today so I can try. But, Stephanie, you need to post more often to the blog. We all love it and you leave us for weeks on end! Even if you don’t have a lot to say, say something.

  44. It’s interesting to see you say you don’t feel your shoulders are suited by a circular yoke sweater when my mum is similarly endowed with broad, square, ‘swimmer’s’ shoulders and circular yokes are literally her favourite sweater style!
    Regardless, can confirm this particular yoked sweater is working for you tremendously well and I might have to get myself a copy of the pattern.

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