I finished my Ilha, and I finished the birthday present jumper, and I am itching, positively itching, to cast on something new (and not 45″ in circumference). But I have come out in a rash of maturity – I really cannot explain where I caught it, I haven’t been swimming lately – and decided to tend to two languishing jumpers before I moved on to pastures fluffier. I love both, but I don’t wear them because I am unhappy with minor aspects. The benefit of doing this now is that I can share old, but regrettably unblogged, projects and catch you up.
I made this in the Autumn of 2019. I remember because I wore it to visit one of my best friends in Sweden just before Christmas and it was its first outing! Happy memories.
The pattern is called Anaashah (Ravelry link) by designer Jennifer Steingass. Her two-colour yoked jumper designs were extremely popular at the time! I have made a few of them and enjoyed the process, so I can recommend them.
The wool I used is Studio Donegal Darnie. It is 100% 4ply wool, with 410m per 100g. It is so incredibly soft and blooms wonderfully when you wash it. This is absolutely my desert island yarn. My only regret is that it doesn’t come in more colours, but they might start to add to the palette soon.
Anyway, it looks OK on the hanger there, but the neckline has stretched out quite a bit and now I find it just too wide for my taste. I have about 1/3 of a ball leftover so I think that I will simply pick up stitches around the neckline and put on a ribbed band. My hope is that it wouldn’t take more than an evening.
The next victim is this glorious thing! This was my very first all-over colourwork jumper, and I made it in the spring of 2021. I remember I got the yellow and the green (Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift) in The Constant Knitter just before she closed her doors for good. The pink is leftover Darnie from another jumper (actually one that I intend to replace this winter, as I have worn it into the ground). The navy is ‘A Chic Blend’ from Lanivendole. This is a beautiful yarn. I bought it directly from the women behind the brand at Woollinn festival in 2019. It is a 60-20-20 mix of wool, alpaca and mohair respectively. It is exceedingly warm and it is bright and colourful and striped and I love it!
But… I never wear it!
Maybe this photo will tell you all you need to know: the body is way too short. It barely touches my waistband. So, every time I put it on, I end up taking it off because I just need a bit more coverage.
Thankfully, I have a decent amount of all yarns left so what I think I will do is knit another repeat of the colour stripe sequence. That would add another 3 stripes, plus the hem as well. I think that should be adequate. Hopefully I have enough of the navy to see me through. I think what made me cast off prematurely when I initially made it was the fear that I would not have enough navy. OK, so maybe I have to finish off before I complete the sequence, it’s no big deal.
Anyway, I’m looking forward to getting this back on my needles because I really love this jumper. Looking forward to getting both back in rotation for Autumn.
Aren’t they colourful? I am taking a little holiday next month and I have been doing much wool wondering. Firstly, they will have wool there. Secondly, it’s the type of place that necessitates wool layers. And lastly, I realised that I could do with a few updates to my accessories bag that hangs by the door, and they would make good travelling projects, too. As for the first, much research has already been conducted. For the second, see the above two jumpers, as discussed! For the last, I present to you Exhibit A and Exhibit B.
The items of Exhibit A were purchased at least 3 months apart and yet, the colours could not be more identical! The yarn on the left is a Danish brand, which I bought whilst briefly in Copenhagen for a conference. I didn’t enjoy the conference much – well, the conference was grand, and some parts very inspiring, but the people I was there with were quite mean and rude, so I didn’t linger. The city is wonderful though and I enjoyed the visit very much. The yarn on the right is Malabrigo Rios and I bought it the day that I got the Studio Donegal Soft Tweed for the birthday jumper. It is superwash and extremely soft. I think that these will become a hat and a cowl respectively. The hat will keep its shape no matter what, I think, and cowl will be snug and warm and fun.
Exhibit B is proper stash yarn. The orange you might recognise from my traffic cone jumper – I have quite a bit left, nearly two balls – and the dark purple is Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift that I have had a good 5 years. I kept taking it out and trying to pair it with other colours that I have had leftover and I have to just accept the fact that it does not match anything else in my stash. So, if you think about it, this means that it must match everything (in theory, don’t quiz me on this). I think it will make a good pair of plain fingerless mittens.