January 2019

This month I finished two patterns from Andrea Mowry that were in works in progress. 

The first finish was the Everyway Shawl. This is a very interesting concept and feels a bit like wearing a blanket around. I have found so far that if I wear it indoors, it's a bit to hot and outdoors, it doesn't fit under a coat and without a coat, it is a bit too chilly. But it is January and perhaps this shawl is better suited to fall when it's getting chilly but not enough to pull out the winter gear. Or perhaps this is a garment for a completely different climate than the one I live in.

The second finish was my So Faded pullover. I am disappinted with how this sweater turned out. In my case, I realize that the failures of my pullover are due to the fact that I didn't purchase a kit that was put together by people who understand the design more than I do. While I thought there was enough pops of colour in each of the fades as it went from a light value to a dark value, the pops of colour just kind of got lost and overall, the value changes in my pullover were too drastic. I think maybe the key of a So Faded would be to pick yarns in the same value family, much more subtle than I understood. The version I ended up with looks more like a colour blocked or striped sweater, rather than a gradient. I will likely ponder this sweater's existence for a few weeks and process the loss of time and the idea of the sweater, but ultimately, I won't wear it and I will be ripping it in order to get back the yarn.

No fault on the designer for either of these patterns but one hard part about knitting is investing the money and believing in a pattern, especially something that requires as much commitment as a sweater does and not get something out of it in the end, you are just out the money of the pattern and the time is lost.

But I keep knitting because I love it, and sticking to socks is really a small gamble. But I may keep attempting sweaters because I'm a raving loon. 

That's it - Happy crafting! Nic ♥