A work in progress...

February 06, 2020

A work in progress...

100% merino, 75% sweater

Well, aren’t we all! A few years ago I got back into knitting, trying to step up my skill level from the occasional loooooooong scarf that I have been making since my teens. With those, the only experiment was in varying coloured stripes and deciding on stockinette or purl. Then I became interested in lace knitting, since I love the effect and the magic of creating textures. It’s so impressive how just a few variants of stitches can create such an array of patterns. It can be beautifully rewarding, but tricky (and frustrating) when you’re absent-minded like myself. Sometimes the effort of repairing the errors is so stressful it seems like it’s counter productive to knit as a ‘pleasant pastime’!

I’ve always been intimidated by the idea of knitting a 3-dimensional garment. It seemed so daunting. I have started a couple here and there but I am only now, NOW! Now? Really truly getting close to completing something!

I’ve been following Helen on Instagram for a couple of years as a vintage seller (Fabelvintage), and then she released sets of themed knitting patterns on Fabelknitwear. This Rowena sweater was one of the first of a beautiful line of romantic designs inspired by the witchy ladies of Harry Potter (The Hallows Collection). I think I immediately zipped over to her Etsy shop to get the pattern, ordering the same lovely warm tone of brown wool from Pickles in Norway even. I mean, brown anything, puffed sleeves everything, and I'm quite partial to turtlenecks...I’m so down with all of this! So excited. And then I started about 9 months later :)

I have definitely been lagging, getting more diligent only when I'm confident with the steps of a particular round, and then slowing down when new-to-me skills are coming up! I guess I started about a year ago. I've dabbled in fits and starts, and I’m very thankful for a skillful friend who has helped me learn new things, like knitting in the round for a start! (And Helen has been kind of enough to answer some questions too)

And here we are, a couple of weeks shy of a finished garment. Well, I'm pretty sure... I have some doubts about the sizing, so my hopes are high for either a really really good round of blocking to make it fit. Or I need to find a six-year old with a penchant for brown turtlenecks…

Who are we kidding? This is my style goal anyway...

And now that I can knit anything...

I hope to add some lovely 1930s and 40s sweaters to my wardrobe. I've got some patterns already in my hoard (of course) but here's a taste from my Etsy wishlist...