Journey to the Perfect Pattern

Being at Boring Job Inc. has limited the amount of photography have included in last week's posts. I've been so frantically bored that I've been writing a day ahead, then adding photos at home and then posting them. But not all topics really have pictures to go with....so.....I should really just stick to writing about actual projects. But when posting everyday, an inch more stockinette in Itchy Pink Icelandic Wool doesn't seem all that terribly interesting. Maybe it's just me. One day this week I'll be sure to post pictorial proof that the Perfect Sweater does indeed exist.


A fellow knit blogger had a destash recently and I snaffued 10 skeins of fabulously squishy merino (yup that pink's all mine now!). Purchased on a boring Friday afternoon and arrived on my doorstep in Monday's post, I have been wracking my brain trying to figure out what this yarn wants to become ever since. Because it would just be irresponsible to add yarn to the stash without some sort of future plan for it.

Because of the inherent sproingy-ness and good twist of the yarn I figure it will be perfect for something cabley. As any responsible knitter, I first consulted my Ravelry queue to check for a suitable project. Possible contenders were Rusted Root by Sarah and Rachel, Anais by Norah Gaughan, Manon by Norah Gaughan, and either Capecho Cabled Bolero (#2) by Norah Gaughan (the cover knit) or Sideways Spencer by Annie Modesitt (sorry could only find a Ravelry link).

But then I was having some pattern choosing angst. I have more than enough for Anais and Rusted Root. And neither is super-fatastically-cabley as I was imagining would be good for this yarn. Most importantly, I have more yarn that I need to complete either of these. Plus I didn't have pink in mind when initially planning Rusted Root.

Manon fits the awesome cable-y-ness that I'm going for, but it's for an Aran weight yarn aaaaaaaaaand I don't have the yardage (poop).

The Bolero & Spencer are kind of in the same boat as Rusted Root: not going to make the most of what I've got to work with, not really a style of knit garment that I really see myself wearing a lot lot, especially a pink version (not that there's anything wrong with pink, this shade is particularly suited to a certain kind of sweater in my mind).

I briefly considered Patti by Sarah Hatton but I a) don't have enough yardage and b) I think this sweater is better suited to something tweedy. Plus I think these sweaters look better on a slighter frame soooooo.......once I lose the 'back in North America' and 'tropical holiday with the family' weight, I'll be game for one of these babies.

So I browsed through the fantabulous Ravelry pattern browser for a DK sweater that would be lovely and cabely like I'm imagining. Side note: I would love the pattern browser more if it had a bit more criteria. Like Woman's or Colourwork or Cables so that it wouldn't be 38 pages of sweaters to look through. Maybe I just want to be too specific when browsing for something.

Generally nothing jumped out and grabbed my eyeballs. I kind of liked the Organic Cable Turtle Neck by Norah Gaughan [Ravelry] (I have to say that I lurv what she does with the cables!) but I'm really not a turtle neck person. Generally the neckline of this sweater isn't super inspiring. Plus the pink factor means I don't think this will be the answer.

There were some cute cardigans & such with a little lacy tweedy goodness, but I have cables on the brain for this yarn. I did find a sweater that I LOVE LOVE LOVE buuuuuut it would require learning Icelandic even just to order the pattern. That's a crazy reason to learn a language right? I mean how hard would it be just to learn the reading part? Crazy, moi?

So far this online pattern search was a bust. It made me grumpy and quite frantic to find something to do with this yarn. But I couldn't deal with being disappointed with MORE potential sweaters. Our search continues the next evening. While sort of watching CSI: NY, I grabbed ALLL of my Interweave Knits/Vogue Knitting/Knit.1/Rowan Magazines and plunked myself on the couch to breeze through them all for possible sweater answers to the yarn dilemma. I was on a mission!

Probably spending no more than 5 min per mag, I would flip through and any potential sweater contenders would get that mag set aside for a final review (closer look at gauge/yardage/pink potential). It took me the length of the show to get through the stack. (I mostly watched. Some magic bullet action and a conspiracy to kill a judge.)

For the record I consider all CSIs in the same category: beautifully produced/filmed but for me I'll watch 'because it's on.' Miami's the prettiest (and Callie is inexplicably fascinating), NY is VERY NY and I STILL don't get why the lights NEVER work in Las Vegas. Yes, I get that it's the night shift, but does EVERY crime scene have electrical issues?


K. Back to the knitting. Something I found kind of interesting how similar sweater patterns tend to appear in the different mags (usually different seasons though). The Counterpane Pullover by Pam Allen [Ravelry] has a veeeeerrrrry similar looking sister in Vogue Knitting by Betty Monroe of the same vintage (both are Fall '07). Interesting non?


Also, I managed to find a sweater quite similar to that Icelandic one by none other than Norah Gaughan (so maybe I don't need to learn another language after all). Perhaps the Icelandic is a translation/re-interpretation?


But looking through the stack, I had my Ureka moment. The Rambling Rose Cardigan by Martin Storey out of Rowan 39 (which is totally worth buying JUST for the hilarious/awesome Tribal photo shoot. Play where's the knit with your friends!). This sweater is totally the answer to my quest. I have the yardage. The yarn is pretty much the same gauge. AND appropriately pink-able. I'm very satisfied.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Good choice!
Sarah A. said…
Cheers! It will be quite a bold addition to my wardrobe (once it's finally knitted of course).
Ali P said…
Wow!!
Jennifer Lori said…
This is just a guess but I think the lights do work at the crime scene homes of CSI:LV, but they use the flashlights instead to make sure they don't miss anything (small things show up in the glare of reflected light). Also, in case it was the killer who turned off the light I forget the exact reason but there was something about not disturbing the evidence.

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