And now for those of you who have been hopefully tapping on the Arts & Crafts link in the menu since I fired up the blog again, a knitting post.
Iāve been meaning to knit a new tee for a while. I made a Marettimo tee a couple of summers ago and have worn it year round. Ā I used a fairly cheap Rowan yarn as the main colour and it has not worn all that well [also itās an acrylic blend so I overheat like crazy].
The Marettimo fresh off the needles in 2018.
I decided to use lockdown to make a Navelli tee to replace it. Iāve had the yarn for this for a while: three skeins of Baa Baa Brew Marble 4 ply in the Mulier Fortis colours āEmmelineā and āValentinaā, and the ooakĀ Tits Out Collective skein from Bluebell Yarns. Since both are a BFL/Masham 4 ply I knew that theyād work well together.
This knit took me longer that I expected [I started in April I think?], partly because I had to pause for some gift knitting, and partly because I was alternating the two skeins of Valentina to get an even colour [the joy of hand-dyed yarn is that each skein is unique, but man, alternating the skein every second row is dull], but I am really pleased with the end result:
I did modify the sleeves because the way the pattern is written the sleeves would have ended up as a double layerĀ ā fine if you plan to wear this as a tee, but excessive when Iām primarily using it as a layer. It does mean that I sacrifice the way in which the additional weight would help the sleeves to hang correctly. The body also has a cm or so more length than it should because I went over and couldnāt be bothered to rip backĀ ā can you tell Iām more of a project than a process knitter?
The problem with my being a project knitter is that my Anxiety [that control freak] tries to plan all the projects I will knit for the rest of my life, and basically sits in my brain with a stopwatch and clipboard yelling at me to stop browsing any patterns or admiring any yarn that isnāt on her list. The result is that I stop knitting because it stops being fun.
For me the solution is to knit what I call a palate-cleanser [mmm, sorbet!]: a one-skein super-simple shawl project, using whatever beautiful yarn most appeals to me at the time. All other WIPs are ignored until itās done, and the process short-circuits Anxiety and helps me to enjoy finishing whatever else I was working on. My usual go-to pattern for this is Louise Tilbrookās Fuss Free Festival Shawl, but Iāve already made 3 or 4 of those so I went for Justyna Lorkowskaās Close to You shawl using a skein of Countess Ablaze The Bluefaced Baron Fingering, colour āGirl at the Rock Showā.
I know this photo is terrible, I was in a hurry. But you get the idea.
I wound the skein at least a year ago so it was nice to get it out of a project bag and turn it into something. Iād like to think Iāll wear this, because I love the yarn, but I enjoy knitting shawls more than I enjoy wearing them [they fall off and try to lose themselves, or I strangle myself trying to adjust them ā I should probably just resign myself to the fact that Iām a cowl girl], so this may end up in the gift knits box instead.Ā
Iām 2 sections away from finishing a Nefelibata shawl thatās been languishing for months, and Iām making another Fuss Free Festival Shawl [I know, keep reading] as part of the Every Knitter Group KAL. Hopefully, Iāll be back to show at least one of those off next week.
Wardrobe Additions And now for those of you who have been hopefully tapping on the Arts & Crafts link in the menu since I fired up the blog again, a knitting post.