Irelande

Here's a sweater I've really loved wearing this Fall (and, this being Northern California and all, I'm still wearing it ... just slip on a long-sleeve shirt and tell myself that's how it's supposed to look, dangit! It's still a little unbelievable to me that the weather here is so warm in November. Call me strange, but I do actually miss those 4 seasons! Come February I'm sure I'll feel differently, but this does not feel like Thanksgiving should be around the corner.)


This is the Forecast pattern from Knitty 2005 (modified using other Raveler's notes). The designer mentioned that she created this sweater to show off just how much fun it is to play with texture, and I couldn't agree more. There are bobble and cables, seed stitch, garter stitch, and ribbing that goes in two directions. Apologies for the touched up picture below, but you can see what I mean:


Admittedly, I feel like a bit of a linebacker every time I wear this, due to the cables + bobbles running down each arm. If I'd thought it through, I'd probably have omitted the bobbles in the sleeves for a sleeker look (something to keep in mind for the future!) But it's such an unusual sweater and such a perfect color that really, I don't care.

This is the Irelande colorway of Cascade 220, and my second time using this yarn. I have to say that I really like Cascade 220. It's reasonably priced, there's an unbelievable color selection and the heathered's all have a beautiful depth, the yarn is very sturdy and doesn't pill much with wear, and the finished garments are all toasty warm! I'm already mentally planning out other projects to make use of it. They'll just have to queue up behind my other projects in various states of completion (or in the mental queue).


When I first started up knitting again, I had a very strict one-in-one-out policy, meaning that I would only buy enough yarn for my next knitting project, maybe two. Yarn stashes are much more expensive than fabric ones and knitting is inevitably slower than sewing (say it takes anywhere from 3-6 skeins of yarn to make a garment ... it adds up quickly), so I didn't want to create a huge stockpile. And by also limiting myself to only 2 projects on the needle at one time, I was able to create a strong sense of momentum to keep those projects moving forward and nothing lingering for too long.

But oddly enough, I can't seem to stick by that same rule for sewing. Now why is that? I sometimes wonder if I'm just fooling myself into thinking this approach makes me vastly more efficient at churning out handknit FO's. I wonder if I would be more inspired, or less inspired, by my fabric stash if I didn't let myself order any new fabric until I sewed up the fabrics I purchased in the previous round. Of course, this is vastly inefficient because it means you can rarely take advantage of a good sale. But if it means ultimately saving money by not buying fabric you don't actually use ...

Too many variables. My brain is going into overload. And just think! This dialogue starts up every time I think about getting new craft supplies. The neuroses, they inevitably show up through the facade, eh?