A Tale of Two Red Sweaters, part 2

The second of my two red sweaters. This one might look a little familiar. Not only did I make a short-sleeved version over the summer, but I also made a yoke for Ali (who showcases a brilliant method for attaching a yoke to an existing top as an excellent refashion technique. Must. Copy. Brilliance.) What can I say? I looooooooooove this pattern. I've definitely gotten my money's worth out of ordering that magazine.


Fiber #26: New England's Finest. So named because it was inspired by New England's finest season. Fall. I know Californians are supposed to be all snotty about our weather and whatnot, but I really do miss New England autumns. And in my own small way, I definitely miss the feeling of 4 seasons.

I've finally bitten the bullet and started investing in expensive yarns for some of my handknits. I have a couple projects that look so worn and faded after several wears that I've seriously contemplated reknitting them. Reknitting??? Another 20 hours of my life to replicate a project??? Sheesh. Consider me selectively converted; it depends on the project. Anyways, this is Madelinetosh in Tart. This scarf, which is still my favorite ever, has shown very little sign of pilling despite the great amount of wear that it sees ... between the gorgeous colors, the semi-solid variegation, and the hardiness of the fabric, this is a line of yarns I'll patronize more frequently. Guess that means I should stick to fine gauge knitting (which takes more time and therefore will hopefully mean less yarn purchased! Fewer handknits, nicer quality, or so the theory goes).

So here's a funny story. I'm eating lunch at work with two coworkers, a girl about my age who's shown flickering interest in learning to knit, and the new IT manager whom we both barely know. She asks if this sweater is handmade. All of a sudden, the new IT manager goes into a big long spiel about knitting - how this sweater would probably cost my coworker $600 if she wanted to commission me to make one because minimum wage in San Francisco is nearly $10/hour, how I must've been at this for many years now because he can see that my seams are nice and tight, how yarn should not be washed in detergent because that strips it of its softness (um, I did not know this), what a pain it is to discover a mistake 20 lines up and have to rip back, how this sweater was probably knit up on bus rides, nice afternoons out in the park, or lieu of watching TV.

From this 60 year old man, on his second marriage and a bit of a talker, I certainly did not expect to find such a strong advocate of the quality of handmade. But as my mother said, you never know whose mother or grandmother was an avid knitter, who might've been taken along to yarn stores and fabric stores as a young child.


As you can see, I mimicked the lace-ish pattern in the collar at the hems. I am so, so thrilled with this sweater and cannot wait to continue wearing it. And given the vagaries of San Francisco weather, this, ironically, is probably a 4-season knit.