Sunday, April 13, 2014

Midnight musings

The new Twist Collective went up today and I was reminded that I'm really not a spring/summer knitter. There was one piece - a square shawl by Robin Melanson - that I liked but none of the other patterns spoke to me. That's fine. I tend not to wear knits n the summer unless it's a chilly evening. So it's not surprising that the image I liked best in the whole magazine was an add for Wool People 7. I eagerly popped over to the Brooklyn Tweed website only to find that WP7 has not yet arrived (and confirmed that I have not been living under a rock, for I never would have missed a new BT publication pre-baby). But I was reminded of one of my absolute favorite BT designs lately: Stonecutter

Why are all of the sweaters I like right now pullovers? This is not a new phenomenon. I felt this way most of the time I was pregnant with sprout. Now that I'm eight weeks post-partum, it will still be months before I am comfortable with my shape and measurements and willing to make the commitment of a complicated sweater. 


So what am I working on these days? Well, there's the exception to my general "I really shouldn't be knitting a sweater right now" policy: Rock Island. An oversized open front cardigan designed to be worn with several inches of positive ease doesn't present the same fit issues as a closely fitted pullover where an inch either way matters. 

I'm also finishing up a sweater dress for Tadpole (the striped piece in the picture up above). In the couple of days since I snapped that picture, I finished up the edging, wove in the ends, and gave the dress a soak. The fabric grew a fair amount in the bath so I'm curious to see how it dries. 


I've also started the first sleeve for sprout's new sweater - my current midnight knitting project. I happily cast on the other night only to discover that I needed to frog my inch or so of work when I looked at it the next morning. Apparently being able to count to 36 is not a skill I possess at 2am. 

Speaking of midnight knitting, my companion is not quite asleep yet and I'm going to get a few rows in before trying to get us both back to bed. 

2 comments:

Kathy said...

Rock Island is so distinctive, I recognized it immediately! I've been thinking of knitting it for awhile. Having been a pull over sweater person my whole life ("who wears cardigans, they are lame!"), I find I enjoy that I can knit a cardigan now with 0 ease and know it will have some nice positive ease when I'm done nursing and things are back closer to the places where they are supposed to be (or where they decide to be, post baby). I'm knitting Ginny cardigan and am going to make an Entangled Vines soon. I think I'll make french braid next. Or maybe Rock Island!
By the way, how in the world do you knit at midnight? I always stumbled over, positioned Iain, tried to stay awake until he was done and then went back to bed! Now we cosleep, so knitting is definitely out! :) I have no idea when I'll knit when I stop pumping at work!

Stephanie said...

I guess I'm not a spring/summer knits gal either, as nothing in the new Knitty grabbed my attention. I haven't checked out Twist Collective yet. I'm generally an accessories (and not garment) knitter, so that works out fine for the warmer weather. (sjn821 on Rav)