And so it comes to this, readers. Your Selfish Seamstress stoops to knitting. For those of you unfamiliar with “knitting,” it’s kind of like sewing’s slower, ergonomically problematic, more tedious cousin. I’ve started on the Carlos Miele knockoff sweater and here’s last night’s progress (after I could pack and clean no more.) Looks tiny but the gauge is actually about 2 stitches per inch.
The backstory is that I went to the fancy yarn store and found that the super bulky yarn in wool or alpaca in the quantity required to make this sweater would have run in the vicinity of $150-200. I do occasionally splurge on yarn and much like with fabric and sewing, I don’t like to invest lots of careful hand labor and use poor quality materials. Generally I feel there’s not much point in doing beautiful blind hems by hand on off-grain prints or lovely lacework with fibers that feel nasty against the skin. But I certainly don’t want this sweater $200 worth. And beyond that, this is sort of a risky and crazy sweater, as you’ll recall:
It could clearly go either way (well, judging by the polarized responses to my last post about this sweater, some of you think it can only go one way and not well at that- believe me, I also harbor suspicions that this could turn out very very poorly!), and it’s by no means a safe bet. And I’m not so keen on spending a lot of money just to satisfy my curiosity. And super bulky yarn isn’t the easiest yarn for me to repurpose if I decide to frog this one, since there aren’t a lot of other chunky projects that interest me. Even if it does turn out well, I don’t expect that it will be a heavy rotation garment anyway. So off it was to Michael’s to buy some crappy Lion Brand Wool-Ease on sale for $6.99 a skein. I’ve knit with it before and it’s really not the worst stuff. They did have a chartreuse/apple green color much like the one pictured above and I was tempted, but lately I seem to have sewn and knit a lot of clothes in that leafy green family so I opted for a change with the heathered pumpkiny-rust shade, which will be nice for autumn with some of my wool pants:
Knitting with giant size 17 plastic needles and giant yarn makes me feel kind of stupid and clumsy, like trying to work out multivariable calculus problems with a big fat crayon. I’m really much more of a laceweight girl. But the pattern is quite interesting, knit in a single piece from cuff to cuff, sort of like a cross shape with a hole in the middle for the neck opening, and it gets folded in half to make it into a sweater.
Here you can see it folded to form what will eventually be the sleeve and one side.
Okay, blogging about knitting is boring me almost as much as knitting itself (just kidding, sensitive knitters. I’m one of you too.) But seriously. I’m also wearing cargo pants right now. This should give you an idea of just how low I’ve sunk.
33 comments
Comments feed for this article
September 1, 2010 at 11:08 am
Tasia
I’ve never gotten into knitting, but I like your description: “sewing’s slower, ergonomically problematic, more tedious cousin”
Good luck with the sweater – I hope it turns out! (If not, could you pull a string and undo it all, and start again? Way faster than seam ripping!)
September 2, 2010 at 1:48 am
lazystitcher
That reminds me of that old weezer song – you know “if you want to destroy my sweater, hold this thread as I walk away” instant flashback to high school!
September 1, 2010 at 11:13 am
amber
I like the rust pumkin-y color – very fall. And really, if you’re going to make a heavy half sweater, best to do it in a color that screams cool weather.
Cargo pants? Really? Oh dear. Packing is making you crazy, isn’t it? :/
September 1, 2010 at 11:21 am
Rachel
“Knitting with giant size 17 plastic needles and giant yarn makes me feel kind of stupid and clumsy, like trying to work out multivariable calculus problems with a big fat crayon.”
Just remember: div one, curl two, div one, curl two
September 1, 2010 at 11:25 am
Trudy Callan
The knitting posts will be fun.
You look like a dancer in some of those pictures.
Trudy
http://www.sewingwithtrudy.blogspot.com
September 1, 2010 at 11:39 am
Darci
Purdy! That will be great with your new pants!
And there’s no shame in taming the Lion. I actually enjoy their yarns, and they’ve improved greatly in the past few years. It’s no Noro or Manos, but at least you won’t spend a mint on it.
17s ARE big. But don’t you feel like you’re knitting faster?
September 1, 2010 at 11:48 am
Marie-Christine
Cargo pants pockets could be a good idea, when you’re packing. Or to put some of those big balls of yarn into. Whatever.
Totally agree with not buying $500 worth of cashmere for a sweater which, even though I think it’ll be stunning/fabulous, may not stay current all that long.
Anyway, I’m drooling. And knitting is the perfect idiot thing to do when your back and brain give out. So keep at it, already.
September 1, 2010 at 11:50 am
Ryan
The sweater does look tiny because I can’t even fathom what size 17 needles look like! One of the next 2 sweaters in my queue is knit with size 1 and 3 US needles. I kind of like the big giant chunky cable though. I’m not sure I want to spend the time deciphering the german instructions, or invest in size 17 knitting needles.
September 1, 2010 at 12:04 pm
sisters4saymoreismore
i am so giddy with excitement about this sweater! is there a crochett version? sadly when i knit i drop stiches like its my job…. i feel i need one of these delicious sweaters to complete my fall wardrobe and you know i am too cheap to buy a real one…
~selina
September 1, 2010 at 12:07 pm
sisters4saymoreismore
are they skinny cargos? because then you are right on trend!
~selina
September 1, 2010 at 12:12 pm
Vanilla
Hi,
I know exactly what you mean.
I’m in the middle of moving now too and my house is still with unpacked boxes all over. When evening comes I’m wasted and brainless.
The only thing I can do then is cross stitching which, for me, is even more mindless crafting than knitting, since all my knitwork usually requires measuring, counting and figuring out arm holes and neck lines.
Hope you survive the move (as I hope I will survive too) and get really fast back to sewing.
By the way, I love your attitude about (not) sewing for others!!!
September 1, 2010 at 12:29 pm
lsaspacey
I agree with Ryan above, I can’t even picture the size of that sweater. It looks like it’s for Barbie. You are petite, but not THAT petite. How about getting a comparison shot with Sasa in it? I’m sure if you just leave it sitting alone for a minute, she’ll snuggle right up to it?
September 1, 2010 at 12:40 pm
Samina
I can’t knit with anything larger than worsted weight any more & that’s somewhat grudgingly too. Fingering to DK is my fave. Anything larger than that & I feel like a little kid struggling with huge crayons. Oh, and cargo pants sound like heaven right now.
September 1, 2010 at 12:46 pm
Farah
The construction of that sweater looks so unique, but on me I think it would be a case of the sweater wearing me, as oposed to me wearing the sweater. I prefer laceweight too (in the rare moments when I am knitting instead of sewing) but chunky yarn is great cause it knits up so fast. Great for knitters with a short attention span.
September 1, 2010 at 12:48 pm
Nikole
I really do hope it turns out well. I was thinking it may be too bulky for you but i think you’ll make it work
September 1, 2010 at 12:50 pm
magdamagda
so far it looks great! and that’s an amazing sweater!
September 1, 2010 at 1:27 pm
DNA lady
It’s a fantastic sweater. Keep at it. You will finish it quickly on size 17s, and no one will know it’s Lion Brand if you don’t tell them.
September 1, 2010 at 2:53 pm
Rachelle
I love hand knitting but am not patient enough that’s why I machine knit. Love the color and know you are going to pair it with the perfect outfit.
September 1, 2010 at 4:30 pm
Michelle
Wow, those are size 17 needles? I would have never guessed. Um, but I must ask, why are you knitting on two separate straight needles like that?
September 1, 2010 at 5:50 pm
Natalie B
Wool-Ease Think n Quick! that stuff is the BEST!!! I hate knitting with acrylic, but that is the only one I will make an exception for :P
September 1, 2010 at 5:58 pm
dana
Erg! I want a sweater! stupid wool allergies!
September 1, 2010 at 8:05 pm
Elizabeth
You are very brave cargo pants girl.
September 1, 2010 at 8:09 pm
indigorchid
I think this could turn out quite cool! Those pictures are a braintease though… mine hurts after trying to make sense of the scale. Way to play with perspective and expectations there! (I spied a knee in the last picture. It made things kind of make sense).
September 1, 2010 at 8:43 pm
Nikki
I can’t wait to see how this turns out! I’m envious of someone who can knit without a pattern. I love the sweater, and I bet yours looks just as cute!
September 1, 2010 at 9:50 pm
MNStitch
I admire your knitting skill, and that yarn color is lovely.
It’s nice to see your older stuff. It reassures the rest of us new seamstresses that we, too, might one day achieve greatness.
MNStitch.com
September 2, 2010 at 1:52 am
Anadiaz
Love it!
Can’t wait to see the result!
September 2, 2010 at 5:08 am
Roobeedoo
The scale is doing my head in. The biggest needle I ever used was 10mm – can you get your tiny hands round a 17?!
September 2, 2010 at 5:18 am
Melanie
I love the color! Can’t wait to see the finished project. I am reserving judgment until I see you model it.
September 2, 2010 at 9:29 am
So this is what it’s like, blogging about knitting, huh? « The Selfish Seamstress
[…] September 2, 2010 in work-in-progress | Tags: Carlos Miele, designer knockoffs, knitting It stands to reason that if knitting is slower than sewing, then blogging about knitting is going to be slower than blogging about sewing. Granted, I’m making zippy progress with my Giant Yarn for Dummies and Tree Trunk Needles, but it’s still teeny steps compared with the zooooooooom! of the feed dogs on my increasingly dusty Husqvarna. I’m getting back into the rhythm of knitting now and starting to enjoy it, but it doesn’t change the fact that showing knitting progress seems a lot less interesting than showing sewing progress. Case in point- a fair bit of progress was made yesterday during packing downtime on the Carlos Miele knockoff sweater. […]
September 2, 2010 at 11:13 am
The Slapdash Sewist
Oh dear, cargo pants really is a problem.
I love that you absolutely cannot tell scale in the photos. It does look tiny, but judging by the cables in the inspiration sweater it is not.
September 2, 2010 at 3:37 pm
Tweets that mention Reduced to knitting « The Selfish Seamstress -- Topsy.com
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Betsy Burton, oliver + s. oliver + s said: "For those unfamiliar with knitting, its kind of like sewing’s slower, ergonomically problematic, more tedious cousin" http://bit.ly/93rWoo […]
September 3, 2010 at 1:03 am
Handmade
Great colour – it will look smashing!
September 7, 2010 at 12:59 pm
Jay
i LOVE the sweater. Is there anyway I could convince you to post the translation of the pattern?