getting ready for winter - a knitted jumper




I have been meaning to show you this jumper for a while. I am wearing it all the time at the moment, although of course some days are really too warm. Please excuse unhinged grin and the reflected light on my reading glasses. Jack Nicholson in The Shining comes to mind.

This was a super quick knit, much to my delight. The pattern is Love Note by tincanknits. The pattern size range is quite astonishing, it starts with a size 0 to 6 months and goes up to a 5XL. There is literally a size for everybody, no excuses not cast this on. It is a simple knit, the lace pattern looks more complicated than it is. Knitted from the top to the bottom with no seams to sew. For me, this is always a winner, sewing up knitted garment pieces is in the top ten of my most disliked chores, in between emptying the dishwasher and picking up dog poo.

There are no raglan increases, which I loved because I always miss an increase or two or three. Instead, there are two rounds of increases, which you can probably see if you zoom right into the photograph. There are no sleeve decreases, which I also loved because I don't like sleeve decreases one bit and tapered knitted sleeves sometimes look a bit "funny". I am a picky opinionated knitter. Instead, the sleeves are gathered at 3/4 length be knitting two stitches together for one entire round just before the ribbed finish. The same is done for the neckline, hence the lovely neat fit. 

I made one big mistake that was easily fixed. The cast-on was meant to be provisional but I rushed and didn't spot that until much later. For the non-initiated knitter, a provisional cast on means that you can go back later and knit in the opposite direction (here for the neckband) without picking up stitches. As I said, easily fixed by picking up the stitches later. This adds a bit of bulk but it is not really noticeable.  

A particularly clever feature of the pattern is that the back is shaped and slightly longer than the front. Short rows are magical! Such a clever design. On length, I actually made the jumper longer overall than the pattern suggested. I like my belly button covered. 

I used two types of yarn, DROPS Kid Silk and DROPS Fabel. The former is fluffy and soft (kid mohair and silk), the latter gives strength (wool and nylon, it is a sock yarn). The colour of both is a deep burgundy, not quite identical but well matched. The Kid Silk is shiny, which adds a bit of glamour to my jumper. None of this is visible on the photographs of course, knitwear is so difficult to do justice with the camera. It must be the surface texture created that reflects light back in ways that are difficult to capture without decent photography equipment. I used just over 3.5 balls of the fluffy yarn and 5 balls of the sock yarn. The grand total came to £26. I don't know where DROPS source the fibre for their yarn but I can't imagine the company would be listed in an ethical yarn directory, if such a directory exists. I do feel a bit guilty about that but if it wasn't for DROPS, I would be knitting with more affordable acrylic yarns, which I loathe to touch. There is 25% nylon in the DROPS Fabel but my delicate finger tips experience nylon as less icky than acrylic. Both are of course terrible for the environment.

Did I mention that this jumper was knitted with big needles? I used 6 mm needles and it felt good. The last time I used big needles to knit a garment was during my teenage years. It was a mohair sleeveless floaty thing, a comfortable wearable bag of sorts. I knitted it during a family holiday in Northern Italy. My mother washed it in the machine and that was the end of it.

I have nothing else on my knitting needles just now and I have decided to knit another Love Note jumper, this time in grey and without the lace pattern. It is so quick to make and so easy to knit, perfect for an evening after an exhausting day of work. I am reading up for a lecture on the epidemiology of antimicrobial resistance at the moment and it makes my head spin. 

But not today. Today is a glorious wonderful sort of day. I walked Jack twice, once on my own with a podcast in my headphones and once with Sam who can only meet us outside at the moment. I am now waiting for a lovely friend to visit for an afternoon coffee in the garden. It is sunny and warm and Annie made Madeleines for us to share over a cuppa. Perfect. 

Thanks for visiting, it is lovely to know you are. Have a great weekend x


Comments

  1. OMG! I just posted my latest sweater finish and there are astonishing similarities: fluffy yarn mixed with drops fabel, top down, patterned yoke, short rows on the back... spooky. I love this sweater, the yoke detail is amazing. The strong colour really suits you. That is going straight onto my knitting queue. Have a good cuppa. Jo xx

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  2. I love tincanknits patterns. I have made several of their Antler Cardigans and Hats, and the Maize mittens and I really want to make a Flax jumper for myself. I love how your jumper turned out and am not surprised you are wanting to knit another one. And yes photography knitting is a nightmare isn't it!

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  3. Beautiful jumper and I love the colour. I imagine it will look lovely in the grey too. xx

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  4. Lovely jumper and a fabulous colour. I am working up the courage to make an actual wearable thing, other than a scarf that is. In the meantime I am making a scarf to warm up. My potential jumper yarn is bamboo, in a sort of duck egg blue. I have a few cardigan patterns in my Ravelry notebook, but every time I look at them I panic and have to have a caramel waffle to calm down. Hope you have a lovely Sunday. The lecture sounds very clever and impressive, well done you. Great that you got to see Sam, even if it had to be outside. CJ xx

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  5. It's beautiful, Christina. I love the color. The yarn looks so soft.

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  6. I LOVE your sweater; it looks fabulous! Wow! You must feel so happy. I may try that pattern. The fit is perfect. Gorgeous color, too.

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  7. The sweater is gorgeous, the color is like wine and a favorite color of mine. Good job on finishing that. Enjoy it! ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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  8. What a beautiful sweater and such a gorgeous colour. My first thought when I saw the photo was how lovely you looked with your hair cut not once did I think of Jack Nicholson 😂. Enjoy the rest of your weekend... it’s a bit wild and windy here today so I may sort out cupboards, although I do feel like I ought to get out for some fresh air.

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  9. Love the idea that it’s knit on big needles. A lovely pattern and a gorgeous colour. Certainly time to get the woollens out. I’m back to sock knitting in a big way; not sure what my next big project will be. B x

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  10. You have a lovely smile and hairstyle :-) Thanks for sharing about the jumper it looks fab. My autumn/winter wardrobe is woefully inadequate so will have to add the jumper to my wish list of makes although it will have to wait as a commissioned crochet cot blanket and some bed socks for my mum are first in the queue :-)

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  11. What a lovely color on you, Christina, and I can understand why you would be wearing that jumper all the time as it looks comfy. I was all ready with cooler wear tops and jeans and now we are in a late summer heat wave.

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  12. I love this!! It is really lovely on you and the color is wonderful. I am not a knitter so I have no idea what your knitting descriptions mean but it all looks great!

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  13. The sweater is so gorgeous! I absolutely love the color and all the pretty detail. It looks so nice on you!

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  14. That's gorgeous and I love love the color!

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  15. I love the colour! It's glorious and happy:) I would need something relaxing too if I had to read papers on antimicrobial resistance:D
    MegXx

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  16. Lovely colour and a very pretty yoke detail.It looks really cosy,just like a wrap around hug. I hope you enjoy wearing your beautiful hand knit jumper all Winter.

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  17. Coffee in the garden with a sweet treat. Sounds lovely!

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  18. Love that sweater (and big needles)! And Jack N. never looked that good.

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  19. Your jumper is amazing! I really like the colour.

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Thank you for visiting and leaving a comment, I love to hear from you, I really do. I sometimes reply by email but I am not all that reliable... Christina xx

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