Twenty Ten
Twenty Ten kind of slipped under the blogging radar. You may remember I began it on the way to Madtosh Fort Worth to see Veera Välimäki and Joji Locatelli. That last sentence really threw off of all my non-knitting Texan relatives. (“Ya’ll are goin’ to a what? To see a what and what?”) But I set it aside for two Knitalongs and only picked it back up last week.
Tada! This should be a must for every knitter. First off, the construction is so different! Diagonal fronts, bulky but short sleeved, moss stitch and reverse stockinette? Then, there’s the fact that it only takes about a skein and a half of Cascade Eco yarn. I happened to get mine on sale for less than $14 a skein. That makes this a $21 sweater. But, more than those reasons, it is just so cool looking.
I am glad I chose this as my introduction to Veera’s designs. I am a sweater knitter at heart, so it was the perfect gateway pattern to her shawls. Stripe Study is the shawl I’d like to do first, in Madelinetosh’s 80/10/10 Fingering in Reindeer and Chicory color ways. But I’m not finished with her sweaters. At Madtosh Crafts, I was able to see and feel of her True Friend sample. (I did a lot of staring and feeling.) Of course, I got some Tosh Merino Light in Esoteric and Antique Lace for it.
Details on Twenty Ten: I knit the size small with size 6 needles in Cascade Eco, as I mentioned. There were no modifications at all for this. I may have made it a tad longer than directed but I have a longer torso, so I don’t think it even registers. Mine took 11 cheap buttons from the craft store, too. Would you believe I wove in ends and sewed on buttons all in the same day as my finishing the knitting? I know, that is a first!
My favorite things about this one, besides the interesting construction, are the two textured stitches sitting next to each other at the shoulder and the diagonal front. And, oh my gosh, the little pocket!
One other post that includes this knit is here: One Thing at a Time
On a completely different subject, I am just now weeding my garden for summer. I decided to just nurture the herbs, grapes, and Texas-hardy flowers I planted last year, instead of worrying about a dye garden. Maybe next summer I’ll get to that project.
As you can see, it has loads of green, and some flowers starting to bloom, so I’m satisfied. I even got an old school beach lounger to plant right in the center so I can hide and read all summer long.
(It really isn’t sweater weather, here.)
(My garden looks better than it should with surviving herbs and hardy plants from last summer. )
(My husband, who once proclaimed, “I hate working in the garden!” raised this bed of roses, Mexican Tulips, and Bridal Wreath for me while I weeded this weekend. )
(more on ravelry, kollabora, flickr, and instagram)
I have a real sense of accomplishment this week with my garden weeded and almost all of my winter sweaters on or off of the needles.
So, on my crafting horizon is my easy stockinette project, Drift’s Ridge, and I just began Julep Jacket. I had hoped to include it in the Holla Knits KAL 2015, but having to do New Girl twice slowed me down. After that, I will be officially caught up on all of the Holla Knits patterns I had queued… just in time for the summer issue.
I have lots of summer knits queued up and a stockpile of summer-weight yarn ready to go. Have you guys already started knitting for summer, or are you trying to finish up all of the winter WIPs, like me?
