Aftur

Aftur is complete and here she is!

This is what 7 balls of Crimson Lite Lopi gets you when you mix it with size 7 needles and less than a ball each of a few other colors (Bright Blue, Pumpkin, Leaf, Black Heather, and Goldenrod). For the colorwork, the most I used of any one color was the Black Heather, which was probably around half a ball. The others were varying degrees less with the least amount coming from the Bright Blue. I tried to make the best estimates on my Ravelry project page.

As a reminder, all of this yarn came from the Weekend Getaway Satchel kit, along with the addition of two more balls of Crimson to round out my yardage. So, given the length of time this yarn was in my UFO pile, (which means its free ;-), this sweater cost me about $8. Pretty sweet!

As mentioned here, B helped me input the colorwork chart into the computer using Illustrator. This let us try out different color combinations given what I had to work with from the bag kit. I am extremely happy with how these colors played out. I feel like it is a really nice balance of classic and funky. I especially like how the lime green (Leaf) and the bright blue worked out. This was definitely a collaborative effort and even B likes to talk about how its 'our' sweater. And its true!

The pattern is really straight forward and the only modifications I needed to make where to adjust for my monkey arms (added about 2 inches) and my long torso (maybe about an inch). But because I made the 36 inch size for my 34 inches, I didn't have to add as much length to the body as I normally would because there was already a bit more length to account for the larger size. I also changed the waist and wrist bands to a simple 2X2 rib and for the neck I skipped the full turned hem. Given that I live in So Cal, I figure I didn't need the extra layer around my neck for warmth or to bring the sweater up closer to my neck. In fact, I was really concerned about getting the Lopi too close to my neck because of the potential itch factor. I initially knit a full 2X2 ribbed collar with a regular bind off, which left me with a neck opening I couldn't even fit the crown of my head through! So, I ripped it out, ripped out a couple rows of the ribbing and bound off with a tubular bind off. The neck has more of a boat neck look now, but I like it and its seems fairly proportional with the colorwork section. A final modification was the addition of a couple short-rows to the back of my neck to raise it up a tad, which you might be able to see here:

That 'weather system' we were expecting didn't really pan out, but I did wear Aftur yesterday to try her out. Overall, I would say the fit is great. I tend it have an issue with my sweaters (pullovers and cardigans alike) riding back on my shoulders. I was concerned about this factor given that Lite Lopi isn't exactly next-to-skin soft. But, although I was aware of the wool on my neck, it never got to the point during the day that I had to scratch or even take it off because it was too irritating. However, I do think that this sweater would be perfect for over a turtleneck. Then it would be a truly effortless sweater to wear.

Snow and Wool

First and foremost, I owe many thanks to many people. Thank you for your kind words about Auntie. B was able to attend the funeral in Tulsa and said it was a lovely service. I also wanted to thank those of you who provided some very helpful information towards our coming Southern Utah vacation. This weekend has been set aside for making arrangements and reservations. And finally, thank you for the nice comments on my last couple of projects. Blogging has been relatively hard for me lately. I'm not really sure why. I have lots to say and I even take photos and think of things I want to blog about, but then when it comes to sitting down and doing it, I just don't. Consequently, when I do finally blog, I usually brain dump on the page and am not mindful of the last thing I posted or the courtesy factor that is part of this online community. I think a lot of it is from being overworked (but that's easing off again) and the emotional ups and downs as of late. Anyhoo, I do hope to be a little more active in the future.

As for what I've been up to...B and I were fortunate to have been able to take advantage of the end of his spring break to head to the mountains. This trip had taken on many incarnations during the planning processes, but in the end it was just the two of us. It was definitely spring and the valley you drive through to get to the mountains was actually hot. You can see where the snow is starting to thin on the mountain range leading up to Mammoth Lakes and the ski area:

But, the snow conditions in Mammoth were amazing. It was warm (actually a little too hot when you don't have a decent spring jacket) and the snow was still soft. It didn't get icy until late afternoon when the shade started to reclaim the runs.

B and I boarded again and had a great time. I wish I had more action shots this year, but we were really busy with our lesson. B was the class star and I, well, um, I needed some extra assistance. We learned how to transfer from our heel to our toe edges and then back again. Then we put everything into linking turns. It felt really great when I got it right but there were times I just couldn't get my legs to do what they needed to do. I discovered later that it had a lot to do with how cluttered my brain was with other concerns. Too close to the trees, too steep, or too icy and my brain just couldn't add all the turning movements into the mix. But when we got to big open easy spaces, I could actually do it! Lucky for me B got the boarding bug and he is already excited to go back next year. Yay!

As for knitting, I had really hoped to finish Aftur in time for our Mammoth trip, but given my work load at the office, I didn't want to push my luck in the hand injury department. But I did get a chance to work on the colorwork in the evenings a bit and a little in the traffic on the way home. Here's a little preview:

Aftur is now finished and blocked and I hope to be able to take some photos this weekend. We are expecting a little modest weather here in the next day or so, so I may take the opportunity to try it out while I still can!

A fun way to discover color

I haven't been knitting all that much lately because of my hands. And while my hands have gotten better and they no longer hurt me throughout my work day, I'm still taking it easy on the knitting front. I am using the quilting as a necessary diversion to try and give my poor hands (though its really mostly my right hand) time to heal properly and not push it. Because like most office employees now a days, the computer work will not be stopping any time soon.

However, I did discover a loop hole to the knitting issue...Continental Knitting. Since it doesn't stress my right hand, it doesn't seem to be a compounding factor to the computer stress the same way that English Knitting is. (Basically my poor right pointer finger is getting its arse kicked between throwing the yarn and mouse work.) Since I got super inspired to knit Aftur, I knew there would be some Continental Knitting in my future (I'm a two handed colorwork knitter). Its been since the Deep V Argyle Vest that I've knit with my left hand, so I figured the body and sleeves to Aftur might serve as the perfect practice, plus allow me to continue to knit while my right hand is on the mend.

I've already finished the body of the sweater since I took this photo and started working on the first sleeve. And since this is pretty much my only knitting project right now, it's seeing a lot of progress.

As you may know, I am using the yarn from the Weekend Getaway Satchel kit for my Aftur, so this has posed an interesting challenge to picking out my new colors. Here is what I have to work with, plus charcoal gray:

As you can see, they aren't even close to those in the original. I checked out Ravelry to see what others had done (Ravelry link) and besides Lolly's beautiful example, it looks like most people who deviated from the original ended up going with a cool pallet. This wasn't really an option for me given that the point of this sweater was to use up the yarn from the satchel kit and needed go with the Crimson yarn I am using for the body and sleeves.

I am also a planner and while I know it is possible to choose the colors as you go, I just felt that would be limiting me. What I wanted was a way to try them out ahead of time to see what might work the best and not be afraid to try crazy combinations. Marnie had posted a great Excel tutorial on how to do this very thing and I made plans to build up the Aftur chart in Excel using her guidance. However, in talking to B about what I was going to do, he offered up his Illustrator services to accomplish the same thing. And while I always enjoy learning something new, sometimes speed wins in the end.

In about an hour (he knows all the short cuts :-), we had the chart built and the final colors chosen. It was a great experience to make computer versions of the yarn colors and to move them around into different places to see how they changed the entire look of the sweater. Once the final configuration was selected, he also extended the chart and removed the lines so that we could see what it would look like over several repeats. So cool! I do plan to do this again myself so that I can learn the process and not have to rely on him - even if it does take ages longer.

In the end, I have a combination of colors I never really expected and I am so happy with. I can't wait to see it come together in fiber! I figure I better harness this excitement to get me through the sleeves, since they are my least favorite part of sweater knitting and the only thing separating me from all that color!

Inspiration

I think we've all had the experience of our yarn talking to us...only sometimes we are a little too focused on a particular goal to hear what it's saying. The Weekend Getaway Satchel was one of my early 'big projects' I invested in once I starting knitting things besides scarves. I made great progress on the solid back, bottom and side gussets, but stalled out pretty early into the intarsia front.

The biggest hindrance to progress was the large number of 'bobbins' I had hanging off the back. This was further compounded by the fact that the yarn for this project was supposed to be doubled, which meant either twice as many bobbins...or making doubled stranded bobbins...or what I did, which was work with the whole ball from the inside and outside at the same time. This meant at points up to 16 balls of yarn hanging off the back. Needless to say it was a nightmare.

The thing is, I really liked this bag and I kept telling myself that I was going to pull it out one of these days to finish it. When I bought the yarn, I felt that it was terribly scratchy and suitable only for felting and thought with so many coordinating colors, there were lots of possibilities for small felted projects with all the leftovers, which I knew there would be plenty of. Well that's been a couple years now and I still hadn't bothered with it, but my brain kept telling me to finish it so that I could use all those leftovers for other projects.


Then a couple weeks ago, I was at Lori's shop in Alpine and caught sight of some great wool. I was looking for contrasting colors for my Celtic Tote and noticed some lovely wool that at first glance reminded me a bit of the Lamb's Pride I'd been using. I picked it up and was shocked to discover that it was Lopi! And it wasn't the scratchy brillo pad wool I remembered it being! It certainly wasn't next to skin soft, but it was good, solid, outerwear wool. I realized that I hadn't really developed an appreciation for wool when I had last worked with Lopi, so in my head it had stayed scratchy and rough, and certainly nothing I would have previously considered for garments.

I got excited about the yarn all over again, only this time I started dreaming about using the leftovers for the yoke of Aftur after seeing Lolly's lovely version. And maybe even a Leftovers vest with stripes made from the different colors. And then it hit me - the leftover projects had become more interesting to me that the main project! I also realized that the kit contained about 3500 yards of good wool, about 1/2 of which in a great charcoal gray. And since I hadn't felted anything for the bag yet, it was all reclaimable!

Rip, rip, rip I went. It took awhile to separate all of the double stranded yarn, but its done and I've been able to take stock of what is now available sweater wool. I realized that I had almost enough of the strap yarn in Crimson to make the body of the Aftur sweater. So with a couple of clicks, I ordered the Lopi 25 pattern book and a couple more balls of yarn. And now I'm ready to go!

And the best part? I placed my order at Ram Wools (unbeknown to me at the time) three days before their site-wide 30% off sale. Oh well, I thought. But guess what? When my order was delivered, I discovered that they had given me the discount anyway!! I'm thoroughly impressed, because they certainly didn't have to do that and I never would have even thought to ask for it!

And the grand total? Given what I paid for the kit through WEBS (it was enough to get the 20% discount) more than 2 years ago and including the Lopi pattern book and additional 3 balls of yarn, I will now be able to make at least 3 sweaters for approximately $30 each! A steal in and of themselves on any day, but given that this is stash wool, that makes them practically free! Right? ;-)