Sweater Pattern Moving Along

Early sketch before the ideas were worked out.

Yesterday I wrote up instructions for every part of the sweater and began figuring out stitch counts for most of it. I have four sweaters I’ve knit with this construction and each is a little different. The details are all different -- some of slipped stitches, one has lace, two others are constructed from short rows. (The short-row versions were not easy, and I don't think I'll be writing patterns for them.) The last is my favorite, and it serves well as a template since I used bulky yarn, which makes it easy to count the stitches. Today I need to refine some numbers as I found some that were clearly incorrect.

Of course I also "have to" dye the yarn so I can knit it up. I’ll do a little testing today and then if all goes well, dive in and dye up enough for the sweater and a hooded cowl to go with. (Hooded cowls are my favorite thing now.) This hooded cowl will be in the slipped garter stitch like the sweater, not in the fizzy water stitch. Also, I may want to try a new construction style, just for kicks. We'll see. That is far in the future. I sketch many designs, and only the ripest (most persistent) rise to the surface to be knit and patterned. Though I am trying to be more orderly about this nowadays.

A little update on the socks. I love the understated warmth of these colors. If I don’t love the black and olive colors I’m aiming for with the sweater colors, I may try for this rich brown. Of course part of the richness is in the variation in color. I could do brown and charcoal or brown and gray, as long as I get enough contrast. Either way, I plan to repeat this broken-black dip-dye. It seems unusual these days when most dyers are going for bold and bright.