What to Knit Now…

August 13th, 2009 by Gwynn | Posted in General News, On The Needles |

What, what, what to knit now? In addition to the always on the needles socks, and the Everlasting Swans Island Shawl (I now have 41″), what to knit next? We’ve only just started having our summer up here in Maine; it took 10 weeks to get here. But all the same, the kids go back to school in a couple of weeks so fall really is right around the corner. Thoughts of fall bring the first sweater of the season to mind and the trouble is I have too many ‘first’ sweaters on my mind.

Late summer is a very exciting time around here because all of the new yarns we ordered for fall are arriving and calling out from the shelves to be worked with. New yarn arrivals coinciding with issues of Fall Interweave and Fall Vogue make it difficult indeed to pick the first sweater. Right now I have two top choices vying for my affections and final decision. Out of all the new yarns we picked this fall, my two favorites are Peru and Azapa. (These two favorites are of course in line behind Swans Island, which will forever and always be my ultimate favorite…) I already bought a big pile of Peru (I couldn’t buy this apple green fast enough) and have changed my mind about the sweater I want to make 3 times. I have now decided to make a sweater from the Fall Vogue Knits with this yummy stuff. Picture of the sweater in question is just below.

I suppose I should tell you about the fiber! Peru is a machine washable bulky weight blend of wool, acrylic and alpaca. (label says no dryer) It gives an average gauge of 3.25 on size 10.5. I will admit to being a washable yarn snob – something about the way the fibers feel is almost never quite right to me. In short, I don’t usually get gaga about washable yarn. Until now! This fiber is luxurious to the hand. These yarn ‘cakes’ are smooshilicious – I want to attribute it to the alpaca, even though there’s only 20% in there. It is slightly hairy and blooms nicely in spite of the acrylic content. And there’s no itch. On bare skin, I can’t detect any prickie ticklies at all. Beth calls it ‘Lopi for sissies’. Denice is knitting a children’s Lopi sweater for the shop with some beautiful colors.

This sweater in Vogue calls for a worsted held double but why bother with that when you have Peru? And this will be a fairly no-brainer knit because it is knit top down, beginning with the collar. Beautifully simple sweater, luxurious yarn I already bought, what’s not to love? So why haven’t I cast on yet?

Because then  came Azapa. And a new book by Jenny Watson filled with beautiful sweaters.  I can’t decide which project to start RIGHT NOW. Because I want to be knitting both sweaters. Simultaneously. For different reasons. Azapa is another new bulky weight we picked up for this fall and here is the fiber break down: 30% alpaca, 45% merino, 15 % silk and 10% donegal. No machine washable here – we’re talking full throttle ahead 0n the indulgence meter. The words luscious and lavish come to mind. Sumptuous. Delicious. These colors have tonal variations throughout with a wonderful smattering of donegal nepps. (I highly recommend the book tweed by Nancy J. Thomas for lots of terrific info about the history and process behind donegals and tweeds and projects to make with them.) This fiber is loaded with visual interest and the sweater I am planning (shown below) has the lovely lace pattern to catch the eye even more. This pattern is written in pieces, which means a little modifying and the lace means a little more paying attention. So not so much of a no brainer knit and I didn’t actually buy this yarn or pattern yet. The decision about which project to start seems obvious – the easy one I already have the yarn for. Right? But I can’t stop thinking about Azapa and have a strong feeling it will win this battle for my affection – maybe it already has…

Which one would YOU cast on first?