Sunday, November 30, 2008

Patrick

Patrick
click to wallow in cabley goodness

Finshed...uh, YAY!

Okay, this project was waaaay more work than it should've been. Talk about forcing a yarn to work with a pattern... this is it. I love the Beaverslide, but it's not an aran weight, but rather a bulky weight. I love how the pattern looks, but the directions were a little challenging (second time I've knit a Black Purl design... and both, while beautiful designs, aren't for the novice knitter... quite frankly they need a copy editor to proof read them).

So let's do a quick summery. Matt likes very neutral colored sweaters. Creams, grays, taupes, khaki. He'll wear t-shirts and polo style shirts in bright cheery colors, but he only wants drab colors for sweaters. So I bought him the Beaverslide yarn in Autumn Licorice (a truely stunning shade of orange) and gifted it to him as Christmas gift. I mean, who doesn't want a yummy box of yarn for Christmas? I know I do!!! Well, he wasn't as amused as I was. I promised him a sweater out of it (hey, no deadline if you give them the yarn as a gift, right?). I wanted to make Patrick for a while and even started it in an alpaca yarn, but never got past the ribbing. So I started it with the Beaverslide. Seemed fine... until I was well into the cabled sections. I realized how hard it was to work the cables and while my gauge was on, my fabric was a little stiff.

I suffered thru the hard to work cables, the poor directions and the tedious of not loving knitting it (I did however, love how it looked). Took me almost a year, but Matt has a super warm snuggly dog walking sweater (the yarn relaxed quite a bit with blocking). I have to say that I'm pleased... not only that's it's done, but the ending results. Let's do the project stats:

Pattern:
Patrick by Black Purl Designs (their site has been "under construction" for a really really long time, and I understand they are not responding to email inquires, so no link)
Yarn: Beaverslide McTaggart Tweed in Autumn Licore (the 2 ply, not the new 3 ply)
Changes to the pattern: I did my own thing with the sleeves, as the increases didn't seem right.
Problems with the pattern: just not well written in some areas.
Overall impressions: don't use a bulky yarn for this! The ending result seems to have been worth it and I'll knit the pattern again in a different yarn for Matt. The pattern is gorgeous and I love the cables. I love the yarn, and I would use it again, but a more appropriate pattern for the weight.

So I have been working on other things here and there, including gloves/hat/scarf for Matt. I'll get photos of those up soon. With one more month left, I think I can get an other sweater done before the end of the year, right?

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous2:03 PM

    Congratulations, Cindy! Patrick looks fabulous. Great color + cable design. It must feel good to have closure!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Patrick looks amazing. Did Matt like the color of the sweater once it was finished.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The sweater looks wonderful! Certainly worth every moment you spent on it!

    ReplyDelete

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