Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Pink is my new favorite color!!!


Pink
Originally uploaded by JRoKnits
No, I'm not blind.

Yes, I know there is no pink in this sweater. And I didn't do the same stripes as shown in the book.

What book?

Why, Wendy Bernard's new book, Custom Knits!

Before I go into that, let's talk about the sweater. I bought 5 skeins of Patons Classic in Natural Marl sometime last year. I don't even remember what I bought them for. A few weeks ago, I got the urge to dye some yarn NOW. I liked what I got out of that, but didn't know what to do with it. Then I realized that this little sweater would be perfect. I had enough yarn as long as I got creative with how I used the hand dye.

So I cast on the day my daughter and husband left for deer hunting. My gauge was tighter so I knit the 42.5" numbers hoping to end up with a 39" sweater. After joining the front and removing the sleeves, I started a random stripe pattern. All I did consistently was keep the rows of colored stripes an odd number. I followed the pattern in the book to the letter. Everything went perfectly and I got a great everyday sweater out of the deal.

If I ever make this same size again, I'll reduce the number of increases after the waist shaping. I think I'll try one size down next time. I gotta tell you, though, I love how this feels. I'm wearing it right now. Everything is perfect. Lengths, proportions, everything. It's a great sweater!

Ok, back to the book. It's called Custom Knits. Have you seen it yet? If not, go to Knit Picks (because they show pictures of the inside) and check it out. Then order it. Really, you have to.

I ordered the book without seeing any inside pictures first. I love Wendy Bernard's style so much, I just knew I would love this book, and who wouldn't love the concept of being able to tailor your garments just for you?

Stefanie Japel's book Fitted Knits tried to do this, but in my opinion, missed the mark. Wendy's book offers much clearer instruction and better yet, within each pattern is a "make it your own" box with tips on how to customize that pattern. It's brilliant!

I loved Pink from the moment I first opened the book, but I was a bit intimidated. Not because of the design - heck it looked like I could have knit it in my sleep - but because of the photo. A cute skinny brunette wearing the sweater and panties, taking photos of herself. I used to be a cute skinner brunette. Not so much on the skinny anymore, so I was a little leary of how this sweater would look on me.

A week or so earlier, I started Wendy's Opulent Raglan from KnitScene Fall/Winter 2008. After seeing so many nice FO's on Ravelry, and seeing how it looked great on everyone, I decided to give it a go. That is like a magic sweater. I loved how it was turning out. So I decided that Wendy knew what she was doing with this sweater design thing and began Pink.

Seriously fast to knit and seriously cute. Two things I can't resist.

I gotta knit me some more of this!

2 comments:

Heather said...

How long did it take you from start to finish on Pink? It looks great! I'm always impressed by your work - it looks like something you would buy (and not cheap either!) And a hat too - it took me a week (and two weekends) to finish a crochet skater hat for my son - no fair isle, just a few stripes. Way to go JRo!

Jen said...

Aw, thanks for the kind words! I've made quite a lot of crap in my day - I'm tickled to finally have a handle on what I like and how to achieve it.

It took barely over a week. I started on 11/7 and finished on 11/15. It was super quick and super fun. This was the most striping I've ever had in a project and it was great. I wanted to keep going to see what would happen next.