Once upon a time I had a boyfriend. He liked the idea of my knitting him an Aran sweater. He wanted to design it.
And so he did, and I began to knit. And knit. And knit.
He decided he wanted to make some changes. So I ravelled. And then I knit. And knit again.
The design was not to his liking. “Let us change this, and this, and this,” he said.
I dumped him.
Now, many years later, I have yet to endeavor upon another sweater for a member of the opposite sex older than three, but since I’m now an old married woman, perhaps it is time to reconsider. It is a gamble, as the esposo doesn’t tend to wear sweaters.
“What would you like?” I ask.
“Oh, anything is fine,” he says.
“Do you want a pullover?”
“No.”
“A cardigan? Cables? No cables? Pattern stitch? Nothing stitch?”
“How about a cardigan, and Nothing certainly sounds Perfect. You know me, I like Dull.”
And I know me, I don’t like dull. But I do like simple, and tailored. I also like color, but I am the magpie, not he. He likes dull. Not even slightly shiny.
So the search is on for something which will not bore me to death, and will not offend the esposo’s need for dull. I am considering ribbed cables, knit through the back loop. Attractive, tailored, flat, won’t put me to sleep in the process, and I can do while listening to an audio book. A pattern tailored in appearance. I am also considering an incredibly simple rib, but one with a slightly different edge to it, one which is vertical, simple, and with a wee amount of texture.
The yarn is from a fleece I had spun into a medium-weight two ply. I have tons of it, and the color is a lovely chocolately brown. (Mmmmm. Chocolate.)
Swatching is begun; the design process is percolating. One piece knitting, cutting?, saddle vs raglan sleeves.
On the other hand, knitting for the other main man in my life, Wicket, would be easy. He would gladly wear the Dogosaurus Sweater, but I’m afraid that when I get it done, he will die. Wicket is very old, and I am superstitious.
The original pattern used Lamb’s Pride by Brown Sheep, which is a rather heavy yarn. The new versions used Paton’s Classic Wool in Aran Tweed, and is knitted on size 6 and 7 needles. Truthfully, I like this version a lot better – not as baggy – but some people like the bagginess of the original beret, so I have kept it, along with these newer versions, all in the same pattern, which is now 7 pages instead of two. You may go to the Patterns page to download it.
A lot of people have downloaded the eyelet rib beret, and some have experienced some problems with it being much, much too big, especially in the ribbing area of the brim. Even though this beret is designed to be huge – for those of us with “big hair” – others seem to like the idea of a less humungous hat! Given that, I thought I would re-do the pattern a bit for worsted weight wool and slightly different shaping, as well as directions for a less baggy beret. Look for it in the next few days.
Just in time for Christmas and the cold!
