You were right, of course. All of you. That swatch was never going to work.
Thank you for your comments. Can you believe it, we had a near-unanimous consensus. That never happens online. What even is the point of the internet if you can’t damage your keyboard by violently punching out vitriol like HOW VERY DARE U IMPLY THAT MAGIC LOOP IS BETTER THAN DPNS!!!!!!!!! I HOPE MOTHS EAT YOUR MERINO AND THE CAT CHEWS YOUR NEEDLES!!!!!! You folks are way too sane and reasonable to be pootling about on the web.
Anyway, you spoke as one – or at least as only one-and-a-bit – and you were right. Yes, my plan to knit this fancy jumper (pronounced s-w-e-a-t-e-r outside these shores) in variegated yarn was a very bad plan indeed.
I love the fitted, scoop-neck shape of it, though. And I love the luscious shades (with NO PINK – hurrah!) in this Adriafil Knitcol, so I’m keeping the form of the jumper but knitting it in stockinette. Oh, and I’m working most of it in the round to minimise purling, and adding the tiniest hint of shaping at the waist. What can possibly go wrong? (Don’t answer that, please. Let me live in my cheery, delusional, bubble for a wee while longer.)
Obviously it would be a very bad idea to get caught up in knitting a new jumper this week, when there is so much else to do. Yeah, I’d never be weak-willed enough to do something like that. Oh, wait:-
So, my friends, this jumper may turn out to be lovely, or it my turn out to be a disastrously shouty cacophony of colour, in which case I’ll just wear it around our freezing house to scare the spiders*/bailiffs/burglars.**
I’ve made jumpers in Adriafil Knitcol before: small ones, for the twinnage, and they were lovely (the jumpers, I mean, not the twinnage. The twinnage are monstrous.) Exhibit A of woolly delight:-
…And travelling further back in time, Exhibit B:-
But I had to wait (and wait) until the boys had grown out of all of those before making myself one, because wearing the same clothes as your children would be… well I’m not sure what it would be, but I think we can agree that it would not be indicative of a healthy family dynamic. That said, we’re not above wearing wellies-on-a-theme:-
All of the twinnage’s Knitcol knitwear has now been outgrown and/or has felted when the washing machine broke down mid-cycle (which was NOT AT ALL infuriating, as you can imagine). So I’m free to wear Knitcol. Hurrah!
My headless friend would like to show you some progress:-
Am I mad to think that it might just work?
*Just had to Google ‘Do spiders have colour vision?’ after writing that. In case you’re interested, the chunky, lazy, ones hanging around in cobwebs on your ceiling waiting for lunch to come to them, don’t. If a spider tells you that it can see colours, run away now because it’s probably one of the more go-getting types of arachnid, such as a jumping spider. Also – and potentially of more concern – it spoke to you. It’ll be asking you how to access the World Wide Web, next.
**Actually, the twinnage have got that one covered, in their six-year-old style. A large notice has appeared on one of our upstairs doors, saying ‘Burglers [sic] are stoopid. And ther is an il dog in this hous’. Just for the record, we have never had a dog, ailing or otherwise. But the sign seems to be working, because we haven’t been burgled.
I need some of your magical powers, please. It’s like you just think about it, and ping! a jumper magically appears on your mannequin! The shape is really pretty, and I love how the yarn makes wider stripes around the neckline. I’m still stuck on a pair of fingerless gloves that have been on the needles for most of this year!
Ha, no magic, just mindless stockinette-in-the-round. And I can knit whilst doing a surprisingly large number of other tasks!
I’d love to ‘like’ this post, but WordPress won’t let me… or perhaps it’s my computer; who knows? Anyway I love that yarn, I’m sure you’ll look fabulous wearing it… and know one will miss seeing you (unless they are a spider).
Oh! Not sure why WordPress won’t let you. It obviously doesn’t think this post is worthy of likes! But thank you for your kind words.
the ‘jumper’ looks very promising. love your messages. regards from across the big water.
Thank you. You’re very, very kind!
Umm, I was that guy that said in my comment about how the stripes would get wider around the neckline. And I’m so glad I was right, because it looks wonderful!
I’d forgotten to mention that one way to avoid that somewhat is to knit from two skeins – skein one right side, skein 2 wrong side, or from both ends of one skein, which also has the effect of reversing the colorway in one direction.
I’m glad you didn’t do that around the neckline, but you might keep it in mind for the sleeves. The stripes will start out wide across the shoulder caps, which should line up with your neckline nicely. Then they’ll get narrower as you go down to the fuller part of the sleeve, and widenagain as you approach the wrists. If you think might be a bit too busy, you can use that trick to keep the stripes narrow towards the wrist..
As for your question ” What can possibly go wrong?” Just that everyone who sees this will want you to make one for them!
You’re right of course. I sort of knew how it might look from having used the same yarn to make jumpers for the twinnage. Good idea about using two skeins for sleeves. Thanks. 🙂
Wow! That looks amazing. Can’t wait to see it finished!
Thank you – you’re very kind.
How fun! I’m glad you swatched and didn’t like it. I found it fascinating how you told everyone about the jumper pronunciation for those outside your shores. I once offered up a blog to a psych professor (it may have even been yours, because–id, ego, and superego), and though I knew he was Canadian, I warned him of the British terms like jumper to work around.
Tee hee, yes, we truly are divided by a common language. 🙂
Wow that jumper is coming along fast! Have fun finishing it!
That’s the advantage of plain stockinette in the round! Mindless but speedy.
I think the jumper is going to be fab! (A jumper is a pinafore dress over here, hence the use of the word ‘sweater’ and I don’t usually use the word ‘fab’ because I live in Canada now. Whilst my sister gets away with it on her/your side of the pond, I don’t think it would sound quite right on this side. Awesome, maybe!
And I forgot to close my parentheses. How infuriating!
Ah, I hadn’t realized that jumper had such a specific definition there – thank you.
I live in the deep South in the US. Down here, a jumper is basically an a-line sleeveless dress with a zipper in the back. Back in the day (when the world was young and so was I) girls wore jumpers (knee length) with a short sleeved shirt underneath and ankle socks and Mary Jane’s ( simple shoe with a strap that buckled over the instep of the foot). Or, in the winter, a turtleneck shirt and tights (thick stockings) or knee high socks and Mary Jane’s or boots if it was really cold.
I don’t know how long it was before I realized that “jumper” meant something totally different on the other side of the pond! I pictured all of these women going about their day dressed like my childhood self, lol! So, if a sweater is called a jumper, do y’all use the term sweater for another type of garmet?
I love, love, love your rubber boots (wellies). And you are correct, pink has no business being in a rainbow despite my 4 year old Sweetie Pie’s loud and shrill insistence that it does, lol!
Merry Christmas!
Thank you for your explanation, and for your lovely smile-inducing comment.
Interesting to understand that jumper has a very precise definition elsewhere. No, we don’t have the term ‘sweater’, although everyone understands it. I think the word is gradually taking hold over here…
It is looking wonderful. How come I never came across that yarn given my predilection for self stripes. Shakes head in disbelief. The note from the Twinage is brilliant. I think they are taking after their Mum a lot!!
Heaven help them if they take after me! But I do recommend this yarn (and I did pay for it, so I have no incentive to say this if it’s not true!)
Pretty yarn. I like the fairisle type stripes and your jumper is coming along nicely. Looks a success already! I would never wear those wellingtons though, none of them are proper rainbows. it would drive me nuts!
Thank you! (It’s surprisingly difficult to find wellies with proper rainbows!)
And lots of people think pink is a colour in the rainbow!
Yes, and that’s so wrong! Pink is everywhere. 🙁
I wish I had the figure to wear such a sweater/jumper… it has turned out really nice so far and will be stunning on you I have no doubt. You inspire me to get to work on a sweater/jumper for myself 🙂
Thank you for such kind words, even if they’re not much deserved! And if you do knit a jumper, enjoy. 🙂
I am starting to think that you have genetic similarities to that girl that spun straw into gold. I am guessing that the twinage are attempting to repel Rumpelstiltskin rather than burglars (very gallant of them) and the mention of the dog is most likely an ill fated attempt to get you to buy one as OBVIOUSLY having a dog makes sense. How the heck do you manage to knit so quickly?! It seems you have no sooner cast on your stitches then suddenly your project is almost finished! I would weigh in with how I think your jumper is going to look but I am a mad technicolour fool when it comes to clothing accouterments and can’t be trusted for opinions when colours are involved (I LOVE these colours so make of that what you will). Have a most delicious Christmas Ms T and best of luck staying in bed much later than 4am on the day…
Oh, the twinnage would love a dog – or at least some sort of mammalian pet – but the Stoic Spouse has vetoed such things.
As for colour, I strongly suspect that you’re rather more skilled in such matters than I am, so I’m taking your comments as a compliment.
Have a delightful Christmas yourself, and enjoy not being poked in the nose by small children at 4am (although given that you get up at 3am, I’m guessing that 4am children wouldn’t faze you. Hey, can I post my sons to you for Christmas please?)
I will take the twinage but in return, you have to take my mammalian fellow housemates for the duration. Have an excellent Christmas and enjoy that poke in the nose. By the time you are receiving said poke, our Christmas will be pretty much all over red rover 🙂