[Knitting] Pattern acqisition. :)

[kniteracy]

Just wanted to say that I've found (and ordered) a copy of the fabulous 1992 Vogue/Donna KaranEnchanted Forest Cardigan pattern online at SewDirect for £1.95! Free shipping as well; I hope they'll just slap it in an envelope today and it'll make it through my letterbox! (For a better photo go here, direct to VK.)

So.... I've been wanting to make this for a long, long time. You'll see why if you click on any picture or do a google search on it. It's a legend. I remember when the pattern first came out; I was on the internet's first KnitList back in those days (the knitlist is really really huge and impossible now), and it was all people talked about for *months*. Copies of the pattern were pored over, passed around, bitched about, and probably exchanged for enough good-quality aran yarn to knit the thing. It still creates a buzz whenever people see, it, and Vogue has reprinted the pattern twice: once in the VK 25th anniversary edition, and once in a book called Vogue Knitting Designer Knits, still in stock at AmazonDotWhatevers all over the world. I doubt seriously I'll want to make enough of the patterns in this book to pay £9.60 for it, so why not get the original pattern for £2 from SewDirect? I understand the 25th anniversary version of the pattern has been reshaped a bit, or maybe just re-edited, as the VK KAL poster notes in the second link to a photo of this cardigan.

At the time the pattern first came out, I was not confident enough as a knitter to tackle it. It would have been started (wrong) and never finished, probably. Now, the only thing I worry about is sizing. I do not remember what the original sizing was for this pattern, but I doubt seriously if it's sized for fat people. But we'll see. Maybe I'll make this my present to myself for the weight loss work (no real diet talk, just a goal discussion, I promise!). I'm sure I have enough of something in my stash to knit this with: I could start it now, tomorrow, whenever, and by the time it is finished (yeah, right-- at this stage of the game, I knit pretty fast ;>), I'd be able to wear it. If not, I could always give it to someone who would truly appreciate it. Like my sister. Or weirdsister. Then again, if I gave even one of these to anybody I'd feel obligated to make a couple more. And somehow that just seems like serious amounts of work.

I'm thinking of doing it in a neutral colour, but I don't want the original 'cream aran' type colour because I think I don't look good in that colour, plus it is a bitch to keep clean. The grey the model in VK is wearing is a good choice. You'll find photos in various colours all over the net if you go digging. What colour would you like to see it in?

Also-- KnitALong, anybody? Somebody out there will have wanted to knit this cardigan for a long time, too, eh? (Even if you are only seeing it for the first time today!)

ETA, because I am a complete idiot and you guys know I am an idiot... I'd been going through my small stash of knitting mags for another purpose. I remembered having a black market photocopy of this pattern and thought maybe I'd put the envelope in there. And what do you know? I have a copy of the Fall 1992 Vogue Knitters in which this pattern first appeared. I thought that cover photo on the VK site looked familiar. Right. Have cancelled order for £1.95 pattern. Will be happy to pursue KAL action if you're into it. The pattern is one size for body, only sleeve size changes. Chest measurement is 58 1/2 inches, though, so it really should fit most. Changing this garment would be a bitch, but could be done.

FETA: The other fabulous jumper I want to knit this year is Beth Brown-Reinsel's Celtic Dreams, a top-down aran jumper with saddle shoulders and a really long skirt. I've had the pattern and wool for this since before I left the US.

Question: Why, now that summer is really here in the UK, do I suddenly want to knit jumpers and cardigans???

Comments

[tibicina.livejournal.com]

Well, for myself, I'd like it in a rich, deep purple, but I want most everything in purple, so that's not helpful.

Actually, I think it would be nice in a deep emerald or forest green. I rather liked the picture of it in black. Or it might be nice in a charcoal gray.

[telynor.livejournal.com]

I'll be knitting the Brown-Reinsel pattern in a sort of dusky lavender. I worry about a deep colour obscuring all that cable work, so I'm leaning toward grey, or perhaps a green-grey, for this one. Of course, I really do have the right amount of wool in the traditional creamy aran colour; maybe I could talk to clothsprogs about giving me a dyeing-after-the-fact lesson. :-) Or maybe, just this once, I'll make a cream aran. I might find I really love it.

[the-magician.livejournal.com]

Cream arans are nice, though the one I've got is tending towards a mushroom colour ... and smells beautifully of sheep!

I second the idea of doing it in a green, though of course being a proper fanboy, I'd quite like one in black :-) ... though I think a black with white speckles could be very interesting!

[telynor.livejournal.com]

The only problem with a black aran is that all the fantastic patterning on this cardigan would not show up very well. I don't mind black arans in general, simple ones, but for this garment, I want the world to know how complex and difficult it looks, even if I end up finding it fairly easy to knit. Reading blogs of people who've made it, I do not anticipate I will find it easy to knit. ;)

[tibicina.livejournal.com]

Oooh, that pattern looks lovely, too. Of course, both patterns look a bit too ambitious for me at the moment, but I look forward to seeing your pictures of them.

Cream arans do have an elegance to them as long as they stay clean.

[telynor.livejournal.com]

The fantastic thing about the Brown-Reinsel pattern is the way it's knitted. It's a top-down aran whose sleeves are mostly knitted in to the garment. The only seam is an underarm tuck at the end! Way-hey for no finishing!

The EFA, on the other hand, is a different story. Drop sleeves, five pieces plus a button band-- a finishing nightmare.

[clothsprogs.livejournal.com]

Because it *always* pays to have a jumper or cardi with you during summer in the UK

Teddy

[clothsprogs.livejournal.com]

Rust or a mossy green would be my choices for the colour... but those are pretty predictable colour choices for me.

Teddy

[telynor.livejournal.com]

What are your thoughts on dyeing post-knitting? I have some Rowan Magpie in Standard Aran Cream that would probably be enough for this cardi, but I do think a grey/mossy green would be a great choice. Rust might also work, but see my comments above to the_magician: I want the intricate cable work here to stand out and scream, "THIS WOMAN IS A GODDESS AMONG KNITTERS!" :D

[clothsprogs.livejournal.com]

In theory, it should work well but I'd suggest knitting up a swatch I can put in with my next hand-dye project in order to test the waters (how well the yarn takes up the dye, how the dye-process effects the knitting, how easily the excess dye rinses out etc.)

Teddy

[telynor.livejournal.com]

Your wish is my command. Now I just have to make sure I have enough of the Magpie. :)

(Bought, incidentally, in a knitting store sale in Bristol when I was visiting the Talis Fairy a few years back.)

[asknosecrets.livejournal.com]

The answer to the last bit is: Sheer bloody masochism. ;)

Though funnily, I've had a friend complain that she's making baby blankets, and how hot it is having a lapful right now. So you're not the only one!

I think silvery-grey would look great. Hmm. *ponders*

[telynor.livejournal.com]

Well, I have not denied being a masochist for some time now... ;-)

Silvery-grey, not my colour, but probably would look great in this pattern.

And on another topic: congrats on the hat commission! Soon, we will call you Jack THE Hat. :D

[asknosecrets.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. Now I'm trying to imagine your colours, and (based on I think one picture I've seen of you!) work out what I'd say... hmm. I'd go with green, but I'm far too fond of green.

And thank you - that's actually where the name came from, knitting hats too much. So we'll see where it goes - not getting hopes up yet, but getting on. (And applying for seventy million jobs - I hope you have more luck than me!)

[bardling.livejournal.com]

Well, it'll be ready to wear for next sprautumn? I'd go with mossy green or rust, too.

[telynor.livejournal.com]

OK, looking like that mossy green is definitely the colour. :)

[bercilakslady.livejournal.com]

Damn. I've never knit a sweater, but I want one of those. I might just have to do this. At the very least, I'm going to get the pattern.

[telynor.livejournal.com]

The pattern is readily available in the US; check around to see which stores might sell the pattern itself, instead of the big Vogue Designer Knits book; you'll save yourself a heap. Which is a good thing, because the wool for this sweater will set you back quite a bit! :)

[bercilakslady.livejournal.com]

I'll have to do that. No wool buying for a while for me, but it's on the list. (I have a cable and lace blanket to finish, and three lace shawls on the list also.)

[telynor.livejournal.com]

I'm doing some wool checking for this cardi right now, and if I had to recommend any US yarn, I'd say you should check into Classic Elite Montera. It's the wool I did the 10-year aran in (userpic). It's the right weight, and it knits up beautifully.

[janewilliams20.livejournal.com]

Ooh. The Celtic Dreams one doesn't do much for me, but the Enchanted Forest... though the more I look at it, the more I want to extend that centre tree to have branches up to almost shoulder level. Who, me, over-ambitious? Well, the first garment I ever knitted (excluding Teddy's New Scarf, at age 6 or so) was an Aran for Dave: and it had to be altered to make the arms longer. Yes, possibly, me, over-ambitious (but I did it).

Take the cabling on those trees on the right of the back. Use that pattern to extend the centre tree upwards, then have the "bobbly bits" higher, the top almost touching the neck.

I'll have to get the pattern, do the planning, and then never find time to knit it...

and for you, I'd agree with the rest. Forest or mossy green. Something to emphasise the whole "tree" concept.

Ever tried combining multi-colour with Aran? Different colour for cables and background? I've never quite got it working myself, but it would look good here.