[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.