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I'm knitting a sweater—a sweater from a pattern that is not my own. Not a big deal, right? Well, this is rare for me… so rare that I'm wondering if I've done it since I learned to write my own patterns.
I value my knitting time, and in the past I had so little of it that I could only justify knitting something if I was going to be publishing the pattern. It made the time spent seem more justified—other than just for the enjoyment of it.
But there are SO MANY fabulous patterns available for us knitters to enjoy. Sometimes there is a beautiful gem that is just what I want, and I just HAVE to knit. This sweater is one of them.
It's the sweater that The Dude wears in the movie The Big Lebowski. This is a movie that James and I have enjoyed watching together over and over—one that has become quotable in our daily lives.
The pattern is available for free from Andrea Rangel on Ravelry.
I've been trying to figure out a sweater to knit for James for a really long time. It's hard to know exactly what he'll like. The first sweater I designed and knit for him was a huge learning experience about checking the gauge with ribbing… you've got to stretch it. That sweater turned out 4 sizes too big for him after I washed it because… well… it stretched. duh. That was about 5 years ago. I think I'm brave enough to give it another go. Hopefully this one turns out better.
I must confess though… this sweater is knit in 1 x 1 ribbing, and the pattern says not to stretch the fabric when checking the gauge… heh. I did wash my swatch, however, and it stayed pretty ribby, so I'm not too concerned about it being too big for him. I think the fair isle parts will help it stay together too.
Fair isle with 1 x 1 ribbing is something I've never done before, and I'm really enjoying it. I think this is going to be a great sweater. I'm fantisizing about designing something for myself using the remaining yarn. I'm using Cascade's Eco Wool, which comes in 250 gram hanks. I'm pretty sure there will be a significant amount leftover—at least in the 2 darker colors. I have a bunch of red in my stash that I'd love to combine with it also. I see stripes… but first I must finish this sweater! hehe.
Looking at the sweater from the movie, James and I decided that the fair isle and stripes needed to be shifted down away from the shoulders a bit. In order to do that I've decided to knit the sweater from the top down, rather than the bottom up. I also changed the neck shaping to more of a V-neck, which I think is more like the movie sweater.
I'm knitting the back and the fronts at the same time… just for fun. I think the sleeves will also be knit from the top down, picking up stitches around the armhole edge, working short rows to shape the cap, etc… We'll see how it goes.
What are you knitting?
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