a finished object

There is much to catch up on, but I have some drafting due tomorrow and so you will get a small entry today.

News news news! I started Teva Durham's Brilliant Retro Sweater (from the Winter 2005 Interweave Knits) 2 years ago, in the spring of 2006. It was a sweater I was pretty majorly excited about-- both to knit and wear. I got the yarn (Elsebeth Lavold Silky Tweed) from ebay, cast on and knit like crazy. Within a month or two I was done knitting and I started piecing it together.

I distinctly remember sewing on the sleeves while on the bus to Wellfleet, MA, where I worked in July 2006. I had some trouble getting them to fit well, and I was afraid I'd have to reknit the caps. (sound familiar?) Anyway, by the fall of 2006 I had sewed on the sleeves, which in fact did fit. No reknitting required.

But then there was the problem of closure. The original pattern used hooks and eyes to close the cardigan, and I thought it looked strange and uneven. I wanted a zipper. At some point over the winter of 2006-7, I found a very long zipper while wandering along W 38th St. It was about 8" too long for the sweater, but it was the right color.

And then I got really overwhelmed. For some reason sewing on a zipper scared the bejeesus out of me, so I let it sit. The sweater sat in my knitting basket, the zipper was in my sewing notions basket. I wanted to wear it. I brought it to Christopher's cousin's wedding last June, and I wore it then, but was frustrated by its inability to close. And this spring I've worn it a few times, but I've not liked how it flops open. The fabric, which drapes beautifully, also seems to stretch, and I felt like it really needed something to stabilize (and close) it. So on Friday it happened. The Knit Picks catalog had a spread on how to sew zippers in to knitted garments, and it looked not so hard. We made a quick trip to Philadelphia, and I brought the sweater along for the bus ride. And I sewed. It wasn't so bad. By yesterday afternoon it was done, and I can wear it. I think it still needs a little blocking around the zipper (perhaps with a little steam) but otherwise I'm thrilled.
And let me tell you: it is so exciting to finally have the perfect spring sweater!(a tiny last word: I noticed these colors when I was putting away my clean clothing the other day. I thought it was amazing how closely this color combination relates to the yarn I just spun. Am I the only one? Are these colors just in my mind?)