Two Sweaters, Both Alike in Dignity

About 5 years ago, maybe a year or two into when I started knitting more seriously, I decided I wanted to make an Aran sweater (also known as an Irish fisherman sweater). At the time, this did not seem like a completely insane idea. I knew how to cable (it’s easy!), I could read a pattern (it’s like a recipe!), this should really go well.

I found a pattern I liked with lots of different design panels and off I went. I was making it for my brother (who is 7 years my junior and could not be trusted with a 100% wool sweater at the time...and probably not now either if I’m honest…) and chose a wool/acrylic blend that was washable and the traditional cream color. Casting on and then the ribbing at the bottom edge of course went just fine, these things were old hat. Then the pattern began...and so my woes.

It was more counting and pattern tracking while shaping than I had ever done before. I think I knit and frogged the set-up row at least 5 times. I learned the joy of stitch markers and virtual stitch counters that could track multiple pattern rows at a time. That sweater taught me a lot. It took me the better part of a year to complete. I had to put it aside more than once to stave off despair and/or destruction (of sweater and self), but I finished it and gave it to my brother for Christmas. I don’t think I have ever been prouder of a piece of my knitting.

I have also never been so done with a piece of knitting.

I didn’t want to see another Aran pattern for the foreseeable future but I was in a quandary. I wanted one for myself. I had made this ridiculously hard sweater for my brother (whom I love) but dammit I had poured blood, sweat, and tears into the thing and it was hard to give away! And so, I promised myself that the next time I had it in my head to make an Aran sweater (which I knew would not be for a few eons…) it would be for me.

Fast forward five-ish years.

The time has come. The wounds have healed. I have either learned or I have forgotten how dumb I am. I am making an Aran sweater of my very own.

It turns out, I really have learned a lot in the past five years of knitting! I am better at following a pattern. I am better at tracking multiple pattern elements at the same time. And I am hella faster.

Look how pretty!

This is my message to new knitters (and old ones): try the patterns that scare you. Not only will you learn a lot, you will make some of your most treasured pieces, and it will give you the confidence to say, “how hard could it be?”

You can see more pictures of both sweater 1 and sweater 2, as well as many of my other projects, on my Ravelry page.

The Book Count is a Lie

I am not made for reading challenges.

I bet you are. You can do all the challenges you want. Read only diverse authors; read only the classics; read a book from every genre for year, a few months, whatever it is.

I respect you, person who does reading challenges. Your self-discipline and ability to read things because they’re good for you. I bet you eat all your fruits and vegetables too. You can be secure in the knowledge that you are a better person than I.

I aspire to your level of commitment, but alas, I am doomed to the lesser realms. Specifically, the realm of the GoodReads reading goal where I am, unsurprisingly, behind. Though everyone knows it is an arbitrary goal rewarding merely quantity, not quality (and it is a vicious liar because it doesn’t count re-reads toward your goal...), and you, YOU noble Reading Challenger, dine on hardier meat.

Try, you say to me, try to read that Leo Tolstoy tome instead of that Guy Gavriel Kay novel for the 25th time. Try, you intone once more, try to read that collection of Important Poetry instead of that Trashy Romance.

I would try, Mighty One, were the Kay novel not so beautifully written and calling to my soul. I would try, Exalted, were that romance cover not so lurid and enticing (there are pirates on it!).

You should wash your hands of this unworthy one. It is a losing battle which even your shining armor on your white horse cannot rescue. Just leave me here with my meretricious novels and look back for me no more as you ascend and I shall avert my eyes from your blazing light and return them to my subjacent stacks.

And I shall be blissful in my ignorance.

Stick Them With the Pointy End

I have a profound relationship with my knitting needles. My deepest love is reserved for my Addi Click Turbo set, but I retain a nostalgic love for my first interchangeable set with its colorful aluminum tips and inflexible cables and my wooden tip interchangeable set and my snazzy wooden double points and my…...

Ok…this could go on for a while.

Suffice it to say they are like children and I love them all equally but differently (except the Addis, I really do love those most...don’t tell the others) and each is suited best to a different task. This is why I have as many needles as I do (totally not because they’re pretty and I wants them, my precious); I make a lot of different things and I want the right tool for each.

This is often what non-knitters, and even new knitters, don’t quite understand until a further explanation is provided. As with any hobby or craft, the right tool can dictate how well or easily a project is completed and crafted. In knitting, your most basic tools are the needles and the yarn. Sure there are stitch markers, and stitch counters, and cable needles, and more, but they are icing on the cake. The style, not the substance. The right needle can make the difference between a smooth project and a mess of yarn. (So can the right yarn, but that is a separate conversation.)

So here are my recommendations on needle types and yarn and needle pairings:

1. Circular Needles - I use circulars for everything except socks and some sleeves. I just don’t bother with straight needles any more. Why would you worry about losing a straight needle in the bottom of your project bag (or in your couch cushions…) when your needles can just be attached to each other??
2. Double Point Needles - I use DPNs for socks and sleeves; anything tubular in other words. If it’s too small for your smallest circular needle cable, the DPNs are your answer (though they do make some pretty small circulars these days…)
3. Straight Needles - For learners only. As I said above, I use my circulars for everything, so I may be a little biased, but I just think straights aren’t particularly necessary any more once you have a clue what you’re doing. They do have their uses for new knitters though who usually find two sticks a bit less confusing to work with than one.
4. Metal Needles - The slick, low friction surface of metal tipped needles are best with natural animal fibers (your wools, fleeces, etc.) and bulkier yarns. These types of fibers are (obviously) hair follicles which have a textured structure and the lower the friction your needles cause, the faster you can knit. Bulky yarns present the same principle: the thicker the yarn, the less friction you want to slow up your knitting.
5. Wood and Bamboo Needles - I like these needles for lace-work and smoother yarns like silk and cotton. The friction created by the grain of the wood gets a better grip on the yarn which means dropping stitches in an intricate pattern or with a slippery fiber is at least slightly less likely. (There are also needle sets with sharper points for lace-work, but I find them dangerous to my health.)
6. Plastic Needles - Just don’t. They’re the worst.

What needles are closest to your heart? Do you have a set you’re emotionally attached to or are they just to get the job done?