Knitter's Notes on Matchy Matchy
Ok, I promise this is the last post featuring photos of my "Matchy Matchy" project. Except maybe in winter when I start wearing it. But, be prepared for a deep dive into the design process and all the things I did that make the jumper interesting to me. If you're not a knitter it might not be something you're into. Be warned.
First, the wool. The main colour is some kind of crepe yarn I frogged from a jumper Grandma made, I think for my uncle. He didn't wear it but there was a veritable treasure box of yarn in that thing, which I balled, then skeined, then washed, then caked. It has been hanging in my stash for years in various states. The dark olive green-khaki colour is one I completely love, but it's really hard to photograph accurately. I have no idea what the fibre content is though-I suspect wool with a bit of mohair in there-there's a little halo and it's soft but itchy in this warm weather. It's something lightweight, which means it's knitted into a thin, warm, beautifully drapey but still structured fabric.
As my skills have improved I finally realised I wanted to do something with a contrasting yarn. That's when the hunt began. The perfectly speckled, neutral but not too plain skein of Knitcraft & Knittery could have been made for this project. The colour is called "Ohwinspringtime" (now I've just checked the website it's actually called "Ohio in Springtime"). Its a lovely ivory white with blue, yellow, pale aqua, mustard and dark khaki speckles. A fingering weight Merino, i's incredibly soft and luckily swatched up very close in gauge to the olive wool.
Second, the design. Swatches made (they tell you how many stitches make a certain width and length in knitted fabric, so you can make the garment to a certain size). Then, what did I want this jumper to actually look like? In my main colour swatch I tried stocking stitch, ribs in 1x1 and 2x2, and garter stitch. I preferred the 1x1 rib, and also loved how the garter stitch looked. I had already measured another jumper for the fit, and I realised I could do something with the body to make it swingy and fun (straight jumpers bunch on my waist and look a bit weird).
A round neckline with back neck shaping was enough to get me started on the yoke. Then I worked out the colourwork patterns I wanted, the increases to make the jumper fit from neckline to underarms, and started knitting. The sleeves came last. And the body itself came once I had gotten to separating for sleeves. I wanted increases and garter stitch bands, so I had to work out how to incorporate them both. There's a good half a dozen pages of scribbled numbers, colourwork charts and a semblance of knitted instructions on the construction of this baby.
After a couple of months work, I had a new jumper! Soft, warm, fun and something I'm very proud of. I also had quite a lot of left over wool. What to do? Make a cowl of course! The simplest of neck warmers, they simply loop over the head and sit cosily between your collar and chin. I hate having cold air on my neck and chest so I almost never leave the house without some kind of scarf or cowl in winter. This once has matching colourwork patterns to the jumper, and I incorporated garter stitch bands as well. Handily, they also widened the cowl slightly at the collar side (yes there's a top and bottom) which is nice to kind of spread around the top of the jumper. Definitely a warm combo!
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| Pretty pretty. Hard to capture the colour though |
First, the wool. The main colour is some kind of crepe yarn I frogged from a jumper Grandma made, I think for my uncle. He didn't wear it but there was a veritable treasure box of yarn in that thing, which I balled, then skeined, then washed, then caked. It has been hanging in my stash for years in various states. The dark olive green-khaki colour is one I completely love, but it's really hard to photograph accurately. I have no idea what the fibre content is though-I suspect wool with a bit of mohair in there-there's a little halo and it's soft but itchy in this warm weather. It's something lightweight, which means it's knitted into a thin, warm, beautifully drapey but still structured fabric.
 |
| Such a good combo |
As my skills have improved I finally realised I wanted to do something with a contrasting yarn. That's when the hunt began. The perfectly speckled, neutral but not too plain skein of Knitcraft & Knittery could have been made for this project. The colour is called "Ohwinspringtime" (now I've just checked the website it's actually called "Ohio in Springtime"). Its a lovely ivory white with blue, yellow, pale aqua, mustard and dark khaki speckles. A fingering weight Merino, i's incredibly soft and luckily swatched up very close in gauge to the olive wool.
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| Perfect colour name, and it's Australian wool |
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| See the speckles? So stunning |
A round neckline with back neck shaping was enough to get me started on the yoke. Then I worked out the colourwork patterns I wanted, the increases to make the jumper fit from neckline to underarms, and started knitting. The sleeves came last. And the body itself came once I had gotten to separating for sleeves. I wanted increases and garter stitch bands, so I had to work out how to incorporate them both. There's a good half a dozen pages of scribbled numbers, colourwork charts and a semblance of knitted instructions on the construction of this baby.
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| Baby sweater |
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| Sleeves nearly done. Hair definitely not done |
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| So, so many scribbles |
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| Matchy matchy cowl, because of course |
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| Ta-da! Winter come at me |
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