Inspiration is a fickle beast.
Just when you think you
have her tamely walking by your side; you think, you know where you are going,
then… >>puff<< … and she is nowhere to be found. You stop, feel
puzzled for a bit and suddenly, you are being pulled into another direction. I
am lucky, I craft for my own joy, I don’t need to be disciplined, can perform a
180º turn, and just follow the tug. I was contently arranging my fabrics – when
out of the blue, I realized that I needed to cast on right away for a new sweater. I know
I have not knit a sweater in ages, I felt it was about time to remedy this.
I bought Åsa Söderman’s book Ziggurats, 16 elegantlyseamless knits as an ibook some time ago, have read bits from it every now and
then. I did few experiments with the method in summer, thus I had a good idea
about it. I had also new yarn on my shelf waiting to be cast on. I wanted my
new sweater to be something from the book. I decided on the simplest one,
Simple Summer Ziggurat, to be able to really understand what I was doing.
But first, let me show you the yarn. It is Einrum
Icelandic wool 80% + Thai silk 20% in fingering weight, 208m/50g. I ordered my
yarn from Titityy, one of the best yarns shops in Finland. The wool is, like
Icelandic wool is, quite scrunchy, not soft and squishy, but very, very woolly.
Wool is plied with a silk thread that gives a beautiful, shiny contrast to the rough
wool. I knew I would like the yarn, when I saw it on the screen. My yarn color
is deep red, color number 1016 and the silk is brighter red, making a lovely
combination.
I bought one skein in blue, but as you can see, the contrast is
missing from that combination. The blue should have been darker blue so that it
would have given the stage to silk to shine. I have not looked at the other
colors to see, how they look like, but this red combo is a win.
When I first started knitting with it, I had to
concentrate a little bit on getting both plies on the needles, as it is easy to
leave the soft silk behind. Since the wool is on the rough side, it loves to crab
its neighbor, that needs to be dealt with occasionally, but once my hands began
to remember how they needed to handle the yarn, the process has been enjoyable.
I am using 3mm needles and it produces light and airy fabric. Blocking evens
out all the misshapen stitches but the yarn does not bloom like some woolen
spuns do.
I am sure this yarn would work exceptionally well with felting. I
hope I will have some extra left so that I can try it out. The silk will
probably look even more beautiful once the wool around it felts. I am not sure
what I like best about this yarn… of course the color, the airiness, but I
think the yarn has character, in a way, it can almost tell you what it wants to
be.
I decided to knit a very simple sweater, but the silk
in the yarn has been talking to me. It has given me ideas, I have wondered how
I could emphasize the silk portion of the yarn.
I have this huge drawer half full of different hand
wear I have done over the years. I looked through them to see, if I would get
any ideas from them and I did. It is little early to tell just what I am drawn
to, because I want to ponder that in my head for a bit, I want to hear and see,
if anything comes from this thinking.
Do you know “spedetröjor” - embellished knitted
shirts, mostly (I think) from southern Sweden. I have not managed to get a book
that focuses on them, I don’t know if such a book even exists, I know very
little of them. I just know that they are extremely beautiful, adorned with
silk and ribbon, oh… and think about this, they are knitted with 1,5mm needles
(I am not sure but is the size US000?)
I hope I can take a course on making
myself a Spedetröja someday, I already have a kit. (If you go to Pinterest and
write into the search field spedetröja, you can see few examples of them.)
As my hands have been busy knitting with silk and
wool, my mind has been roaming somewhere around the drawer of mittens and
Pinterest pictures of Spedetröjor, and there amongst all of them, awaits my
sweater. The skeleton of it, is knitted almost exactly as written in Ziggurat
book, but the finishing is still veiled.
The Ziggurat method … how do I like it? I do, I really
do. I love it. It is fiddly in the beginning, as you keep turning and picking
up stitches and knitting short rows, but after a few hours of concentrated
knitting time, you can try on your sweater, make certain, that the sleeve heads
are where they should be, the collar is just right, and keep on knitting
confidently that your new sweater is going to fit. I know it is still early
times, but I am almost ready to declare, that I will, from now on, knit all my
sweaters top down using this method. At some point, I will try to adjust a
normal pattern into this way. I love finishing, adding details, love picking
up stitches for the neck bands and knitting them, but I don’t love installing
sleeves. I much rather knit them than sew them on.
This is all. It is dark, and late; sleeping time.
Wool with you,
Lene
Oh my! That yarn looks amazing! So much good here... and I am likewise fascinated with the Ziggurat method. I might have to try it out!
ReplyDeleteThis has truly spiced up my knitting! Highly recommend! 😀
DeleteNever heard of Ziggurat before; now I"m intrigued!
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting, having done quite a few sweaters, I am so glad there is again something new to explore! 😍
DeleteWow, how beautiful! How many skeins did you use for your Ziggurat? I'm very very tempted to pick up my needles when I see it, after a way too long pause!
ReplyDeleteIt was not my intention to post as unknown.
DeleteHi Maud, so far I have used three x 50g and I have 7 skeins all together, looks like I have more than enough...but then I might knit a long sweater, but will let you know in the end 😀 again, this is most interesting construction!
DeleteI have my yarn wound and ready to knit my first Ziggurat. I am finished a WIP first and am actually excited but a wee bit nervous, too. Yours looks beautiful. But then, your work is always stunning. That drawer full of mittens is a joy.
ReplyDeleteThank you 😍
Delete