The Last Twister
Slow and Steady, Made The Cardi
(Colored pearl and semi-precious stone necklace, Shimoda Accessories; suede and mock croccodile satchel by Marie Elanne; boots, Dumond; photo by Mr. K; all pics enlarge).
Bonne Marie's Twist, is the first sweater, not of my own design, I've made for myself.
During the 23 years I've been knitting, I generally supported the work of sweater designers by purchasing their garments. Knitting patterns involved labor, and at the time, I had enough of my own work to do. But, once I changed careers, I found I could relax my mind to faithfully and uncritically knit another designer's pattern––and the timing couldn't have been better. The blogosphere has given rise to some very good knit designers, the major benefit being, I haven't worked for any of them! Now surrounded with a plethora of interesting knits, I looked for precise instructions with no errata (pattern mistakes make me crazy), and a good schematic and/or pattern chart. Twist, gave me exactly what I was looking for.
Twist is a well balanced design in terms of knitting interest, the fringed cable collar giving it a youthful sass. And, it was classic enough not to date by the time I finished. Given the numerous daily deadlines I face at work, why impose any on an art I enjoy?
I did resist a strong urge to run the cable pattern along the sleeve, and stayed true to the pattern; the discipline was not to re-design or embellish. If you are already knitting someone else's idea, why create more work for yourself?
Anyway, I started knitting this almost a year ago, and finished this past fall. I've worn it on a number of occasions, and it is indeed a chic-knit, receiving many compliments. Now, to elaborate on a few details.
Penny Wise and Button Foolish
I wanted to prove to some of my thriftier knitting friends, that you can make a beautiful and inexpensive garment out of 100% wool, if you're not too lazy to take care of it; knitting is too much of a labor of love, to use a cheap acrylic. Panda Woolbale 8 ply, an Aussie import from the famous Smiley's Yarns, was my choice, and this baby clocked in at $36.00US. So I splurged on the buttons!
They are copper, with a green patina finish, from an Italian boy's military academy, circa 1940's (no, they are not fascist); from Tender Buttons, 143 E 62nd St NYC, 1-212-758-7004, my favorite source in New York (in Chicago, 946 N. Rush, Chicago, IL, 1-312.337.7033).
Here is a close up of the collar, and my friend's necklace.
The knitting pattern contained no errata, and Bonne's instructions were very easy to follow, accompanied by a nice cable chart and a good schematic drawing, especially important when you are ready to block your finished pieces. I gotta say, it was a good knitting experience, for a pattern virgin––although of course, the key––was to knit a large (8" x 8") swatch in the cable pattern first! Remember, if you don't ignore this step, your sweater won't ignore you!
For a blocking tutorial and a novel way to attach the collar, my tutorial page will be in the sidebar shortly.
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Great job on Twister. I ordered that pattern about a week ago, and I want to make it with the hood.
Posted by: Vera | Sunday, February 24, 2008 at 02:55 PM
I love it, only it be able to knit like you!!!!!!
Posted by: sharon | Sunday, February 24, 2008 at 06:43 AM
I love it. It looks so comfortable and fits you perfectly.
Posted by: hope | Wednesday, February 20, 2008 at 12:56 PM
what a wonderful ensemble!!! you did a beautiful job on Twist.
Posted by: lynette | Wednesday, February 20, 2008 at 11:08 AM
Thanks for the shout-out and you look fabulous in your outfit.
Posted by: Shimoda | Monday, February 18, 2008 at 12:08 PM
You look terrific in that. Nice job.
Posted by: juno | Monday, February 18, 2008 at 11:09 AM
Sweeeeet! Love the colour, love the style, looks soo good on you. Inspiring.
Posted by: Knitty Nora | Monday, February 18, 2008 at 10:29 AM
Sweeeeet! Love the colour, love the style, looks soo good on you. Inspiring.
Posted by: Knitty Nora | Monday, February 18, 2008 at 10:28 AM
Beautiful! And those buttons are fabulous.
Posted by: Miss T | Monday, February 18, 2008 at 07:23 AM
YOu did a fabulous job!
Can't wait for the tutorial!
Just awesome work!!
Posted by: Stacey_CrimsonPurl | Monday, February 18, 2008 at 04:56 AM
The sweater is 'made for you' in every sense! Lucky the yarn bargain allowed for splurging on the perfect buttons. The top photo allows me to dream that we are not in the dead of winter.
Posted by: Kristen | Monday, February 18, 2008 at 03:45 AM
Looks like perfection on you. I like that the buttons have history.
Gotta say, I love the collaboration between model and photographer.
Posted by: sappmama | Sunday, February 17, 2008 at 07:39 PM
It looks good, DIVA. You know, that last picture of you reminds me of anita baker.
Posted by: nik | Sunday, February 17, 2008 at 07:25 PM
Looks great! Just your style.
Posted by: Chante | Sunday, February 17, 2008 at 07:04 PM
Good job on finishing Twist. It looks great! I really love it.
Posted by: Wanda | Sunday, February 17, 2008 at 06:42 PM
You are WEARING it SO well! It looks really good on you. Nice color too.
Posted by: Jeanine | Sunday, February 17, 2008 at 06:20 PM
this is such a beautiful cardigan! :)
Posted by: Jen da purse Ho | Sunday, February 17, 2008 at 06:19 PM
Very nice! Love the buttons =)
Posted by: April | Sunday, February 17, 2008 at 05:45 PM
And, best of all, it looks utterly fabulous on you! :)
Posted by: Chris | Sunday, February 17, 2008 at 05:28 PM