When Interweave's Knitting Daily got going, one of the first free patterns made available was the Sophisticated-Rustic Jacket by Pam Allen from Interweave Knits, Spring 2002. Thanks to Ravelry, I knew that I had the now-discontinued Classic Elite Zelda it spec'd in the stash because I had bought some cones from
Webs during the heyday of my excessive online yarn accumulation. I didn’t really love the green colorway, so I don't know why I bought it, but this pattern offered the chance to punch it up with the contrasting yarn. So I added a unique handspun to my
Maryland shopping list last May, and found what I was looking for in
Dancing Leaf Farm's Slubby Nubby, a damp, mostly green 88-yard hank purchased in Sunday's rains.
I cast on in May and finished in January, knitting on other projects in that eight months, as I do. The handspun was thicker than the Zelda and I made some needle adjustments for the cast-on edges, but I like how it turned out. Fortuitously, I forgot to make buttonholes. I'm not good at those and at the same time pattern directions! I was glad that I had some Slubby Nubby sections with a lot of contrast to use in crocheting the three buttons, but I think they are probably bigger than ones made with Zelda would have been, so the buttonholes as sized by the pattern could've been too small. Instead, I made button loops in the same way I made them with thread on sewing projects; it feels a little like macrame to me (does anyone remember macramé?)
One of my favorite things about making sweaters is making them fit my body. These sleeves are perfect for my long arms, and the body is just right for my short torso. Because I had been working on this at a number of my monthly Stitch & Bitch gatherings, I was determined to wear it, completed, on the first Tuesday in February a week ago, which was also my birthday. I like it so much that I wore it again on Saturday for my all-grrrl dance party sleepover, LNMMXP (which stands for 50 in 2010 Party)! Despite the fact that our latest blizzard kept two-thirds of the guests from attending, we had a great time and the sweater received many compliments!
