FO: Kevin's McQueen Sweater

I really owed Kevin a cabled sweater. If you recall, I attempted to make him one last Christmas and it failed. He did get another sweater to replace that Christmas-gift-gone-wrong, but it wasn't the kind of cozy cabled pullover that we had been discussing.

So, we began plotting from scratch for inspiration, patterns, and the perfect yarn. The yarn turned out to be the easiest part. We set out on a trip over to Tolt last spring just knowing they'd have the perfect sheepy, earthy yarn and were not disappointed. We considered using Imperial Stock Ranch's Columbia, Rowan Felted Tweed, and Peace Fleece but finally decided on Studio Donegal in Oatmeal. It's soft and springy, yet still feels durable with a lovely tweed. 

I then gave Kevin the task of looking around for images of sweaters he loved to use as inspiration. he kept coming back to this picture of Steve McQueen in a beautiful cream-colored pullover. I of course wholeheartedly approved of his choice of Mr. McQueen as style icon and began plotting and planning to bring it to life. Thus was born Kevin's McQueen Sweater. Although in reality this is a very traditional combination of Aran stitch patterns.

However, despite the fact that this is a very typical Aran style, I had trouble finding a pattern that was just right. I found some vintage patterns that were just too, well, difficult to read or even obtain. Some of the more modern patterns I found were of the 80's and 90's era of exaggerated drop shoulders and baggy fit that I feel are kinda yuck. The most modern patterns were right on for fit and shape...but the stitch patterns were also updated, tweaked, or reinterpreted from the super classic styles. As it turned out, I just couldn't find a pattern that combined a modern shape and construction with an old school stitch pattern. So, I decided to jump full in and make one up.

I started with Shelagh Hollingworth's book Traditional Aran Knitting and swatched my little heart out. This was truly the year of swatching as I focused on becoming a better sweater knitter and this project was a wonderful challenge. After swatching my honeycomb, trellis, six stitch simple cable, and moss stitch it was time for the maths. Eek. Many numbers were crunched. Many charts were (incorrectly, then correctly) drawn. When I had my swatches and charts just right, I used Elizabeth's Percentage System (EPS) for my calculations and was ready to cast on. I liked my fabric and tension with size US 8's for the cable-y bits, and went down to a size US 6 for the ribbing.

The sleeves and body were all knit in the round from the bottom up, then I worked flat for the neck, armhole, and back shaping as well as for the sleeve cap. I was very unsure of how to achieve a set-in sleeve all on my lonesome. All the EPS sweaters I've made before (ahem, all two of them - here and here) had raglan and saddle shoulder shaping, and EZ doesn't lay it out as nicely for set in sleeves (at least in Knitting Workshop). So, I used a pattern I'd used before as a guide since the sizing, gauge, and fit I was going for were very similar. It the end, it worked out perfectly! I was really preparing myself to have to do the armhole and sleeve caps over at least once, but it wasn't necessary. Hurray for success on a first try!

Would I do anything differently looking back? Hmm. Yes. First off, even though all of this yarn was the same dye lot, there was a slight color variation from hank to hank. It wasn't noticeable at all in hank form, and I really didn't even see it until I blocked. Waaaaay past the point of ripping back. I certainly didn't notice it while I was working, and don't notice it even now unless I stare at it in just the right lighting, but it is very noticeable when sopping wet (not a huge concern) and to the critical eye. So there's that. Second, I think I'd cast on less stitches at the waist, then increase gradually a bit through the body. It could be a little bit snugger at the waist. I think I'd also knit the sleeves flat (gasp!) for ease of blocking. The fabric of the honeycomb stitch is so dense and tight that I think it really benefits from a flat rather than tube blocking. Overall, that's a pretty short list of regrets and I am thoroughly pleased!


And then I made him stare into the sun while I took his picture...

Christmas Sweater Project - IT'S DONE!

It's finished! It's finished! And I'm in love with it. Even though it's now near the end of December, I did in fact finish this in time for the first of the month (even a bit before I think) and have been wearing in quite a bit. My original stated goal of "every friggin' day" is of course impossible since it's generally not considered prudent to wear the same outfit every day. However! It has gotten LOTS of wear, especially to winter/Christmas/festive events and outings throughout the month. I even wore it to work on December 1st to celebrate the start of the best month ever.

I can't overstate how much I love this sweater. This project confirmed that colorwork is really my favorite thing. I love both the process of it (aka the knitting) and the final look. It's wonderfully entertaining to work on and I love how bold the design is. Knitting it this way in little increments over the year was very enjoyable. I loved always have a project on the back burner to work on in between other things combined with not having the pressure to finish as soon as possible. I'm tempted to do it again for next Christmas, although in reality I probably won't. I haven't yet formed my knitting agenda for 2015 but I predict it will include less sweaters since I was sort of a sweater-only fiend this year.

As far as mods go, I did make a few. Most visibly, I added in the white as a fourth color. For the charts, I planned out where I wanted to insert the white and am very pleased with how it turned out, both in terms of how the modifications to the chart interacted with each other and the extra pop of bright white in the finished object overall. I also shortened the length of both the body and the sleeves to fit a little higher on the waist and the wrists. This is just a personal preference of mine for pullovers since I typically like to wear them with collared shirts and slightly higher-waisted pants. I like the look of the cuffs peaking out underneath the sleeves and the shape of a slightly higher waistline for the ribbing on my shape.

The only thing about this project is that when people find out that I made it and then inevitably ask how long it takes to "make something like that" I have a difficult time answering. I have no doubt their intentions are good, but A) don't make me think about how long knitting a garment takes or I shall never undertake it again and B) I have no idea since it was so spread out.

Final verdict is that this project was a huge success!

Overnight to Shriner Peak

Here at the Churchill household we did our best to make the most of the late summer season. Yes, I said late summer and it is now winter. Ah well, better late than never with this post.

I'll admit we got off to a terrible start for the first part of the summer with very few overnight outings or day trips. Nothing on the scale of the infamous Churchill Family Yurt Tour 2013, that's for durn sure. But. BUT. Washington has saved us with a string of almost-too-good-to-be-true beautiful late summer weekends. Sorry rest of the country if that was not the case where you live.

On one such weekend, we decided to drive down to Mount Rainier National Park for a quick backpacking trip. One of my goals for the summer was to do more of that. We've had most of our gear since last year's Rialto Beach trip, but haven't used it for actual backpacking since then. Just a couple of regular old camping trips. So, we woke up, saw Rainier as clear as day from the city and decided to pack up and go for it.

We set out with nary a plan as to where we'd actually hike and camp. Because who needs to plan anything when going backcountry camping? KIDDING. We planned a little bit in terms of knowing the permit system and the fact that there were lots of options available for first-come-first-served sites. Luckily, Park Rangers are just the coolest. And luckily when we arrived we were the only ones in the office and this particular ranger appreciated rather than scorned our open-ended plans. He showed us what was available and suggested Shriner Peak.

Oh. Man. Best suggestion ever. The hike itself is moderate at 4 miles with a 3434 foot elevation change. There are only two campsites and the top which means it would not be crowded at all. And, it's got one of only four historic fire lookout buildings at Rainier National Park! This is all before mentioning the spectacular 360 degree views.

It starts out with a pretty steep ascent in a very forested area. It was a bit tough considering this was our first time doing an overnight trip with all our gear that included such an elevation change. I mean, I was sweating. But our packs felt good and it was really nice to be out. When we came around this corner, well, that was just about it. Look at this view:

What a sight! It's really a very good reward for not too demanding of a hike. We made it up and set up camp with plenty of time to spare before sundown. Both sites were empty when we arrived, which meant we were free to take the better one. Really, does it get any better than this?

After getting set up we walked back to the fire lookout and had our dinner on the wrap-around porch. I can't get over how beautiful the view of Mount Rainier is. I could stare at it for hours, and in fact did. Kevin did some really high quality glassing from the porch as well. The elk were really calling to each other and he was really hoping to see one through the specs. Unfortunately, they were either too far away to be visible or tucked into the trees, so we were only able to hear but not see them.

That night we happily tucked into our cozy tent with our heads toward east so we could be sure to see the sun come up. The sky was completely clear and the stars were just spectacular. Everything was quiet except for the elk, who continued to call as it got darker and darker.

The next morning, the sunrise was even more beautiful on the mountain than the sunset had been. You could really see the colors and shadows changing on the glaciers and I couldn't stop snapping pictures every few minutes as it transformed. It was a bit chilly, but not too cold and we were plenty bundled.

Even though we never saw any elk, we did see a track pretty close to our camp that had definitely not been there the night before. I get super excited by spotting animal tracks, especially when I see them before Kevin, and had to point this one out.

After a light breakfast we packed up camp with the sun on it's way up and started our trek down. It was so different to be on a hiking trail and not see anyone for so long! Usually on a lot of the hikes we've done out in Washington we see a lot of people on the trail, but this morning we were out ahead of everyone. I shouldn't say we didn't see anybody though. About a third of the way down, right among the huckleberry bushes, we interrupted a breakfasting black bear! Kevin was walking first at that time and saw him (or her) before I did. They both stopped in their tracks and stared for a few seconds before the bear turned and took off away from the trail. I barely even saw his little behind lobbing off into the brush! It was comforting to know he was so scared of us, but we still waited a bit before continuing on and made sure we were nice and loud through the rest of the huckleberry bushes.

We made it down in good time and did our usual post-camping/hiking tradition of stopping at a diner on the way out. There's nothing like a hot plate of hashbrowns and eggs after a night spent outside!