Interlude
I know you’re all waiting for pictures of the finished Fishtrap Aran. And since I’m the kind of person who can’t stand suspense, I’ll relieve your minds by revealing that the 30″ zipper turned out to be just fine. I was saved from more ripping and gnashing of teeth. But it’s taking me an age to sew on the darn facings by hand, and I still need to attach i-cord to conceal the zipper from the outside before I’ll consider it really done.
So this post is the equivalent of those old cartoons where the action pauses and there are birds tweeting and maybe some classical music and it says INTERLUDE across the screen.
I give you the beginnings of the Elizabeth Zimmermann Rorschach Jacket:
It begins with a gigantic cast on for the center front and back and works out to the side seam and the sleeve, with some nifty miters along the way. The side seam stitches are live and hanging out on spare needles; I’ll graft them together when the sleeve is complete, pick up stitches along the bottom for the hem, and voila, half a sweater. Then I make the right half, add some buttons and button tabs, slap a belt on it, and Bob’s your uncle. (Where the heck does that saying come from, anyway? Seriously, I want to know.)
In other news, we don’t believe in dieting here at Blue Garter. Especially when there’s a chance of snagging a whole sweater’s-worth of beautiful and DISCONTINUED yarn. So when Knit/Purl had a President’s Day sale, I found I couldn’t resist Rowan Yorkshire Tweed Aran at 40% off.
If Mr. Garter is very good and wears his Fishtrap Aran every day for the rest of the year frequently, he may be lucky enough to get a Seamless Hybrid out of this plummy goodness.
Posted: February 28th, 2007 at 5:42 pm
Mr. Garter is a very lucky guy. Those are going to be fabulous!
Posted: February 28th, 2007 at 6:57 pm
wow, i love that jacket. it’s another one of EZ’s “surprise” moves 🙂 i would have never have believed it came together like that.
Posted: February 28th, 2007 at 7:45 pm
You didn’t! You found Yorkshire Tweed in Wild Plum! I am so envious and pleased for you at once! That is drop dead gorgeous.
The Rorschach jacket looks beautiful thus far. The black is really stunning on the white. Oh, and here’s a link to an explanation of good old Uncle Bob. I don’t know how accurate it is, but at least it’s a story!
Posted: March 1st, 2007 at 5:16 am
can’t wait to see it all done! the EZ sweater is pretty neat – give her major points for original construction of sweaters….
that Rowan Tweed is INCREDIBLE! and at that type of deal – you would have been fighting me for it if I was there!
Posted: March 1st, 2007 at 6:12 am
You’re the queen of sweaters lately!! I NEED to get a bigger project on the needles. The lace shawl for my sister is coming along slowly but surely! But once I have knee surgery, I think a stockinette project will be the order of the day.
I, too, would LOVE to know where “Bob’s your uncle” came from!
Posted: March 1st, 2007 at 6:36 am
Oh, Yorkshire Tweed! My favorite! And I haven’t a skein of it, I’m so jealous. Enjoy that tweed and grace us with lots of plum-y photos as you go. The jacket is looking super-lovely.
Posted: March 1st, 2007 at 6:43 am
Oh, so *that’s* what the Rorschach Jacket looks like! Nice. I love the black and white too.
Posted: March 1st, 2007 at 1:47 pm
the web is just great: http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-bob1.htm
Posted: March 1st, 2007 at 4:26 pm
Thanks, honey! My kingdom for a copy of Captain Francis Grose’s Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue of 1785!
Hmmm, Vulgar Tongue…I think I’d better add that to my list of good names for rock bands. It’s really right up there with Fecal Rain, which I’ve been treasuring since Introductory Biology.
Posted: March 2nd, 2007 at 10:03 am
How weird! The link I tried to post utterly fails to work, but it was to the same site as, well, cited by Mr. Garter. Sorry for the utter lack of html skills in commenting.
Posted: March 5th, 2007 at 5:23 pm
Hmm, every day for the rest of the year? If it were my handknit and my husband, he’d better be wearing it every day for the rest of his LIFE!
Posted: March 6th, 2007 at 4:23 am
That Rowan tweed is gorgeous. I love their plums/purples. The EZ sweater looks great, and I can’t wait to see it come together!
Posted: March 7th, 2007 at 7:48 am
How is it working with the icelandic wool? Is it just as wonderful and Meg and Elizabeth say? I’d love to try a rorschach sweater as soon as I get done knitting a saddle shoulder cardigan with some loverly cables added, a seamless shirt yoke sweater, a bog jacket……
Posted: March 11th, 2007 at 5:49 pm
where did you find the Rorschach pattern? I’ve never seen it befor and I have all her books. Is it from her newsletter?