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  • About
  • Blog 2014-2021

a sweater--somewhat slanted

6/4/2019

 
Picture
A few months ago
my aunt had her hip replaced.
Happily, all went well
and she is once again
meandering in the woods with her dog.
Picture
Harrisville Hydro Turbine Yarn; Size 11 needles
Also happily, I was able to help with a few things
like hospital transport
and by being a second pair of ears
with nurses, doctors etc. 

Mostly, though, I was just on call.
 Because she is both relation and dear friend, 
the whole thing was fascinating
​ and pretty easy for me 
(lots of spinning and knitting time in waiting rooms).
It was not, however, so easy for her,
at least  at the time,
and afterward she thanked me
 with a gift certificate to our local LYS,
​ The Yarn Underground.
Picture
PictureSarah-Dippity; Harrisville Flywheel
Though totally surprised 
(I'm kind of weird about gifts),

I  was nonetheless thrilled
and knew exactly
what I was going to do.
The wall devoted to 

Harrisville Hydro Turbine
had caught my eye last winter
when I bought the yarn
​ for the 
Long Sarah-Dippity,
and for all my hand spinning ways,
I know yummy yarn when I see it.

Picture
Somewhat Slanted Summer Six Pack Sweater; hand spun yarn; natural dyes
No matter that bulky yarn season
should have been ending right around then --
these round and airy skeins
​seemed destined to become a heftier version 
of the  Summer Six Pack Sweater--
 a comfortable and versatile favorite for the last three years.
Picture
How fluffy Turbine yarn
would behave within the bias structure
remained to be seen--
​certainly it would be quite different 
than​ the collection of hand spun odds and ends
that made up the earlier striped garment.
And the not knowing made it extra compelling.
Picture
The tiny green sweater is knit from remnants of Blackberry Ridge fingering ...
Luckily this sweater does not need
a gauge swatch before starting,

so I could cast on for the actual sweater
the moment I got home from the yarn store,
and start finding out.
Picture
 When I first blogged about The Six Pack Sweater
several people asked for a pattern
(or at least some kind of guide
 beyond  the vague thing I wrote on the post),
but somehow it didn't happen--
at least back then.
This spring, however,
​the versatility of the idea,
gave me the extra impetus to start drawing.
Picture
Alas, it is one thing knit
and design as you go,
and quite another to write a helpful guide
that other people can use
to knit a garment they love,
​ in the size of their choice,
with yarn they have, or want to try,
at  whatever gauge makes both yarn and knitter happy.
​
So it has taken me longer than I thought.
Picture
Plus ... ah...
​ I have been spinning
the odd yard of flax.
Picture
Today, however,
​I am now thrilled to announce that
A Sweater -- Somewhat Slanted
is now available in the store
as a PDF download.
Picture
Like my other zines and PDFs 
this is a guide booklet
for creating your own adventure
(not a pre-calculated set of instructions).
This means that 
some straightforward math
​ (formulas provided),
is part of the thrill.
Aren't you excited?
Picture
Somehow, I kind of think you actually are.
There is just so much pleasure
in making decisions--
even hard ones--

when it mean we will end up
with a personal and magical garment
we will actually wear and use.
(And somehow, I don't think armhole depth
will be the biggest decision you'll ever make).

If you give it a try,
will you let me know how it goes?
Picture
Bonnie Klatt
6/4/2019 08:16:34 am

Garter st is a favorite of mine! This reminds me of the garter st cardi I created about 4 years ago. I just might give this one a try Sarah.

Tracy Hudson link
6/4/2019 08:20:33 am

Sarah, you are so beautiful and wonderful and I don't know why but this morning in this mood, that glamour shot with the willow ball was so perfect it made me CRY.
And many thanks for the plug in the email - feeling the solidarity :)

Bea link
6/4/2019 08:28:57 am

Hi Sarah, I just want to let you know how much I enjoy your thoughtful posts, photos, drawings, musings. It must take a fair amount of time to put these posts together, and I appreciate your generosity in sharing. Thanks for inspiring!

DeAnn Jochen
6/4/2019 12:57:19 pm

I always love your stuff, blogs, paintings, things you turn out....inspiration and delight just flow every time I click on your blog.
YES! I want to buy your sweater pattern, if I can just figure out where & how.

Heidi
6/4/2019 04:05:12 pm

I am SO excited!! The only thing I can knit are garter stitch wash cloths. I think I might be able to try this! Although, stitching on the diagonal makes me a little nervous...

Judy Smith-Lamothe
6/7/2019 06:22:10 pm

Hello Sarah. I thought I paid through paypal for the slanted sweather download but cannot find it in my downloads. Do you have any record of my name showing up? Thanks so much. I truly enjoy your blog which I came across somehow and recognized you from Knitting in America days...my but you certainly are prolific! How do you do it all.

Sarah
6/7/2019 06:56:52 pm

Hello Judy. Thanks for the message.
Did you get a receipt from A Field Guide To Needlework? If so the link to the download is on the Receipt that says Thank You. Under those words it says “Download Information” and under that is the link.
That said, I can’t find a record of your transaction in either my paypal or my Store account. Does your paypal say you made the payment?
Feel free to contact me at sarah.swett1 (At) gmail (dot) com if this is the case so we can figure it out.
Otherwise, perhaps try again?
Thanks so much for your effort and so sorry it is proving to be tricky.

SamKD
6/8/2019 07:16:23 am

I always find your artistic journey inspirational and your photography wonderful - totally love your aesthetic - but what drove me to post today was that Sweater Somewhat Slanted is just _such_ a kickass design! The three-needle bindoff of the side seams particularly blows me away. Will definitely be making one very soon.

Pax,
SamKD

Rayleen
6/9/2019 05:46:59 am

I am having a hard time figuring out the best way to change colors on the sweater. What did you do as your sweater looks fantastic. Right now I am just dropping the current color and starting the new row with the new color doing a yarn over and knitting across but my new color yarn over loops don’t look great.

Sarah
6/10/2019 12:39:48 pm


Oh gosh. How frustrating.
And yes, the stripe thing can be awkward when neither carrying nor dropping the old yarn and starting the new really works.
So, to make clean color switches I Spit-Splice the two colors together (old and new) — folding each back on itself at the point of change.
This technique works only with wool and wool blends (not superwash).
I’m still figuring out ideas for stripes with non-felting yarn.

I hope to at least mention this info in the blog tomorrow and eventually flesh it out with drawings and/ or photos, but at the moment I’m away from home and can’t do a thorough explanation. Perhaps there is a Split Splice demo to be found on the internet in the meantime?

So great to have your feedback so i can improve the pattern . Thank you!

Ama link
6/9/2019 11:05:34 am

Thank you! I am indeed very excited! I love the simplicity of your garments and can't wait to get started.

Rain Aroluna
6/10/2019 05:50:39 pm

I've been thinking for quite a while about clothes-making as a sort of therapeutic exercise in finding peace in my transgender body and it always leads to looking through pages of ravelry patterns and never finding just the right thing. The way you relentlessly make cloth and try things is very inspiring and helpful to me in that effort. Like a reminder of the healthy exploration and creativity I had as a kid.

Sarah
6/11/2019 12:13:49 pm

Rain, I cannot thank you enough for this heart warming description of what I seem to be doing. This time of, as you say, relentlessly making cloth and trying things out, is unfolding for me as well — and proving a satisfying, terrifying, thrilling and the same time elementally simple adventure that does, indeed, connect me as much to the child I once was as to the white haired, wrinkled and free person I am becoming.
I’m so glad you are doing it too.

Judy
6/15/2019 04:51:26 pm

I have been trying unsuccessfully to purchase the slanted sweater pdf but cannot seem to complete the process. I think I've completed the process through to paypal but nothing shows up on my account and there is no download. Any suggestions? Thanks so much. I thoroughly enjoy your blog.

Sarah
6/15/2019 07:52:56 pm

Gosh Judy, how frustrating! Wish I knew what was up — another order came through and the pattern was downloaded shortly after you wrote this, so I’m pretty sure it does work. Were you trying to do it through Instagram? Sometimes that makes it weird. If you try again and it still doesn’t work though, email me at sarah.swett1 (at) gmail.com and we can work out another way to get it to you. So sorry it is being ornery....


Comments are closed.
    Picture

    ​Sarah C Swett 
    tells stories
    with
    ​ and about

     hand spun yarn. 


    Picture
    Click for info on
    my four selvedge
    warping class
    with
    ​ Rebecca Mezoff  
    fringeless


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