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Saturday February 3, 2007
Smitten by Aran.
Egged on by the intense competition from Ferretworld I have also completed my fetching mittens:
I made them using Rowan Calmer as I had some left over from another project and I am very fond of this yarn. It does knit to an Aran weight tension but is slightly stretchy so on the smaller needles they have come out fairly small, but fit me fine.
This is a very nice pattern. It is very clearly explained and uses a method that has never occurred to me before, (even though I have knitted many gloves in my time), creating the thumb opening by means of a piece of waste wool. They were very satisfying to knit - so much so that I also immediately knitted another pair - for my friend Diane, (who is helping her friends by doing pretty well recovering from her illness and has even started back at work for a few days a week). Diane's birthday is in May but I think she needs mittens right now, even though May in Scotland may be a little chillier than further south.
The designer has reversed the cable pattern on each wrist so that "the cables on each hand will twist fetchingly toward your thumbs". This appeals to my Libran nature (or neurosis) for symmetry. This call to mind the first "real" sweater I ever knitted for myself, which was an Aran. It had two main cables either side of the main panel, and the pattern had the cables twisting in the same direction; I did not make it symmetrical - for all I know it's traditional to have them going the same way -some superstition or other... who can guess?
This is the very Aran here (I am guessing it does not fit me any more...). Click on the picture for a giant view.
I knitted it from specially oiled Aran wool by Patons (Capstan) and it was quite awful. The oil soaked into everything, while knitting it and subsequently when wearing it. After the first outing, I washed it (and my T shirt) thoroughly in soapy water; well, I was never planning to go deep sea fishing in it, after all.
The pattern was from one of the women's magazine in around 1969, which I borrowed from my school friend, (and clearly never returned) and I saw it reprinted in a booklet of "favourites" a few years later. My friend knitted the matching skirt as well as the jumper - and she reversed the cables so they were symmetrical. I attach the picture for your delight, and in addition the perfect 1960s trouser suit, for the complete retro experience.
Bet you can't wait to knit that suit..... Just contact me if you need the pattern.
If you squint you might notice that the complete retro price tag was about £3 for the wool. I am not too ashamed to say, that in about 1976 I knitted the man's cardigan for my boyfriend Hamish, (a retro kind of guy - even for then!), who failed to stay my boyfriend long enough to claim it. My brother-in-law somehow took it over, and a few years ago it got "mothed". So I knitted him a replacement in a lovely soft Rowan Aran tweed in grey. The price tag for that was £50.
Posted by Christina at 4:28 PM. Category: Knitting and Crochet
Comments
Your mittens are indeed very fetching...although in the spirit of competition I must tell you that I have cast on for the 3rd pair! I also adore the trouser suit - but feel that without some serious diet and exercise my days of knitted trousers are long behind me...actually I dont think that I have ever had those days.
Posted by: Alison on February 6, 2007 4:11 AM
I had some (not hand-)knitted, bell-bottomed, trousers when I was about 15. My sister gave them to me and my Mother said "it's no good giving her trousers - she never wears them" at which my sister pointed out that this was not altogether surprising since I did not own any. They were my absolute favourite thing.
For all that, I do remember this Aran trouser suit being much sneered at by us schoolgirls at the time. The skirt suit was not quite so bad - similar (but not Aran) woollen suits were being sold in Marks and Spencer, although M&S was a bit "grown up" and slightly expensive for teenagers - we preferred C&A.
Posted by: Christina on February 6, 2007 9:15 AM
