Projects
The Giant Fingerless Mitt Project
If I hadn’t taken that nap, I’d have finished my sweater. And I’d have moved on to start my Brambling Shawl right now.
But I did take that nap, and it was a long, soggy one, and maybe sometimes a person just has to let it all wash away on a Sunday afternoon. Maybe I read the morning paper, and maybe I shouldn’t have done that, because every single headline was dim and sad and incomprehensible. Maybe a nap was the smart move.
Napping is good, to a point. But we can’t nap all the time, can we? In the waking hours, I’m finding knitting to be an important way to calm myself. Does anybody else have this experience? I know there’s a lot of talk about the soothing nature of knitting, and I’ve always believed it. But it seems necessary to my mood these days in a way that it didn’t in the past.
I’m about five inches of sleeve shy of a finished Carpino. It has been such a balm to me, this sweater.
To recap, this is one of the rare times I’ve made a sweater twice. My first Carpino is the dearest of friends—it’s in Madeline Tosh something or other, and it fits well, and it’s fingering weight, so it’s never too hot. The designer, Carol Feller, created a truly wonderful pattern. I can’t overstate how beloved my first Carpino is.
It is indigo blue. It is not colorful.
When I embarked on this Carpino, I decided to use the Hazel Knits Artisan Sock that we have in our Shop for the Squad Mitts kit from Field Guide No. 1.
This is Colorway 3. When I started this sweater, I decided to freehand the colors—I didn’t have a sketch or a plan; I had just four skeins of really beautiful yarn, and a pattern I knew was great.
Starting at the neckline, my initial idea was tame: one line of the brilliant orange seemed like it would be plenty. The proportion would mirror that of my Squad Mitts. A slash of color, no more.
When I hit Terrywinkle, the periwinkle pale lavender, I achieved a peak of joy. Wendee Shulsen’s yarns are dyed in a marvelous way.
I intended to do the sleeves in the light gray that appears at the top of the sweater. Typical Ann Goes With Gray move. But I kept looking at that ball of orange yarn, so unused, really feeling sad that it wasn’t going to get its moment of glory. It is one of the great oranges in the yarn world.
So off I went on a giant orange binge.
I really love this orange. It’ll be great for deer hunting season. JUST KIDDING it’ll be great when I’m replacing sewer pipes in the middle of West End Avenue. JUST KIDDING I just want to be visible, OK? #WeAreNotInvisibleSeriouslyNotInvisible
We pause for a moment to admire the twisted rib edging on this thing. k1 through the back of the loop, p1. That’s all it takes to make a tight, tidy, twisted ribbing.
We’re coming to the end of our supply of this beautiful yarn, which makes fine mitts (see here) and also a great Carpino. If you’re inclined to take on a colorful experiment, Melanie Falick’s four colorways do most of the hard work for you. I crave a Carpino in each of these colorways.
Maybe if I knit four of these, I can achieve such extreme calm and peace that I can read the Sunday paper again without keeling over and falling instantly asleep.
Extra Bonus Info for the Curious
Knitter Pam asks if one Squad Mitts kit is enough to make the sweater. Here’s some info.
The sizes listed in the Carpino pullover pattern:
33¼ (35½, 39, 42¼, 44½, 48, 50¼, 53¾)” finished garment circumference at bust. The ease shown in the pattern photo is 2 1/2″, so subtract that amount from these measurements to get the actual bust size.
Yarn requirements for each size: 1030 (1110, 1195, 1310, 1385, 1505, 1575, 1720) yards fingering weight wool yarn.
The Squad Mitts kit has 1,600 yards (4 skeins x 400 yards), so it’s enough to make the sweater except for the 53″ size. The larger the size, the more it will be necessary to plot out how the colors fall a bit more carefully than I did, in order to use the yardage efficiently.
I seriously want to make another one of these. What is wrong with me?!? This is like Kay and the Dishcloth Crazy of 2004.
It’ll be great when you need to guide a group of elementary school kids across the intersection. JUST KIDDING. It’ll be great, period.
Knitting with orange yarn always makes me feel better. I learned this when adding a few stripes to a pair of gray men’s toe-up socks. (My husband decided he wanted them knee high after I’d slogged through miles of unremarkable gray. I thought, “Stripes it is!”)
News ? What news? If I watch news like I used to ,read the paper like I used to , I would be sitting in A closet eating chocolate.
Now that you mention it ,my knitting has returned to soothe the despair.
I think it is funny that orange is used for “caution “, it is so bright and cheerful!
I wouldn’t mind (too much) sitting in a closet if I could eat chocolate……
Yes I find Knitting works better than wine for soothing the anxious mind. And the news is the primary source of anxiety right now.
Your twisted rib is gorgeous in that yarn! That ribbing caught my eye as I skimmed through the photos.
My youngest son requests anything knitted for him to be in orange but cayenne and paprika, like one of the colors in the Hadley sweater, count as orange for him.
I like the last colorway best. I agree with you on the need for soothing these days!
I have unsettled feelings in my life right now. I take comfort in my audio books, and simple plain knitting. the Easy fold poncho pattern from Churchmouse is simple knitting, chose a colorful hank of something and soothing stockinette stitching. If anyone has suggestions of funny books, movies, I would love to hear it.
The news is just heartbreaking of late.
I’m admittedly late to the game, but I have enjoyed reading the Harry Potter books. I didn’t read along when my son was younger, but we talk about them now. And I like finding HP related patterns. Hermoine’s Everyday Socks is an easy and lovely pattern. I take great comfort from my knitting; and my books. Knit on through all crises as Elizabeth Zimmerman says.
Anything by Terry Pratchett always makes me laugh. I recommend The Wee Free Men as a good starting place.
I’ve gone for the classics – right now David Copperfield read by Richard Armitage, excellent! Also highly recommend Huckleberry Finn read by Elijah Wood – a book I hadn’t read since high school, and that was definitely better now. And a terrific job reading. Maybe those aren’t classed as funny books, but they have some comfort in them.
Where’d You Go, Bernadette? By Maria Semple.
Kevin Eilson’s The Family Fang and Perfect Little World
The Rosie Project is a lighthearted book. Not a new pick, but I enjoyed it.
Don’t forget the sequel, the Rosie Effect.
There is an unsettling overlay in the world, or at least the US right now. Napping and knitting are good options. My father wore orange shirts when we went somewhere as a family so we could find him in a crowd.
Lovely sweater. . .with the added benefit that Bugs and Daffy will see you coming!
You are certainly not alone. How to balance the desire to stay well informed against the desire to not hide under the (knit) blankets? Miles of soothing stitches on my needles and in my queue.
I love the orange!
Love your new sweater.
Grandson will be playing football at a college whose colors are orange and black. Guess what I’ll be using to knit his size 14 socks and XXL sweaters the next few years.
I don’t even bother watching/reading the news anymore. I feel a little bit out of it, but in the end it’s saving me pain. I love the orange on the sleeves, not sure I could pull it off!
Can we see a pic of you in the sweater, too, when the sleeves are finished? Pretty please?
I know you’l look great.
GORGEOUS!
I love it!
It seems like our choice these days is to be blissful in ignorance, or informed and depressed. Or asleep. But knitting surely helps through it all, now more than ever!
Ann, I like the orange. A lot. I originally thought the color arrangement should have been different. Now, though, your choices have grown on me and I like the colors where you have put them. The sweater will look great on you, I wish I had the body type to carry it off. Prediction: in that sweater you will feel so creative and focused that you will remain awake through reading the whole Sunday NY Times, completing the crossword puzzle as well. Have fun!
You have to come to Princeton on alumni weekend, with that stellar orange you’ll fit right in☺
Read the news, pass out: same thing happened to me. So I stopped reading the news for a while…
Beautiful combination and I love the color choice. You have again inspired me to go stash diving to find a combination, which given the size of my stash shouldn’t be a problem. Knitting, wine (or a vodka martini) is the only way to quiet the rage
Off to add Carpino to my queue…
Is the four skein kit enough for a whole sweater? Enquiringly yours. . .
Hi Pam!
Excellent question. Here are the sizes listed in the Carpino pullover pattern:
33¼ (35½, 39, 42¼, 44½, 48, 50¼, 53¾)” finished garment circumference at bust. The ease shown in the pattern’s photo is 2 1/2″, so subtract that amount from these measurements to get the actual bust size.
Here are the yarn requirements for each size:
1030 (1110, 1195, 1310, 1385, 1505, 1575, 1720) yards fingering weight wool yarn
The Squad Mitts kits has 1,600 yards (4 skeins x 400 yards), so it’s enough to make the sweater except for the 53″ size. The larger the size, the more it will be necessary to plot out how the colors fall a bit more carefully than I did, in order to use the yardage efficiently.
I made the 39″ size and used all the gray but have yarn left in the other 3 colors. I seriously want to make another one of these. What is wrong with me?!? This is like Kay and the Dishcloth Crazy of 2004.
Wishing you excellent knitting!
I love this so much I immediately ordered the colorway with the blues and the mustardy yellow, which made me unreasonably happy. I then looked at Carpino on Rav, and it looks like the neck is higher than the one that you are knitting, which made me sad. Did you alter the pattern? I am a low-neck person, but also right now someone who doesn’t want to have to do too much pattern rejiggering… (My other projects are all more intensive, and I was looking forward to something lovely in its simplicity!). Thanks 🙂
Hey now, don’t diss the Dishcloth Crazy of 2004. I may have gone on that binge myself.
I am still embroiled in the Dishcloth Crazy of 2004, trust me. HELP ME!