Letters
Interview with a Gansey
Dear Ann,
I’m about to start sleeve 2 of my Hana Pullover. This means I’ve knit all 8 of the cable charts!
You know what I think of this design (I love it, intensely)—but I’ve been wondering, what does it think of me?
I sat down for a few minutes with my Hana Pullover-in-progress.
Kay: Hey, Mr. Pullover, how are you today? May I call you Hana?
Hana Pullover: I’m good, thanks. I’m a little anxious about my upcoming trip through the washing machine and dryer after I’m all sewn up, but you seem really confident about knitting me with Rowan Denim, so I’m just going to trust that you’re not over confident about it, you know?
Anyway—there’s not much I can do about it. I am an inanimate object. This whole conversation is in your head.
K: Really appreciate you agreeing to talk with me. First question: what’s your favorite cable on yourself, as knit by me?
HP: I’m gonna go with this skinny one right here:
K: That’s the easiest one! It’s a column of 1 x 1 twists that stays the same throughout the whole chart. That’s your favorite?
HP: Well, you never messed it up, and it has a nice ropey vibe to it. I give you an A on it.
K: OK, so let me ask you this. In which cable do you see the most growth by me as a knitter? In other words, where did I shine?
HP: It’s gotta be this nutty little so-and-so, in which each of 3 stitches does its own thing, for its own reasons, and one of them is a purl:
HP: It was adorable how you had to look that one up, each and every time, on the whole back of the sweater and then for half of the front. I thought you were never going to be able to do it by yourself, but at some point, the penny finally (finally!) dropped. Well done you! I mean, I would’ve thought that would have come a bit quicker? But well done nonetheless—it looks great.
K: Where did you feel like we were working the hardest, as a team?
HP: It’s got to be this allover Belgian waffle fabric:
On paper it’s so simple—alternating left and right crosses, really basic stuff—but it seems like “left” and “right” are kind of a coin flip for you, Kay. I was actually impressed that time when you did two left crosses in a row. You didn’t notice it until the next repeat, but then you undid the cable, dropped down 6 rows, crossed it correctly—twice!—and picked the stitches all the way back up. That was your finest hour, for sure; I had to hold back the tears or my excess dye would have bled.
K: It’s true: that was kind of a high-wire moment for me. Well, it’s been terrific talking to you, Hana, have a great day.
HP: You mean we’re not going to discuss You Know What? We’re just going to skip over The Incident and make like it never happened?
K: I’m afraid we’re out of time! Take care, Mr. Pullover!
HP: No no no, hold up. You’ve been knitting for several decades at this point (or so you say), and yet you managed to fail to knit two *more* repeats of this allover branch-y cable pattern.
Instead, you knit two repeats in total and bound off, wove in the ends, and washed and dried the piece before realizing you were missing one repeat. What the heck kind of a rookie pattern-reading mistake is that?
K: We’re going to have to leave it there, I’m afraid. Thanks again Hana Pullover, you’ve been a great guest.
Knit Night in Nashville
Our first event at MDK World Headquarters in Nashville! At 3:30 on Saturday, October 2, the whole place turns into a hangout with snacks and bevs and shopping and time spent in the company of knitters.
It’s shaping up to be a lot of fun, so if you’re in the area, or want to come to Nashville for the weekend and make Knit Night a stop in between boot shopping and hot chicken, come on! Sign up here. We’ll be wearing masks and asking everybody to show their vaccination cards.
Wow! That is one opinionated knit!
I love this! Can’t wait to see the FO
Hi where is the Gansey pattern from?
https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/hana-21
Love this interview!
https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/hana-21
Hilarious! I have the same conversations with my knitting, but with more colorful language…
Brilliant interview, I certainly have a few projects that could point out a few similar inadvertent pattern alterations that I have made!
I loved this post. It is hilarious and so clever. I can relate! Thank you for this because who doesn’t need something like this to lighten up their day?
Such a clever pattern presentation! Wasn’t on my radar but this article made me want to start it yesterday!
This is why I love to read the MDK newsletter while I drink my coffee in the morning!
My tea isn’t ready yet – good thing, or I would have laughed it all over the screen!
Me, too!
Me three
Add me to that list
Me four! I think there are a lot of us reading MDK with our morning coffee (or tea)…
There are days where I will not open my MDK daily email first thing knowing I have a rough afternoon and need a pick me up. Today though I needed you first thing, glad I did. Now I’m waiting for the new field guide, I know I can down load and peak but I want to have a surprise in a few days. Glad you’re all here.
Very fun “conversation.” Wear that thing loud and proud. We all know that knitting off the grid is not a mistake just a lovely innovation.
In the Jungian world we call this “active imagination” and you do it well! You and your pullover have almost convinced me to go back to cables. And that “fix”…I felt it viscerally! Good to know pros also have trouble with left and right! thanks!
Give Mr. Hana my best wishes for his upcoming laundry (ahem) I mean spa, day! He’ll be relaxed and in better shape afterwards. 😉
Mr. Hana mentioned feeling anxious about his upcoming trip through the washing machine and dryer after he gets all sewn up. One side already successfully went through that experience. Can it then be sewn to the other parts before they are washed and dried, have experienced shrinkage? Just wondering.
I like your stitch definition! What yarn did you use?
Captivating!! It’s the ‘or my excess dye would have bled’ for me. Rowan Denim humor! This sweater is looking so cool. Can’t wait to see it come together.
Ha! Love HP! I hope you interview other guest projects in future.
The Han(n)a(h) in my life is pretty sassy too, and I wouldn’t change a thing about her.
Bahahaha! I loved every word. Been there and done that, all of it, from miscrossing and fixing to forgetting a repeat, to just the heck with it and fudging. At least now I know I am in such august company. Love you Kay!
Clever, telling interview! Somehow your sweater has the voice of Sam Spade to me…
Kay, I love this piece so much! One clever bit of writing. I find the idea of having a conversation with something I’ve knitted quite inspiring. Think what I’ll learn. Thank you!
Thank you, Kay! I so enjoyed this. I can identify with your “high wire” moment. I did that once (in the front and center of a “finished” Aran sweater). I dropped back many rows and held my breath but it was SO satisfying once completed!
Wow. Your high wire incident is awesome inspiring!
Kay, of the interviews that Barbara Walters conducted over the years, none have held the same charm for me as your interview with HP today. Thanks for the giggles!
Ha Ha!!! Great interview! LOL all the way through. Thanks for the smiles and laughs!
Can’t wait to see this finished – I know it will be gorgeous. I knitted my Hana in pale pink alpaca merino and stitched it up with red kidsilk. I’ve worn it constantly since I finished it a few weeks ago. It’s now getting too hot here in Australia so it will be washed and put away until next year.
Thank you for writing this. I can relate. Last night I finished knitting Caledonia designed by Sylvia Watts-Cherry. I first saw the sweater here on MDK and fell in love with it. I spent all summer knitting away. I have a brain injury due to a fall, and I tend to blame most of my problems on my accident. After reading your post, I realized that my mistakes, redos, etc. were just part of the process. I wanted to knit a sweater to hug me all winter long, and I did. Thanks for validating my experience.
Ooh, that’s a beauty too! Congratulations on finishing it. Maybe Caledonia and Hana can go for a coffee together and discuss the many ways a cable sweater can go wrong, but still turn out all right in the end….
Oh my goodness ! I’ve got the pattern and beautiful yarn! Do I dare begin this project ? I was planning it for a long road trip ! ♀️
Mr. Pullover is pretty sassy – I can only imagine what my knits would say to me if I interviewed them! Love your Hana in Rowan denim. I’m making mine with a yarn that is cotton, merino, and alpaca and it’s sticky enough that I can knit this without a cable needle – definitely my proudest knit achievement so far in this sweater. I agree with you on the twisty skinny cable being the fave, although I find myself constantly running my hands over the waffle section…
I really love Hana’s mix of cables. At the beginning I was like, why these particular ones together?—I thought it was such an unusual mix, now I’m in love. Each one has its own personality.
A future Hana I dream of making would be a combination of Norah Gaughan cable patterns. That would be a stunner.
Gorgeous pattern..lone I’ve been thinking about for a while. Love seeing some of the variations of cables in it. And yours is fab!
Kay this really tickled me! So cute and clever, you and Mr Hana. Can’t wait to see how you finish this, I’m sure it will be great!
Have you tried the knitCompanion app? It would not let you advance to the next section without prompting you to take action…
But then I wouldn’t have the story! knitCompanion is intriguing, though, and when I think of how Waze and Googlemaps have transformed my navigational ease, it certainly sounds appealing.
I love this sweater and started it in a KAL, but even though I have been a knitter for many, many years, it was just too difficult and I couldn’t keep up. I thought it was going to be knit in pieces and then joined at the end, but instead the pieces kept getting added on. I wish there was an easier version and one knit in pieces instead of adding on each time. Any recommendations, because I do love it!
Funny! Kind of reminds me of the Everything is Alive podcast, which I recently discovered.