Projects
The Little Knitted Pocket
Dear Kay,
Sometimes a sweater has about a dozen different moments where you go, “Finished!” My Eastwind Jacket (Emily Foden’s design from her book Knits about Winter) has provided me with all sorts of finishings, with a few more to go.
The unusual construction is what drew me to this design in the first place. A top-down, in-the-round sweater it is not.
Finishing the four pieces was one moment of glory.
Blocking the four pieces of supercurly stockinette was another. (Redemptive Power of Blocking, Chapter 201!)
Sewing the four pieces together was the next.
Then I moved on to the knitting of the pocket linings, an adventure that led me to knit one using the specified needle (two sizes smaller than the needle used for the body), and soon wondering about that.
It quickly became apparent that this pocket was going to be far too wee to fit the opening which had the same 26 stitches but was worked with a needle two sizes larger. See? So little!
I ripped it out and redid it with the same size needle as the rest of the jacket. Done!
I Kitchenered the top of the pocket lining to the provisionally cast-on stitches at the top of the pocket opening. Done! (I am getting better at Kitchener. Fifteen years later . . .)
I stitched down the side edges of the lining. Done!
Then I had to make the other pocket. It went faster because I had to knit it only once. Done!
The winsome curling of the pocket edge is the sort of design feature that makes my day. Please notice my contrasting pocket lining, it says. When I pull out an acorn I have stashed in this pocket, you’ll notice that somebody fetchingly Kitchenered the heck out of it.
Then came the knitting of the button bands. This fascinating feature is yet to be fully clear to me. One button band is 8 rows wide; the other is 16 rows wide. This is unprecedented in my knitting experience. I can’t wait to see what that whole thing is about. Of course, I dutifully knitted it exactly as written because I figured hey—make a plan, work the plan.
The button bands were so wildly curly that I had to block the whole sweater a second time in order to get at least a little behavior out of the button bands. I mean: I love a curl of stockinette (see above pocket edge), but these tight little tubes were amazing. You could slurp a milkshake through them.
This was not a chore, mind you. I find blocking to be one of the most soothing, meditative parts of knitting.
Overlap! Blocking overlapping button bands is one of those things you never anticipate having to do. Eight stitches wide on the left, 16 stitches wide on the right (half of which are underneath the other button band).
The blocked button bands retain their curl, but in a less wacked-out way.
And then there was the weaving of ends. When you have a delicate, two-row line of contrasting color at the edges of your jacket, you have to really dig deep to weave in the ends so that the elegant edge looks good.
Spaghetti junction!
You’ll notice that this fairly crappy set of photos shows Emily Foden’s Viola Yarn in a variety of lights. It looks different depending on time of day, whether Kermit is blocking the sun like a feline eclipse, whether I’m sitting by the lamp with the bad fluorescent bulb. (Why does a bad bulb seem absolutely insurmountable? Why do I think I need to wait eight years until it burns out to replace it?) This to me is the glory of her yarn: there are so many shades dyed into this that it is gloriously variable. I couldn’t possibly tell you what color it is. And that’s why I’ve been knitting on this piece so ravenously.
Knitting with hand-dyed yarn always sets me to thinking about the person who made it. I went over to Viola Yarns just now to find the information about Emily’s next shop update (she runs a small operation, very small batches), and I found her post from two days ago: “Introducing a Change.” I hope you’ll take a moment to read it. The images, for one thing, are quite beautiful. And her message about the temptations of growing a business, the challenge of wanting to work hard without wearing out, making the most of every opportunity that presents itself—this is the sort of thing that everyone running a creative business thinks about. When do you hit the accelerator? When do you slow down? Such food for thought.
Love,
Ann
Your letter is lovely, so full of respect, admiration but yet factual. It is so Emily.
I had the chance to meet her for a workshop on colour, where she shared with us her passion for nature. She was enjoying her success as a yarn dyer and she was so gentle and so human, the day was a delight.
I have been fascinated by her yarns for a while, owns a few skeins of this and a few of that. Her “Knit about Winter” is a thing of beauty. Our winter is so harsh! That she made it a piece of art shows how great an artist she is. Then I read her letter “Introducing a Change” and I felt for her.
On my side of things, I am so proud of her success (she is Canadian and I always am so happy when one of us make it out of our borders), but, at the same time, worried that, now that she is a celebrity, I won’t be able to get her lovely, magical yarns. So, when I read your letter, my first thought was “Oh! I am so happy to get feedback on this “Eastwind Jacket”, quickly followed by “I have met Emily!” and “Oh no! What are my chances to get her fabulous yarn now!” What à selfish thought for such a generous person. Sorry Emily!
Best,
Lynn
Lynn – this is a lovely response to a lovely post. Too often I read and appreciate words that are kind, inspirational, funny, or any number of other good things, without letting anyone know. Though this private experience has value, here’s to letting someone know. This response applies to so many of you who write, and respond, and “spark joy!”
Thank you both so much. It makes my day, totally, to hear from you!
Kermit as a “feline eclipse” is just too funny!
Your Eastwind jacket is gorgeous!!
Emily’s post you linked to is beautiful food for thought, and her pictures are stunning. I’ve lived in New England my entire life – while not necessarily as harsh as some parts of Canada, the winters are often long and the beauty hard to appreciate when you have to get up extra early to clear the snow from the driveway and car, and deal with frozen pipes, unbelievable home heating bills, and short dark days. Her pictures and words reminded me of the things I do love about cold winters – though some years my appreciation seems to be only ‘we made it through and now we can enjoy a gorgeous New England summer’. But of course there is knitting. Our frigid winters make me appreciate knitting, always.
We had three inches of snow in Nashville last year, two inches the year before. When it snows here, it’s like a giant day off.
Here in Maine we’re currently getting what is predicted to be 18 – 24” of snow. It’s beautiful but I wouldn’t mind being in Nashville right now!
Enjoying finishing and blocking must be some kind of wonderful gift! Maybe I can develop that trait? If I enjoyed finishing more it might not be so hard to get started with it. I shall try!
p.s. My floor lamp bulb – the lamp by my lounge/bed, that I use every night, for every thing – suddenly began to flicker a week ago. I dealt with it immediately, so I would not go insane. I dealt with it by switching it out with a lamp from another room.
Thank you for reminding me to put the flickery bulb in my truck, so I will have it with me the next time I find myself somewhere that might possibly sell oddball bulbs. This is the kind of silly little task that can literally take years.
It’s like that, right? I could list a dozen tiny things that would take five minutes to fix/move/repair/get rid of. And yet, I’d rather write this comment to you about the fact that I’m not doing any of them.
These pockets are so cute, it makes me want to knit that cardigan! Wonderful yarn and color, but I guess, not available in Switzerland.
I know! They’re little smiles!
Emily’s pattern calls for a DK weight wool, worked along with a strand of a mohair/silk fingering weight yarn. I think you could find gorgeous combinations in Switzerland.
I’ve been dreaming of this sweater (yeah, like I’ll make three or four of these but I can dream right?) using Lana Plantae’s Rambouillet DK, in our Shop: https://www.moderndailyknitting.com/shop/lana-plantae-rambouillet-dk/ Natural dyes, rustic yet soft wool, so good.
And Neighborhood Fiber Co. Loft (mohair/silk) is available in our MDK Shop: https://www.moderndailyknitting.com/shop/loft/
This sweater/jacket is beautiful! But pretty much after you said something about pulling out an acorn you have stashed in the beautifully presented pockets–that’s all I could think about. Are you That Lady who fills her pockets with acorns? For squirrels? For….filling up the spaces in your drawers that have been Marie Kondo’ed out of non-joyful Other Stuff? Don’t get me wrong, I love the image of acorn pockets. xox
I live with a three year old. It never occurred to me to question someone pulling an acorn out of their pocket. I am continually pulling acorns, gravel bits, leaves, bits of mulch and the occasional pinecone out of, well, everything.
There’s just something about this jacket that makes a person want to start collecting acorns and bird feathers and interesting rocks shaped like eggs.
Where did you get that wonderful gridded blocking mat? THAT’S what I want to improve my blocking technique, which currently involves a lot of crawling around the floor with a yardstick as I push and pull the fabric into the right proportions.
Ah, my most beloved blocking board! It is apparently not available anymore, I’m sad to report. It was made by a company that makes dining table pads—how’s that for esoteric? I wish I knew where to find one for you! And trust me, I was crawling around on the floor pinning this thing down, so there’s no way around that.
I use a similar board to Ann. My one is actually a self healing cutting mat made for quilting.
Okay, I’m off to search quilters’ supplies.
Gorgeous! Can’t wait Yo see u in it! Loved Emily’s posts too, thanks.
Kermit doesn’t block the sun. He absorbs it. Cats run on solar energy…and smoked salmon…and freshly-roasted turkey…and fried chicken…and shrimp scampi…and….!
Replace the damn light bulb! Life is too short.
But that means I’d have to put down my knitting! ; )
Buena plática! Tiring of English, how about a little Spanish for you? A
nd, you’ve tempted me to put ‘make a sweater’ on my ‘Bucket List’. Gracias!!
Love it. Sitting here this morning looking for bang out a sweater inspo to get off my duff and make a plan….you’ve certainly delivered. Oh – any my orange eclipse says to tell Kermit hello — and that energy saving bulbs in the stairwell that don’t warm up before food lady heads down the stairs — is a perfect time to practice some foot weaving agility techniques.
Get a good color-enhancing bulb for your lamp and put the bad bulb in a fixture in a utility or storage closet (not your clothing closet because you want good light to coordinate your outfits). If the bulbs in your closets aren’t yet burned out? Bonus! You have now placed a spare where it may be replaced immediately and you don’t keep opening a dark closet and mumbling “oh yeah, I really need to replace this…”. Full disclosure: the 3-way floor lamps at either end of my living room couch are currently both 1-way (dimmest setting) because one of the filaments in each has burned out and I forgot to pick up spares even tho “3-way daylight bulbs” was right there on my list! (Probably some kind of weird light bulb karma that they are both set to DIM!)
Regarding your pockets. I don’t know if you have ever picked up the stitches around the two pocket edges and (1 edge on 1 needle and the other edge on 1) then knit in the round connecting the stitches on each needle with 2 or 4 purl stitches so the edges of your pockets will “fold ? I have found this to be one way to not only avoid the lining sewing, but pulling the stitches inside the sweater or outside the sweater to actually knit each pocket gives you different design options. Anyway, as you are playing around with this sweater, I wanted to throw this option in too.