One goofy thing about getting your hands on a knitting pattern you see on Ravely is that sometimes the pattern is only available as part of a book. I wish pattern makers made all their individual patterns available for purchase, well, individually, but that doesn't always happen.
Such was the case with the pullover sweater I mentioned in my last post. I would have paid $6-7 for the pattern, but couldn't, so I've ordered the book it's in though interlibrary loan. I just can't see myself paying $25 for a book of patterns when I only want the one. Meanwhile, I wanted to start SOMETHING.
Enter Leaflet, above. I was looking for something I could knit with aran or bulky weight yarn, and saw this. The pattern is available through Knitty, whose patterns are free (yea!). Knowing I wanted this, I went around to my LYS (local yarn store) and strangely enough they were really sparse in their offerings of yarn in this weight. I love alpaca because it's so soft, but can't spend $250 on yarn for a sweater. I was ready to spend something, though, and was disappointed I didn't find anything.
I had purchased some Pastaza (made by Cascade, and which has been discontinued) and it was in my stash, so I'm using that. This is the colorway, a yellowy green. I'm pretty sure I have enough to make elbow-length if not long sleeves, and am planning to do that.
It's springy and fresh and if I don't like the color when it's done, I'll dye the finished garment. Some people find it scratchy, but so far it's really fuzzy, but not scratchy as I work with it.
I'm excited to be knitting again. There was some time when it just didn't appeal to me, and now I think about it when I'm at work. Funny. It's too dark to take a decent picture of it, but I'm about 5" in on the yoke of the sweater. I do like to work with bulky yarn. Love the look of sweaters done in DK weight, but I don't have the patience for it.
I agree about the single pattern thing. I think that they would make a lot more money if they offered each pattern separately - even just as a PDF, which would save on printing. That is a lovely pattern - I may some day tackle something that complicated. Maybe.
ReplyDeleteIf you knit socks, you can do this. The lace pattern is laid out in a chart that's fairly easy to follow. However, with this kind of knitting, I have to pay attention to just about every row.
DeleteOooh, love the color of your yarn. Very spring-like. I also like the pattern . . . and at least you only have to pay close attention to the middle of your rows!
ReplyDeleteI find the same thing with a book of quilting patterns. I have to know I'll make (someday!) at least three or four patterns in a book before I'll purchase it. Then I always go to Amazon to see if I can get a used copy! Cheap? Heck, no. Just sensible!