Charlie's Gansey

This summer I really got into knitting.  Since most of our summer weather was more like normal winter around here, and since the garden wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, knitting seemed like a good thing to pick up again.  So I knitted.

I made myself a fair-isle sweater, a major project which lasted about 3 months.   More like a coat, it is warm and colorful, and like Jenny said,  "the happiest looking sweater I've ever seen."

Here it is.

My fair isle sweater coat.

After that project was done, I really got into knitting for Grace and Charlie.  Making clothing for little kids is so gratifying.  The patterns are cute, they are small enough that I can use nice yarn and not break the bank, and they knit up so fast!  Fun, fun, fun.

Here's a coat I knitted for Gracie.

Grace's Bella coat.

Then I knitted Charlie a sweater.  He calls it his "third sweater."  I did make him a simple sweater earlier than this one, and knitted the coat for Grace, so I think he thinks that is three for him... I also knitted a tiny pair of mittens, the first I have ever made.  I remember Mom knitting mittens for us in Korea.  Thank you, Mom!

Charlie in his new gansey.

Charlie's most recent sweater is called a gansey.  I knitted it using NO PATTERN!  In hunting for knitting books at a used book store (definitely a worthwhile place to hunt), I found a copy of galley proofs for a book called Knitting in the Old Way, by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts and Deborah Robson.  This is the coolest book!  One of the sub-titles is "The key to freedom from line-by-line patterns."  And that is true.

All the information and patterning is based on percentages of size of body part to body whole.  It's the way the Norwegians, Fair Islanders (or whatever they are called), Swedish, British, Danish...knitters fashioned and sized their knitted garments.

Ganseys are the fishermen sweaters of Britain.  They don't have cables, necessarily, but do have textured stitches, and are usually a simple shape.  They are almost always natural wool, cream colored, although for Charlie's I used a washable wool blend.  No reason to give Erin more work than she already has keeping up with laundry!

I knitted Charlie's sweater "in the round", another thing I had never done before.  Ed's mom knits all her sweaters in the round, but it was a new skill for me.  Once I found fabulous circular needles (I have always hated the cheap ones that were available when I first got into knitting long ago), the whole circular thing just clicked for me.

I will try anything to get a project onto a circular needle now.  If you want a look at the best set I have found for the money, check out the Knit Picks link on the right of this post.  They sell the coolest interchangeable needles, as well as regular needles, and a lot of other stuff, and gorgeous yarn.  Check them out!

One thing I especially wanted to do with my knitting this summer, and now fall, was to learn new techniques and do things I had never done before.  The most freeing thing I learned is how to design my own knitting patterns.  I am still in infanthood with it, but am now to the point where I can look at a garment and pretty much figure out how the knitter made it turn out the way it did.  That doesn't necessarily translate into being able to do it myself - my special stitches need more practice - but it is a big step forward in what I am willing to try.

The other thing I learned was that ripping out stitches isn't the end of the world.  It's not a failure if I have to start over.  In fact, starting over is sometimes the best fix.  Yarn is forgiving.

Those sound like good life lessons, too, come to think of it.