Undone – My Sweater Blog

 

I’m unraveling one of my oldest handmade sweaters! It was not my first but early in my attempts at knitting a pullover style sweater. I was so excited to make one in my favorite color to wear that I didn’t carefully plan nor research the advantages of what yarn to use. The black color I had on hand was so richly saturated, and I had a large quantity in my stash. So I dove into the project with excitement back in 2018 (I’d been knitting for over 25 years at this point but it was only my 4th or 5th sweater). 

The yarn was a single ply (one strand), it’s better suited towards a lacy shawl or fishnet mesh kind of project. Knit into a plain pullover “in the round” (circular knitting, not the kind on two separate straight needles) it just doesn’t look good! It’s hard to explain why, sorry, but sweaters need a different style of yarn with more plies, or strands that are held together. I might be nitpicking, though, crafts and fashion are really subjective. 

As I was knitting, I could see some flaw in my yarn choice, but I pushed on and completed the sweater. I wore it and have kept it for several years, but now I’ve decided to take on the somewhat annoying job of pulling the string to destroy my own tedious hard work! I tried to accept and live with my foolish mistake for a long time, but I guess my mind changed, and now I believe that I deserve better. Perfection seems impossible, but I think I can do much better with another attempt.

Since the single-ply yarn is constructed to show the effects of lace knitting, that’s the kind of project I imagine it’ll be recycled into at some point. I think it might be fun to have a mesh lace poncho, to be goth in the summer. I have 2 more balls of the yarn in my stash. They’re 396 yards each, so that’s a very generous amount when combined with what I’m getting back from my unraveled sweater.

Eventually I’ll make myself another black pullover from a more appropriate choice of yarn! Now that I’m more advanced in technique and knowledgeable about what supplies I need, I have a few ideas in mind and will certainly share, whenever that’s at a stage to do so. I wrote about my adoration of Bruce Wayne’s cabled sweater collection on the show Gotha, and that definitely provides inspiration for something I’d like to create. 

My ravelry profile isn’t comprehensive but I try to remember to update it, as I start and finish knitting projects (crochet and spinning as well) please feel free to connect there if you’re a crafter too.  

This relevant song has been on my mind 🧶👕