What a Life!

Please excuse my absense yesterday – I was dealing with a minor obsession…

You see, there’s this sweater I’ve been eyeing on another blog I frequent, namely St. Brigid.

I know, I know, I keep saying I don’t follow patterns – I just knit my own designs – but this sweater was worthy of being an exception to that general rule.

Another one of my favorite bloggers – b r o o k l y n t w e e d had posted about a sweater he was planning, and the yarn looked absolutely gorgeous (I have a weakness for tweeds). He revealed what yarn it was in a subsequent post – Classic Elite Skye Tweed and I knew I had to have some. I decided to order some with the birthday money I was expecting [and have since gotten but haven’t deposited yet – thanks mom and dad!]. Webs was having an overstock closeout sale – I couldn’t decide what color I wanted – so I ordered enough for two aran sweaters – one in Quail (1206) and one in Sage (1221) [the colors on my monitor are more accurate on the yarn link than on the store link].

I got my yarn, but I needed to decide what to do with it. That’s where the St. Brigid sweater comes in…I decided to look for the pattern…did a few Google searches…and discovered it was in a book called Aran Knits by Alice Starmore…which happens to be out of print. You can buy a used copy at amazon.com for a mere $240.95. Needless to say, that is just a tad out of my price range. On the knitalong group over at yahoo, those who couldn’t afford the book said they checked it out of the library. I requested the book via interlibrary loan from the Lincoln Libraries, but hadn’t heard back yet.

In the mean time, I came across an insightful post over at See Eunny Knit, the blog of the new editor of Interweave Knits (one of the popular knitting magazines). I decided to try and study the pictures and see if I could figure out the pattern without laying my eyes on the book. I did a few more Google searches and found blog posts giving the number of stitches and rows in each pattern. That was my obsession [which kept me away from my blog]. But even with endless studying of photos and repeated attempts at swatching, I was unable to unlock the code.

I did another Google search – this one was for the Omaha Public Library system. Perchance they might have the book and I might be able to check it out from them. After a day of studying and swatching, a mere thirty second search revealed that, indeed, the Omaha Library system did have a copy of the book – three copies, in fact, and two of them were currently available. I called the library to see if I could check one of them out – yes, I could. I talked to the circulation desk where one of the books was kept and they put it on hold for me, and when Joey woke up from his nap, we made an impromptu trip to downtown Omaha to pick up the book (a forty-five minute drive each way – I really wanted that book!).

As soon as we got home, [rather than writing an entry in my blog] I parked myself on the couch and started reading this highly-sought-after book. They advertise it as the history of Aran knitting with some stitch patterns and some sweater patterns. What it really is, is an in depth history of Aran knitting, a step-by-step logical analysis of cable stitches beginning with the most simple ones and using the common elements to explain the most complex patterns…and a few patterns, including the one I sought.

I must say, I absolutely loved the explanation of the cable stitching. I own a copy of Vogue Stitionary II which covers cable stitches, but it is just a compilation of many things people have come up with over the years, as many stitch books seem to be. Aran Knitting, on the other hand, is a very logical, step by step explanation of the logic behind various types of stitch patterns. I had started to figure out somewhat on my own what the integral components of the various patterns were, but I don’t think anyone could come up with a logical explanation of how the components work than what Alice Starmore has done.

Even with the knowledge I’ve gained from her explanations, I don’t think I ever would have been able to come up with the cable stitch pattern for that sweater with the information I had. There are a couple specialized stitches I was not familiar with (half of which were explained on one blog but not completely). I also would have needed to see the fabric in person in order to verify the actual stitch counts because she uses multiple cable techniques in how she created the stitch pattern.

Now I need to decide whether I’m going to knit St. Brigid in the Quail or the Sage. The Sage has more flecks, which could be distracting from the beauty of this pattern. At the same time, I think I would prefer the sweater in the darker color considering how oversized it is – I don’t want to feel like a boat when I wear it. I will probably swatch with both yarns and make the decision then (yes, I do swatch when I want to see how something will look).

I would certainly buy this book if it was back in print. Rumor has it that the author (who is still living) and the publisher are perpetually in court arguing over royalties and such…which is why it hasn’t been re-published in spite of it’s apparent popularity. My only comment would be that in the mean time neither party is making any money on the book…so get over it! In the meantime, I’ll be making good use of the copy I have obtained for free from the library.

Here is a picture of my yarn sitting on the book as it is open to a page showing a picture of the sweater.