Yesterday I decided to go off-message and declare the Hebridean sheep to be my knitting spirit animal. It follows that my mascot project should involve yarn made from Hebridean sheep's wool. This yarn tends to be blackish, which is a departure for me - I almost never knit with blackish yarn, preferring bright and deep colours. For this project, however, I will embrace the wool's naturally occurring shade. What should I make in black(ish)?
Given my admiration for this sheep's resilience as detailed in my post yesterday, I though some sort of outerwear would be appropriate. I have no desire to knit with fine gauge black yarn, so I set my minimum yarn weight to Worsted. I am forever queuing jackets and coats on ravelry, though I have yet to make one. So, a black woolly jacket! I started by looking at my Ravelry queue and favourites, and then did some more searching supplemented by my memory of various jackets I've admired in the past and somehow forgotten to put in favourites.
Here is the shortlist, as captured from my pinterest board.
From right to left, Red Oak by Julia Trice; Katrine Cardigan by Cecily Glowik MacDonald; and Everybody Knows by Ann Weaver.
Red Oak drops off because if I make it, I'd prefer it not to be black - those leaves should stand out. Both Katrine and EK are simple and the pattern wouldn't get lost in black. They both would be excellent canvases for fun buttons, also - showing my peacock side, a little? Everybody Knows happens to be an excellent Leonard Cohen song, which is always a bonus. I also think the yarn might suit it better - I've found several options for worsted/aran weight Hebridean yarn. (Not all examples on that list actually contain fibre from the Hebridean sheep, but you get the idea). I would probably lose the drop stitch details because I don't want too many vents to let in the wind. However, I'm kind of drawn to Katrine, despite the fact that it calls for bulky yarn and I haven't found much Hebridean wool at that gauge. I figure I can do some maths, maybe hold some yarn double, and make it work. I like that it has different textures represented: stockinette and seed stitch. The high neck / collar would be warm, but not too tight. I might not want it right neck to my neck due to scratchiness, but it looks roomy enough for a softer scarf/cowl to fit underneath.
That's decided, then. Here's to Katrine as my mascot project. Who knows, maybe I'll even knit it.
Katrine is a lovely sweater! I hope you do knit it:)
ReplyDeleteI must admit, I eliminated Red Oak almost immediately for the same reason you did. After that, it was a toss up between your other two, so I'll look forward to seeing (and reading) how this project progresses. You know you have to knit it now. I think calling it the badass sweater is rather appropriate. :)
ReplyDeleteooh, its nice to find a blogger who chose option number 5. I must read your previous post about these Hebridean sheep.
ReplyDeleteI like the KaTrine too!
ReplyDeleteKatrine is a great choice! Love the buttons and neck detail. You should knit it!
ReplyDeleteGood choice! Katrine looks great and would look really good in black(ish)!
ReplyDeleteI have loved Everybody Knows For Years! I tried to make, back in the days when I refused to swatch. After three attempts with acrylic yarn and gargantuan results (the importance of swatching never occurred to me) I gave up. Now that I have acquired more skills and some knitting wisdom, I will add it to my queue. I think you should make this jacket because the dropped stitch features would look lovely in the wool you've chosen.
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