Back in February, I did a little post about the current state of Tom’s “big brown blob” of a fishing sweater I knit for him. Quick recap: He wears the crap out of it every fishing season — with all the abuse you might think a beloved fishing sweater would get when worn hard . . . and to purpose. I made the mistake (not actually a mistake . . . more like an ill-advised yarn choice . . . ) of knitting the sweater from Brooklyn Tweed’s Shelter** yarn. Which is a beautiful yarn, but it’s super light and doesn’t wear particularly well over time. I explained to you all that I was going to do what I could to keep his sweater in fine, functional form for as long as I could . . . BUT that I was also going to make him a new, sturdier fishing sweater as an (inevitable) replacement.
Well.
Tom wore his sweater up north last week for his first fising outing of the new season. The weather got warm once the sun came up, and he took the sweater off, laid it on the ground as he “re-grouped,” and then wadded it up in a ball and shoved it in the back of his fishing vest. Y’know . . . as one does. When he got back to the cabin, he looked at the sweater and . . . Uh-Oh! He’d laid it on the ground in a patch of burrs!!!!! The entire wad-of-a-sweater was all stuck together with those particularly nasty, sticky burrs. He did his best to pull the burrs off . . . but talk about sweater stress!!!
He brought it home . . . I did an assessment (no holes, but definite weak spots in the fabric). . . gave it a fresh bath . . . and promptly cast on for the new sweater (which I had been planning to knit closer to fall) (because who wants to knit a big man-sweater at a fairly tight gauge with tough-as-nails Jamieson wool . . . in the heat of the summer).
And so it begins.
(To remind you, it’s this sweater in this yarn.) The color in the photos in this post show a much lovelier blue color than the yarn actually is in real life. (The yarn IS pretty — but more gray-ish blue than BLUE.) It’s going to be a long-term project for me, and I know it will get too hot to work on it much during the summer. But . . . it’s a start. I have begun!
How about you? Beginning anything new?
** If you like Brooklyn Tweed yarn, you might want to take advantage of any stock-up/farewell sales while you still can. Brooklyn Tweed is getting out of the yarn biz, and when it’s gone, it’s gone. (In fact, the BT site is sold out of Shelter already. But if you do a Google search, you can find other shops with it in stock. Don’t delay if you want some, though.)
Oh my! I can’t imagine a sweater covered in burrs – what a nightmare! You are such a good soul to be starting the replacement sweater (which looks like it will be gorgeous) earlier than you were hoping. Just as gardening season is arriving for you! And warmer temps….Over the years I’ve heard a number of complaints about BT Shelter yarn not holding up all that well.
Lovely color and yarn, but oy! That’s a lot of stockinette.
Nothing more rewarding than having someone wear a handmade sweater to death! Yep, going to be too hot to knit this after you have a lap full of wool, but you will have a good start before that happens, I think. A great number of yarn businesses are closing shop and just offering patterns. It’s a trend that is troubling for needleworkers.
I thought the BBB was a labor of love, but knitting the Big Blue Blob in the summer might be even more of one. This color is lovely and at least you know it should hold up better. But really, Tom, laying your handknit sweater in burrs? I thought only my kids did that!
Oh, goodness! I hope you get a LOT done before the weather gets truly hot. I am working on a sweater for Chuck that has stockinette sleeves. I knit slowly, in general, but once I got going (there were a lot of gauge and size issues/decisions to start with) it is flying! Hope it’s similar for you.
Tom has proven himself to be very knitworthy, and he certainly got a lot of use out of the brown sweater, so I know this new one is going to get a ton of love and will be very much appreciated. And with luck, it should last a lot longer! I’ve never knit with BT yarn, mainly because the people I know who have have complained about how delicate it is. I’ve always thought it was beautiful but didn’t want to spend so much on something that wouldn’t last as long as I’d like.
I plan on knitting that same sweater in that same yarn for Dale but I haven’t touched it yet. Might be time to do a gauge swatch!
Oooh, that’s going to be NICE!!
I have HAPPY NEWS to report!! I may have my Knitting Mojo back! I’ve knit 5″ of “just” a cowl but it… feels good. I so desperately want to knit again and–I may just have done it. Really. This is big news for me, and I needed it.
A sweater full of burrs sounds like a disaster. I think I’d have thrown it away but then again Tom knows how much love you knit into that sweater. The gray blue sweater will be lovely and he won’t wear it until later in the fall anyway. As you say, you have begun and that’s plenty of progress for today. It’s kind of sad that Brooklyn Tweed will no longer be selling yarn. It’s a hard time for small businesses.