the bad back sweater project

What do you get when you take:

 

a) a girlfriend, bored with yours truly (who threw out her back, in bed for a week)

+

b) yarn that's been sitting around in the yarn basket

+

c) plus buttons that have been sitting around for a looooooooong time

=

 

 



Right now we're calling it the Bad Back sweater.

 

She was so sweet to keep me company all those hours...

 



 I love the funky old mixed-up buttons.

 

 And how organic the garter stitch yoke is...

The lines all fall together, but each one has its own character. 

 

This yarn was so nice to knit with, she said.

 Handspun, you could smell the lanolin from the sheep.

 

 Our Great Pyrenees, Clara, is a big fan of the sweater.

Maybe it's the lanolin smell.

Or maybe she just loves the lady wearing the sweater???

 

 

For those of you knitters out there, it's called

the 'garter yoke cardi'

and you can find the pattern here.

Like everything she creates,

she never follows a recipe or pattern exactly. 

For this one, she:

- wanted a slightly shorter body so she knitted until it looked as long as she wanted

- didn't want it to be cut-in at the waist, so she kept it boxy.

- liked the garter look on the cuffs so she made that part longer

- didn't want so many button holes, so I bet you can guess what she did about that.

 

And she took a leap of knitting faith.

 

Not only did she not know if she'd have enough of the yarn,

she didn't even check the gauge,

just hoped it would be somewhere in the right range.

 

Now that is my kind of woman.

She lives on the edge of her knitting needles.