Baby Got (Sweater) Back
For the good of the Order, I should state that I have never knit a blanket, coverlet or afghan. Furthermore, I have no desire to do so. And “No desire” here means “No way, no how, no thank you.” Not. Interested. No shaping, no wearing, and worst of all, SO BIG. No offense to those knitters who love making them, but I just can’t think of anything more dull. Or more awkward to struggle under the weight of. Giant squares of knitted fabric just hold no charm for me.
So obviously, I should undertake a drop-shoulder Aran for my 6’7 offspring.
Imagine my dismay, when I realized what was happening in my lap:
For some reason, every time I picked this monster up to work on it, it was even bigger and heavier than the last. Less portable, and less maneuverable too. Go figure.
Here is the completed counterpane sweater back for Campbell’s Aran. All of its garment shaping will be achieved by the addition of separate pieces (side panels and shoulder straps). So the first body piece I knit is just a big old parallelogram. Great as an un-thinky canvas for gorgeous cables. Challenging to work on for the aforementioned reasons. So, yeah, I’ll “never” knit a blanket. This doesn’t count.
It did, however, give me ample time to meditate on two important construction elements, which can/should also be design considerations. I’ll dig a little deeper into the how and why directly, but for now, Gentle Readers, can you guess WHAT? Take a stab at what two things I’ve been thinking of in the comments, won’t you?
Until then, it’s chilly in here, so I’ll be snuggling up under this unblanket.