from the pen of icarus blake

I’ve done it! I did it! The first garment in my wardrobe, totally constructed by me panel by panel and stitch by stitch. This thing is both heavy and airy, a grainy transition between many of my favorite colors. Weaving it up (loop by knot, with a crochet hook that matched the colorway) leaves an impression of two separate gradients passing each other, occasionally meeting on their journey around the color wheel and embracing, then moving on once more like two opportunistic lovers plied together and apart over and over.

The yarn (K+C Chromatic Twist in Peachberry) is not likely something I’ll use again. The pattern (found here: https://carrowaycrochet.com/the-happy-hippy-sweater-pattern/) and the yarn are in some ways made for each other, the stitches chunky and giving the business of the colorway some sense of continuity that it would not have without an appropriately loose and laid back scaffolding on which to present itself. In this context, the busy color becomes a strength and eliminates the fussy color changes — which I, lazy at my core, do not care for.

Celestial convergence of pattern and yarn aside, I doubt I’ll purchase this particular yarn again. The spin on it is incredibly inconsistent — not a negative for a laid back and homespun pattern, but an irritant in anything not intended to look amateurishly handmade. Large clumps of fiber are woven loosely, pillow like, ballooning to 4 times the size of the base yarn. Others are wound so tight, it may as well be worsted weight. These extremes often occur right next to one another, so a consistent stitch is not achievable.

On to the next project we go as this washes and blocks! Some gloves, now. My cold hands are aching for some gloves.