In January 2007, whilst living in Paris, I decided to knit my first jumper. I chose this little beauty from the vintage book I used to teach me how to knit.
I took a trip to the wonderful BHV in the Marais, and got a big whoosh of excitement when the amazing yarn department came into view as I came to the top of the escalator. My enthusiasm took a bit of a blow however when I saw how expensive all the yarn was. Like many knitting virgins, I had been in a little "I'm-going-to-save-money-by-knitting-my-own-clothes" bubble.
I picked up the cheapest yarn I could find, some nasty whiter-than-white nylon two-ply, handed over 16 odd euros and rushed home to start knitting.
I spent hours knitting away, days, weeks. About halfway through, I realised that I had made a fundamental error. I was still using my mothers 4mm's, (including the broken one with a blue-tack stopper on the end), and they weren't compatible at all with the ugly yarn I was using ...and to top it all off, neither the yarn or the needles were compatible with the pattern.
I kept on going nonetheless. I finished all the blocks. I stitched together the front and back and knit the neckband. I tried it on, I couldn't get it over my head. I wasn't experienced enough to realise that I could unpick the neckband and re-do it in a looser cast-off, (oh the glory of hindsight). I threw the torso of the jumper into the corner of my room, chucked the arms on top, and forgot about the lot until it was time for me to move back to the UK. My first jumper didn't make it to England, I left it for the Parisian bin men.
Jumper Number Two
Still in Paris and feeling sensitive after my first jumper attempt, I bit the bullet and started another project. A little fairisle number from book 13 of the Rowan Classic Alpaca range.
This is what their version looked like:
...and here is mine:
My fairisle wasn't bad for a first attempt
Rowan baby alpaca is a really nice yarn to knit with.
It's been a couple of years since I've worn it, and it is rather bit mis-shapen now. But I'll always love my first completed jumper.
No comments:
Post a Comment