Tuesday, October 18, 2005

The Yoshi sweater

This weekend was supposed to see Lila finished, pictures taken of sweater and bf socks and more socks, but nothing happened. I've become stuck, or more precisely, my neck. I've noticed that sometimes my body tenses up while I'm knitting. Not just lightly, but my jaw will be clenched, my shoulders are rolled forward, my head is bend down. I have to constantly tell myself to relax and sit properly, straightening my back and shoulders the way I do when I'm not knitting. But unless I hold up my hands level with my eyes, the head droops. Shoulder muscles turn into steel blades, neck and head aches ensues. And sometimes, a vertebrae gets stuck. It's time to see the chiropractor. Until then, not much knitting.
But I did a little bit of packing and stumbled upon the sweater that marked the re-entry into knitting fever two plus years ago. A sweater I made up from scratch, using Peruvian wool and Rowan Kidsilk Haze stranded together, inspired by this Yoshi Yamamoto design:
Yoshi
It was described as a two piece, and I thought it would be very easy to copy. Knit a top, then a looong scarf seamed up at the ends to create sleeves. Here is my version:
YoshiY5
Even though I've been knitting since I was little, it's only in the past two years that I've learned more about yarn and its properties and different knitting techniques. Had I known then what I know now, I would have used a thinner, and stiffer wool for this project, or maybe just mohair double stranded. I would have tightened my stitches to eliminate the 'ladders' you can see in the sleeves (the arms were knit in the round, as was the top). Or I might not have knit the sweater at all, as it is too warm for this here climate and requires a lot of fussing to have the wrapped shawl look good and stay put. Which it only does if you stand perfectly still.
YoshiY1
YoshiY3
The armscarf is about 11' long and knit in garter stitch while the top is stockinette. It was easy mindless knitting, and I made up the instructions as I went along. While I don't wear this sweater, I love it nonetheless. It was started with a "hey I can make that myself" and I did. Lesson learned: Think hard about copying another designer sweater.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow! What a great job intrepreting that sweater into your own design...beautiful as usual! Sorry to hear your neck hurts : (. Do you wear glasses or contacts? If you're bending down to knit it might be vision related. Feel better!

Anonymous said...

WOW! I LOVE that sweater! You did a really great job! Too bad you can't wear it here. Take it with you on vacation! Maybe you should try sitting in a reclining chair and force yourself to keep your head on headrest. Or maybe hold your knitting out in front of your body so you're not looking straight down at it, but out and down.

winnie said...

that ius gorgeous. sorry about the neck... maybe an ergonomic chair?

twigletqueen said...

Wow, it may be impractical, but it's absolutely stunning!

MissLucy said...

I think the sweater is gorgeous, and the lesson learned should be: Don't think twice about copying another designer sweater!

Terhi said...

Ohmygod. That is one gorgeous sweater, and it looks so perfect on you! I'm so sorry to hear about your neck, hope you can start knitting soon again.

Anonymous said...

Wow, that sweater is AWESOME! I am way impressed. I think the construction looks perfect, and it fits you great!

kris said...

fantastic sweater! very, very cool and it looks great on you. way to go!

hope your neck gets better soon! i know how frustrating stuff like that can be.

Anonymous said...

Wow that sweater looks equal parts stunning and impractical for your weather! What a great way to start knitting again. I have the exact posture problems you describe. I find I knit much better sitting on the couch with my legs up in front of me as they give both force me to be more upright and also give me something to rest my arms on thus keeping them higher up and preventing the stooping at least a little. When I knit with my feet on the floor it is very bad. Very bad. Off to the chiro you go....

Anonymous said...

What a bummer that the sweater is too hot and futzy. It is amazingly gorgeous in it's simplicity.

Have you tried knitting while lying down? Or slightly propped up on a pillow? I do that when I'm feeling too lazy to sit all the way and I usually stay pretty relaxed.

Anonymous said...

This is gorgeous, better than the one you modelled it on.

malglam said...

wow! is a so beautiful! I love it.

Anonymous said...

Oh it looks so stylish though, and the construction is so interesting! Is the shawl a part of one of the sleeves? I think it's brilliant.

Anonymous said...

It's stunning! You did such an amazing job. That colour looks fantastic on you. Well done :)

Anonymous said...

That Anon was me, Heather (theknittingmaevan.blogspot.com)

Unknown said...

Wow, your sweater is abosulutely gorgeous. I love it so much. So stylist and looks perfect on you. Really admire your skills. Hope your neck gets better soon.

Anonymous said...

Oh my! That's absolutely gorgeous! Perhaps you can wear it when travelling to a colder climate?

winnie said...

girlfriend, you've been tagged for a knitting meme. details on my bloggie.

Anonymous said...

Wow that is a great sweater.. i love the idea of the sleeves separate like that.. i wanna copy to.. hee..hee.. but knowing more stuff about yarns and knitting i agree using different yarns would be great.. what did you do to the neck of the sweater part?
beautiful!!
Karola
eyeknit4u@aol.com

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous! I like yours better than the designer one. Think you'll make up a pattern on it?!

teri

modsproject@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

Wow! I LOVE it! Did you notice the pattern? :-)