Cables are my Achilles heel, my favorite flavor, the most predictable choice for a new sweater when I am the knitter.
I love the classic cabled look, the way cables entwine and coil their way up a sweater. I enjoy knitting cable patterned sweaters for the way the cables make progress visible at every twist and turn(The only other pattern which gives the same visual impetus are stripes and I have just started one, but that is another story for another post) and the final product is impressive and compliment catching.
In the past, I have knitted cabled sweaters for my Dad and uncles, cabled socks for a friend, and a lovely cabled cardigan for myself..The last one, in true Mala tradition, has been taken by an admiring person in my life…my daughter! there is something about my knitting, compliments, tiny issues with the final product and the final shift into the wardrobe of someone else! ah well, many Mala Srikanth knitted sweaters will walk all over Earth, while I continue to knit and dream about a sweater which is perfect for me!
Stonecutter hollered out to me from the BrooklynTweed website. One hour of reading good things about the pattern on Ravelry, another hour of looking at possible yarns and finished sweaters, and I was hooked. I wanted to knit that sweater and I wanted to knit if for myself. It was going to be the sweater of my life, and it would be made with care and patience and love.
Yarn?! I had piles of this golden rust yarn in my stash, and just to be on the safe side, I went and brought home some 6oo gms more of that lovely yarn before stocks ran out in Ranikhet ( I could have knitted an entire trouser-sweater ensemble with those piles, but that is nothing new).
The swatch was made…all of 100 stitches and 4 inches of tubular cast-on and ribbing and cabling. My tension was spot-on and there was nothing stopping me from just jumping in and making the Stonecutter for my winter wardrobe.
The tubular cast on was a dismal flop, and I would use the neater long tail cast on method next time.
The charts and directions were excellent. The entire pattern could be simply described as “one row of focussed twists and turns and three rows of mindless knitting). The sweater progressed briskly through the winter months and it was ready just in time to miss being admired by my aunt.
The large swatch has been completed into a cabled hat…some visitor or friend will get it after I get the right vibes for its future.
The sweater, all golden and cabled, has been presented to my cousin. She has the right hues in her wardrobe and once again, it looked really good on her! I gave her the remaining hanks of that yarn too, so that she can knit another classic sweater for herself.
And what am I going to do?!
Well, I have inspired a dear friend to begin knitting a Stonecutter for her first sweater project. She has become an excellent knitter of cowls, hats and shrugs and this pattern, in ruby red hues, is already on its way to being a masterpiece.
I am going to sneak off to Nainital and pick up a light slate grey/cream yarn and cast on another Stonecutter for myself. This time, no tubular cast on, it will be a classic Aran creation, and this time, there will be no handing over the finished beauty to anyone.
World, you have been warned!