Almost an Aran

This is from one of my 80s knitting mags.



I am trying to continue with my New Years Resolution to use each magazine at least once.


That means its been worth me hoarding them all these years despite until this year I have never knitted anything from them.

Lockdown makes this easier to achieve, since I have loads of time with no work.

 Well this particular jumper was a challenge.

 
It is also the most near to perfect jumper I have knitted so far, since I returned to knitting after my operation back in October 2019.

 
 
Its not quite an aran because its a chunky weight yarn. On top of that I doubled the mohair type yarn the pattern told me to use to make it work better because I had a right mix of yarns all bought second hand from ebay sellers back in 2016. I do not much like the pale coloured cotton ribbon mix yarn and I have not enough of the various blues so rather than just have stripes of different yarns with different fibre compsitions which would possible be noticible, I decided it would tie it all together better if I have a strand that is the same stuff running through the entire jumper.


Hence its a mottled yarn effect but it does mean the stripes of all different kinds of yarns work. The end result is it all looks like one type of yarn despite being made up of all sorts of oddments.


The "white" is a mix of pale yellow/cream ribbon and mohair and pale blue ribbon and mohair which is itself made of two strands of yarn. To make this work I used the pale blue on the bottom ribbing and  all of the sleeves and the pale yellow on the body, pocket ribbing and neck ribbing.

The body has royal blue mohair mix which is a lower grade of 52% mohair. Then a dark navy high quality thermal 80% mohair and finally most of the jumper has a bright sky blue mohair which is 80% mohair. By mixing the ribbon yarn throughout with the mohair stripes it works well and ties it all together

Oh and the inside of the pockets is a similar blue to the sky blue but not quite the same colour but does not notice after making up. As I said this is made from oddments!

The pattern said to knit this on needles sizes 4mm and 5.5mm. Because I had an extra thick yarn due to the two yarns being used together I swapped to 5mm and 6.5mm. Despite this it has actually turned out about the same gauge and overall size. Though I do think from the picture I have one repeat less than in the magazine, but it measures the same in my swatch!.Thats weird because I am a loose knitter so most often the gauge comes out bigger not smaller than the pattern. Anyway I am not sure what is ging on with the tension but it works for me.

In the end then I have one strand of blue mohair type with one strand ( made up of two strands) of ribbon yarn. This means I needed to ensure every stitch had all 3 strands. I did drop one strand a couple of times which was a pain because I then had to drop stitches to pick back up again. And that was a killer with the cables. In the end when I made mistakes I just ripped the whole lot back and reknitted. Some times if I made another mistake I ended up doing that 3 or 4 times for a short part of the knitting. I kept forgetting the bobbles as well. But it was easier and quicker to completely rip it back than trying to sort it the usual way by dropping the stitch and picking up correctly.

I have never knitted pockets before. That was a learning curve.
 


 Then the V neck. I have done one once before but that was in the mid 80s and with my mum directing me. I could not at all fathom how to domitres. You Tube is a wonderful tool!



The pattern has a folded over V neck but I do not really like that look. It was popular int he 80s and it seems nearly all Vnecks from that time were that style. I prefer the 50s ( and earlier) type of mitred V.

Well my Vneck is quite a bit higher than my pattern. Thats an accident. It works though and will probably be warmer than a lower V neck would be. I am actually considering doing a V neck on my current knit which is lace. Lace for me is more of a challenge than cables. I find once the cable is set its pretty easy. Its also not boring which plain knitting is. I really enjoyed this jumper. Its taken quite a while. I have not managed to knit often since my hip recovered and have done more sewing.

This is going to be my over jumper as in I want to wear it over another jumper or a fleece to take the dogs walks in winter.

Thats another reason for the pockets. I always have problems with my keys! The pockets do make it hang a bit "off" at the front when my hands are not in them but to be hoenst I do not care.

Despite I love the cable pattern this is not a fashion jumper its purely for practicality. Thats also why I deliberately made the sleeves long so I can pull them right down over my mitts to keep my hand warm on long dog walks in the snow and ice. It was certainly far too hot to be wearing this today when we took the photos.


I have to knit cables because I get bored if I do so called easier plain knitting. The cable patter actually tok less time than my previous recent knits because I never really go bored. Its a shame because I do like cables but not as much as some other looks. Still if thats the way to make myself knit up all the yarn in the stash its the way forward. Knitting helps my hands which have severe swelling through arthritis. Strange realy that doing something that hutrs can make your hand works better but it really does so if at all possible I really need to continue knitting.

Then theres the upcycling thing. All the yarn here is ethical in that its old. People are selling their old odd balls of mohair from the 80s. Its generally better quality than the yarn I have bought recently new. Also I do not feel ( as a vegan) that I should buy new mohair unless it comes from animals allowed to live their lives fully without cruelty or slaughter. I see no issues if they are allowed to though despite others tell me I should. I know there are "named sheep" yarns available though they are not common where the sheep who must be shorn are never slaughtered. The price of the yarn or knitted garment goes towards their upkeep. I like that idea. I can see nothing wrong with wearing that either. There is no doubt in my mind that an acrylic yarn will never be as warm or hard wearing as a real wool or mohair yarn. Upcycling is my way of dealing with this.

Stay safe, and happy crafting, cooking and living

Bracken