I didn’t get to knit on Nanook at all yesterday after work or in the evening. I was briefly consumed with knitting up a fast little toddler hat for Z, since the ones she wore last year are don’t quite provide enough coverage. I’ll have more details on the hat when I can get a picture of her wearing it.
How is Nanook? Pretty great, actually. I did 2.5 bear track repeats on the first day, then got to the increases the second day. I was a bit thrown by the increases temporarily. They’re leaning increases that come out of another stitch. I was counting the increase as part of the same stitch it was borne from. It’s counted separately in this pattern. I messed up the first increase row and didn’t realize it until I got to the next one. I had to rip out a few rows, but that seemed faster than dropping down stitches to try to fix things.
I’m already on my second ball of Cascade 220, so I feel like things are going well. I did pick a worsted weight sweater that required less focus this year. The past two years I’ve done gobs of fingering weight or allover cables and fingering weight, so I guess I’m going easier on myself this year, but I have additional goals to accomplish knitting-wise this month.
Cynthia, if you’re reading this, I’m begging you to stock Cascade 220. I wish my LYS carried this “workhorse” yarn. I would love to be able to support my local yarn store and get this yarn at the same time. It’s soft, it knits up beautifully with good stitch definition, it comes in a rainbow of lovely colors, and it’s AFFORDABLE. At $8 a skein and many sweaters for me or Matt taking 5-6 skeins, it makes my sweater quantities of yarn stash almost as attainable as my sock yarn stashing. That is, until I run out of room (which is actually the more pressing issue). If you haven’t tried this yarn, give it a shot. It’s not as soft as a merino, but it’s damn good for the price.
Ok, ok. Yarn praises over. I’ve got to get back to knitting.
Im trying to figure out what this is going to turn into, it’s shape at the moment is interesting…
I have never tried any of the cascade yarns, but there are just so many interesting yarns out there I doupt I’ll ever get to try them all!
Beautiful
I love the texture on the neckline! So pretty..
I’m SO with you on all the points about Cascade 220. I love that yarn to death.
Me too! For the price, I think Cascade 220 just about blows other yarns out of the water. And then when you consider the occasional sales that Webs has… I’m still trying to knit through all of the 220 that I bought a few years ago during a 50% off sale.
That’s where most of mine are coming from too. I went wild at their anniversary sale last year and got 18 hanks. Before that they had discontinued colors deeply discounted and I got 17 of one color–for the family sweaters, and 6 of another. I’m stocked up! It feels good to have potential sweaters waiting in the stash though.
This is going to be amazing! And I’m with you– I love Cascade 220. There are softer, fancier yarns out there, but Cascade holds up well and you just can’t beat the price.
Good for you for making Z hats: it always stresses me out when I see hatless babies in the cold.
Nanook looks great!
I totally agree about Cascade. It’s a staple that makes knitting sweaters affordable. And you seriously can’t beat the range of colours. Plus, it wears pretty well. I like to support smaller dyers and treat myself to something pretty, but it’s so nice to know that not every sweater has to cost a fortune.
Next time you buy cascade yarn, check the label. I believe all their yarn is made in China now.
Hmmm. All the labels I have say Peruvian Wool from Seattle, WA. I’ve never seen anything but this, even on new yarns I just received.
I am a HUGE Cascade 220 devotee! I’m always delighted by the color range…and LOVE the heathers and quattros. It also felts beautifully!
Peruvian wool sent to China to be made into yarn….
omg loving this. nanook has been in my queue for a while. i already have a bajillion projects (don’t we all?!) but i may have to add this one to the mix this year…
I’ve been struggling with the yoke on Nanook (turns out I was counting the right side increase stitch+the stitch after as doing RLI and *then* knitted 3 stitches), and your picture helped me a lot to figure out what was going on. Thank you for posting such good pictures .)