Waystation on the Sweater Quest Blog Tour

Two weeks ago Adrienne Martini sent me a copy of her new book, Sweater Quest: My Year of Knitting Dangerously. Adrienne had set herself the goal of knitting a Fair Isle sweater in one year. Not just any Fair Isle, mind you: her goal was to complete one of Alice Starmore's lovely and complex designs, Mary Tudor. There were are few obstacles in the way of this goal, in addition to the fact that we're talking about a Fair Isle cardigan here, with sleeves and button band and cute little collar. For instance, Adrienne didn't know how to knit stranded items. And she didn't have the out-of-print book the pattern is in. And the yarn has been discontinued. And she has two small children and a job.  

Clearly, she is nuts. And clearly she is one of us!

Sweater Quest covers a lot of ground. Not only is it a narrative about the perils, pitfalls, and satisfactions of knitting a technically difficult garment, it includes an interesting history of copyright issues in knitting, discussions about the nature of craft, and some wonderful interviews with well-known knitting illuminati. 

I had the opportunity to ask Adrienne some questions that I thought would be of interest to my blog readers:

1. How did Mary Tudor become the object of your quest? Did you see someone else wearing or knitting one? Photos?

To be honest, I'm not entirely certain why Mary Tudor became my object  of desire. The picture from the cover of Starmore's Tudor Roses just  popped into my head nearly simultaneously with the idea for the book. I knew that whichever pattern I picked would have to be a Starmore,  simply because I wanted to talk about copyright and Scotland. Still, I  have no idea why my brain latched onto Mary Tudor in particular.

2. Your life, like so many of ours, was filled with daily repetitive  tasks that didn't add up to a good anecdote, much less a concrete  accomplishment. You wanted a project that would leave you with  something to point to: I did this. Did you feel that sense of  achievement when you actually completed Mary Tudor?

I did feel like I'd done something noteworthy when I finished the  sweater. It lasted all of 15 minutes or so, then I got distracted by  helping kid #1 with homework and kid #2 with getting his jammies on.  For good or for ill, having children really keeps me from dwelling on  anything for too long.  Plus I then realized that I now had no excuse  for not writing the book part of the project - so it was like "Hooray!  I'm done. It's beautiful," quickly followed by "Crap. Now the hard  work."

3. What was the most difficult part of knitting the sweater?

The most difficult part was not stopping once I figured out the trick  of it. After I got the hang of two-handed colorwork and chart-reading, the going was slow and, frequently, tedious. Something about watching  the pattern develop kept me engaged - and there were days when that  was all I had going for me.

4. Knitting your daughter's hat kept being set aside in the pursuit  of Mary Tudor. Did you ever finish her hat?

I did. And despite having knitted it to her exact specifications with  yarn she picked out, she refuses to wear it. My artistry is unappreciated by the short philistines with whom I live.

5. You cover the complex issues of copyright and pattern ownership  in the book when writing about Alice Starmore. Did knowing about the  past commercial and legal contretemps change your feelings about the  sweater?

I'm not sure it changed my feelings about the sweater, since I knew the rough outlines of the issues before I started. It did make me  extra skittish about writing the book and it was hard to give myself  permission to write what I felt I needed to. Ultimately, my editor had  to tell me to just write and let the publisher's lawyer sort out what  seemed legally actionable. We'll see how well she did, I reckon.

6. You were unable to match one of the discontinued colors called for in the design. You frequently ask the question, "Is this a Starmore?" given that you did not recreate the sweater exactly. Did   you reach a conclusion?

I still haven't reached a conclusion. Am I happy with what I made?  Yes. But I can't say with any degree of certainty that it's a  "Starmore." My gut instinct is that it isn't - but I can't quite  quantify that feeling and my take changes from day to day. Regardless, I made a sweater that functions like a sweater. So there's that.

7. Creating my own Fair Isle-type sweaters from scratch is the  creative joy of my life--although I admire Starmore, I have no  desire to knit one of her garments. Are you ready to take on the  creative challenge of designing your own?

Could I start with something smaller, like a coin purse or a mitten? I  like the idea of designing my own, mind, but can't even begin to wrap  my head around where I'd start. Also, there are so many other patterns  out there that I'd love to tackle -- your Starry NIght Cardi is  tempting to use as a starting point -- that I don't feel all that  compelled to blaze my own trail. Maybe that should be the next book...

Thanks for including me in your blog tour, Adrienne! Sweater Quest gave me lots to think about--and I appreciated the laughs!

Contest!

I am SO enjoying all the comments you have been leaving! It's not to late to join the fun: I have a copy of Sweater Questthat I will be giving away on March 31st. All you have to do is leave a comment answering the question: Have you ever designed your own stranded sweater? If yes, why? If no, why not?Send your comment by March 31st to be included.

 

Comments

[Denise]

I bought a Norwegian sweater with lovely pewter buttons at a garage sale nearly 30 years ago. It wasn't the tourist-y reds, whites, blues usually seen by North Americans come back from Scandanavia, but a variety of earthy browns, blacks, beiges. The hand-knitter's name was on the label. When the cuffs became nearly invisible, I decided to try stranded work and knit a replacement. I found similar colors and figured out how to do two-handed knitting. I began knitting the same pattern, but a few inches into it, discovered I had failed to purchase yarn in one of the colors. And I was at an all-day meeting in which I could not leave and go yarn-shopping. What could I do but wing it? From then on, I began making my own designs as I went. What fun, to see this wonderful sweater appear from my imagination and needles. It's by no means identical and my Norwegian relatives would probably scoff at my attempt. But I like it! And it fits! (But I'll never toss the original. I just need to spin up some new fiber, purchased at Black Sheep Gathering, and reknit those threadbare cuffs.)

[Yarndude]

Wow, I didn't think I needed a copy of this book until I read this interview. It sounds fascinating! I haven't yet designed my own stranded sweater, but I fully intend to at some point in my knitting life. Perhaps I haven't yet because I'm only 22 and have only been knitting for a couple of years, but I feel like I've tackled most techniques at least once. Designing looks to be the next challenge, and I hope to be able to produce something that I'll be proud of.

[Freyalyn]

I've nearly always designed my own stuff since I became a competant knitter - much more fun to do a complete original. The trouble is, since Ravelry has taken over the knitting world there are so many wonderful things out there that, pre-Ravelry, we would never have known about.Where will I find the time to do my own stuff and other people's too. The colourwork garment I'm most proud of is my Ramshorn cardigan, all three versions. It's incredibly simple, three colourwork rows then 3 plain ones, but it shows off the slow colourchange of the Kauni yarn beautifully. Must write it up sometime.... And I'm pretty pleased with my Slytherin spiral sweater too - traditional in the round construction, sleeves picked up and knitted down, because I had some lovely natural grey Polwarth yarn and I love green and spirals. (It's pilled horribly though, so shan't use that stuff again!). Now I'm thinking about stripes and stars in the round again, and your Starry Night one hasn't helped.

[Anne]

I have designed a few of my own fair isle sweaters now......the first two I never finished they are around here somewhere (looking around)......the next one I did at the request of a neighbour who wanted a fair isle but not too obvious a fair isle - not too many colours was what she wanted.

Then I did one specifically to fit the requirements of a publisher -- that was interesting -- made me think in a different way.

I will continue to occasionally design my own....but there are so many beautiful stranded designs out there.....I could knit on forever!

[Robin K.]

I have designed a stranded sweater, but it is not Fair Isle. It is only two colors and only has stranding at the waist that provides decoration as well as pulls in the fabric for waist shaping. The knitting is mostly done, but the cuffs are too tight and it needs a button band.

[Carol]

Hat, yes - sweater, no. It's a big commitment, and one that I'm almost ready to try. I'm taking your class at The Web-sters in May, and I hope it will give me the impetus to get off my duff.

[Anne]

The book sounds terrific. I have to read it. I haven't designed a stranded sweater from scratch, but I have never followed a pattern exactly, either! I modify a LOT. I have designed Fair Isle tams from scratch, which is fun.

[Trish]

Where can one see the Starry NIght Cardi Adrienne mentions

[candlepick]

Great interview, both of you. I'm eager to look up the book and the Starry Night Cardi.

[Gwen]

Not yet. (that's the short answer)

A while ago, my son requested a water sweater and a fire sweater, both stranded knitting (in my head). I have the yarn for both, and I even finished his orange cabled snakes at the gates of hell jacket. I should start swatching one of these days, before he no longer wants the sweaters.

[Julie]

Since you asked. . No, I've never designed nor do I intend to design a fairisle sweater. But I have knit a tam, many mittens and socks in fairisle (2 were Starmore designs). And many Norwegian pullovers (stranded). Still on my list: Jamieson's Sandness, and Kestral(the latter cardi has been my fantasy project forever but the creator's name has faded). I also have stash yarn for the EZ/Meg Swansen's fairisle vest (well aged!) I'd love to win a copy of the book. Thanks for the blog interview.

[Elizabeth D]

Haven't even thought, yet, of designing my own. But who knows what I might do someday? I lean toward starker color contrast or single-color texture this year. But I do want to read that book, and would love to win it.

[bullwinkle]

No, I have never designed (nor do I intend to design) a stranded sweater. Although I love the colors and patterning, not so much that I can see doing a whole sweater.

No. Wait. My second sweater ever knit was an Icelandic cardigan with a patterned yoke. I knit from the bottom up (it was way too long, I had no idea what I was doing.) I totally changed the yoke pattern (because I could). The edges drooped and sagged (see "no idea what I was doing"). I don't think it counts as "design" because I started with someone else's basics and built off of that. I loved the yoke on the finished sweater but there were other details that I hadn't figured out so that I didn't love the sweater - but it wore it forever and still have it felted (for a pillow).

Anyway - I was really writing to thank you for the interview. You got some details that I hadn't seen elsewhere and have piqued my curiousity :)

[Beth in Seattle]

This book sounds like a fun read. I designed a stranded yolk for a EZ percentage sweater back in the early 80's. Back then I had terrible gauge issues - my swatch NEVER matched the actual knitted garment. I ended up with a beautiful purple and yellow sweater that would fit a 12 year old instead of me. And, for the life of me I can't remember what I did with it in the end. It was a good learning process. Thanks for the interview and the give-away!

[Sylvia]

I can't remember not knowing how to knit stranded. My grandmother must have taught me when I was tiny. In 1984 or so I found a copy of Michael Pearson's Traditional Knitting at Logo's in Santa Cruz and then went to that cute little yarn store in Capitola and bought a ball each of green and white alpaca sportweight, went home and dug out my mismatched 0's and 1's and whipped out a pair of FI gloves similar to some of the gloves in the book. Then when Alice Starmore came to the US and taught her first class at Straw Into Gold (checked her sig in the book -- 1988), my friend Rosemary signed us both up and we went and absorbed as much as we could from Alice. She was fresh and young and inspired from a drive down the coast. She had a satchel of swatches knit by her mother and her mother's friends, gorgeous things that made my pulse race. Came away with enough J&S to finish the hat and vest I'd designed and a much better comprehension of how to manipulate and play with stranded knitting. I can't begin to count how many sweaters and other items I've designed that have stranded colourwork -- dozens, including a lot of doubleknit socks and mitts with rather elaborate patterns. However, I've never accomplished what you can do with color, Janine. I also used a lot of the motifs, peeries especially, in the woven beadwork I sold in galleries.

[Juliann]

I could not even fathom designing my own sweater. Of course, in my knit group, we have a rule that if you change 3 or more things in the pattern, it is your pattern. I have a real problem that I do that a lot. I cannot remember that I have ever followed a pattern verbatim. I have some sweaters on my list of "want to do that" list, and some on my lust list, but I do not think I have anything on "my own design" list. I love your work, and I think I am adding Starry Night to one of the above lists.

[Joan]

Why have I not designed my own stranded sweater? Inexperience. But one day, I am going to be able to picture exactly what I want in my head and make it come out exactly the way I want it to. Until then, I am happy to "practice" on less ambitious projects. I do know that there are an Oregon Vest and an Am Kamin at various points yet to come on my learning curve.

[Theresa]

I haven't designed my own, because there are too many beautiful sweaters out there that I still want to make.

[Trudy]

I have not designed a stranded sweater - or any sweater for that matter - or knit a stranded sweater. I've been working on developing stranded knitting skills - on hats - 4 since December. I think I'm getting better at it, and I'm going to tackle a Dale baby sweater with a color stranded yoke next.
The book sounds really interesting and I plan to read it.

[Laurie]

No. I do not have a color gene. Or more accurately, I don't have any referable activity in my past life that would have trained me for what colors go together in harmonious Fair Isle. The learning curve for that would come after multiple knits of other people's patterns. Then, based on my knit speed, and other commitments, I would be 135 years old.