Matchy-matchy

Published on Monday February 23rd, 2009

Hello, I am blurry.The weather gods don’t care about your paltry FO’s.

We’ll call this a preview of two Blue Garter knits to receive more thorough blog coverage soon: sock-yarn-stash-buster-supreme Confectionary Vest, based on Deborah Newton’s Confectionary Tank from Interweave Knits Summer ’08, and slightly fancy alpaca armwarmers of my own unvention. When I can get a better picture of them you can have a look and tell me whether I ought to bother scribbling down a recipe for them. Anyway, both knits fit! And it turns out they also match. This is coincidence; I didn’t think, “Hmmm, I should really knit some detachable sleeves for my vest.” Because it’s not like there wasn’t enough sock yarn still left in the stash to make actual sleeves and call it a Confectionary Sweater.

A shout-out to the Monday Morning barista at Urban Grind Pearl – the same guy who praised my Amanda cardigan when I first wore it out on an excursion. This time he said, “So now I have to ask, do you make all your knitted items? Is it a hobby or do you do it professionally? That’s the most professional finishing I’ve ever seen.” You rock, barista man. Urban Grind is totally going to be my first stop anytime I have a new handknit to display. You’re great for the ego.

I really did mean to show my Madrona speed swatch on the blog last week, too. We had some higgledy-piggledy internet at home, unfortunately. Here it is now:

Pretty wild, right? For the sake of the exercise, I intentionally chose colors outside my usual palette, colors I wasn’t sure could work together. I loved the transition of rust to dark blue-green and the russet against the ice blue, rejected the forest green against the pinky-beige, and wasn’t sure what to make of the top end where the dark blues/greens start to play against the sea foam green and hot pink-orange. I thought it was dancing on the edge of ’70s Fugly. But Janine identified that very section as the part where the swatch really lifted off. So I set myself the challenge of editing the swatch to include all the colors in that section. I was supposed to continue the swatch, playing with the post-edit survivors in a motif. But I could hear Elizabeth Zimmermann in my head, and she was whispering, “Just make a swatch cap, dear! You have just enough yarn! Who cares if it doesn’t come out beautifully? It will keep your head warm at the very least.” Stay tuned to find out what happened next.

19 Comments to “Matchy-matchy”

  1. knithoundbrooklyn Comment Says:

    I just love how you worked up the Confectionary Vest. I think I like yours even more than the one they showed in the magazine. And it’s inspiring to see, so thanks! I may have to queue this one up now.

  2. Wendolene Comment Says:

    The vest turned out wonderfully! Personally, I like it better than the original tank. How lucky that your armwarmers (which are also adorable) match!
    Your barista wouldn’t happen to have a counterpart in the desert Southwest, would he? ; )

  3. Jodi Comment Says:

    Both projects turned out beautifully! I especially like the colorwork on the mitts.

    BTW, the baristas near me don’t seem to be knitting experts. One more reason to move to Portland!

  4. Fresh Tea Comment Says:

    Oooh, I just love both!
    We are on the slippery slope to Winter over here, I have to say those arm warmers would do very nicely here in little NZ!

  5. Kristen Comment Says:

    I cannot tell you how much I love that vest! The colors are divine. I wasn’t at all sure about the original tank, probably because the colors didn’t grab me, but I can really appreciate the stitch pattern in your selection of colors. And the alpaca armwarmers are so cute! They look marvelously comfortable.

  6. Bells Comment Says:

    Seriously, your barista is wonderful. He has such a great eye!

  7. tiennie Comment Says:

    These are both fantastic! The colors look so good together.

    And seriously, EZ rocks. I love her videos.

  8. jen Comment Says:

    love the vest and even more the armwarmers. So cute with the button.

  9. the Lady Comment Says:

    Does the baristo knit? I wouldn’t expect a non-knitter to say something like “professional finishing”. Looks lovely on you!

  10. mia Comment Says:

    That coffee guy is RIGHT! You are a great knitter!! I almost keeled over the other day when I found out that Eric’s buddy’s brother and sister in law grow sheep, harvest the wool and then both spin and knit together–it is rare to find a dude who appreciates knitting, nevermind actually knits. I love the vest, too!!

  11. katie Comment Says:

    Very, very lovely FOs! They are so colorful and cozy looking. I’d love to see a pattern for those arm warmers.

  12. Sandy Comment Says:

    Both are absolutely gorgeous!

  13. Lauren Comment Says:

    Those armwarmers are delicious – is that a button I spy?

  14. britt Comment Says:

    the vest rocks and so do guys who notice knitwear!

  15. Anne Comment Says:

    Obviously, the barista guy has great taste in fashion! I love the outfit – the vest is great, the mitts are fabu, but they are really stellar together. How cute do you look with your matching insulated coffee mug too??

  16. Seanna Lea Comment Says:

    The vest came out so well! I think that the colors that were used in the IK version were a bit offputting, because they were so screamingly bright. It’s also good to know that with a bit of math and ingenuity I can make it with my large sock yarn stash!

  17. Walden Comment Says:

    Absolutely love the vest!

  18. balzac Comment Says:

    Incredible! I’m not advanced enough to understand what’s going on in that vest. The fact that it’s knit out of various sock yarns is really cool. The design of those mittens is awesome. I love the colorwork sample.

  19. rebecca Comment Says:

    Hooray barista man! He obviously has amazing taste! 😉