Magical Thinking

I'm tired of summer and utterly ready for fall. Much like the trees in the old Nat King Cole song who "say they're tired, they bore too much fruit," I'm ready to move on to my favorite time of year. Though there have been signs that our planet is tilting on its axis in a favorable direction -- a slight change in the angle of evening light and a few less-than-torrid days recently -- I've chosen to help the process along by knitting a sweater.

This weekend, I started a pattern that appears in Jared Flood's BT Men V. 1 called Redford by Julie Hoover. I was instantly drawn to its simplicity and small gauge. More and more I find myself looking for big projects knit with small stitches, and this fits the bill. But, it turns out it's not as simple as it seems. It has some subtle shaping going on, plus interesting exposed seams and reverse stockinette side panels. And the armhole shaping has been moved to these side panels, so that the front and back are more or less square, bit it still uses set-in sleeves. This will definitely keep me on my toes.

Jared Flood takes such phenomenal photographs of these designs that it's easy to imagine oneself casually hanging around New York warehouses and rooftops on cool autumn days, fending off the damp chill by wearing stylish handknits. The mop of hair and mono-hued beard are a bit harder to imagine, personally, but I hope I can still pull this off.

Although I originally planned on using another yarn, I decided to splurge and use Loft. But rather than this beautiful red, which I had used (in Shelter) on a previous project, I decided on Birdbook, a tweedy dark green. I had a store credit from some leftover Grettir yarn, so it made this sweater a bit more economical. I got gauge right away with the recommended needle size, and I think this is going to have just the right amount of drapiness.

I have had a few false starts already, all of which I can chalk up to user error. I know enough to read through the entire pattern before beginning a project, but one of these days I'll learn to read it thoughtfully, as Tim Gunn suggests the designers on Project Runway approach the Belk (Lord & Taylor / Piperlime / Bluefly / Macy's, etc.) accessory wall. For now, though, I'll attempt to "make it work" and hope that my knitting can somehow summon the cooler weather. It can't get here soon enough for me.