Monday, August 06, 2007

Biggest. Swatch. Ever

I'd bought some Jaeger Extrafine Merino DK a few months ago, during the last month that The Wool Shop in Bray was open. It sat around for a while, and then I got an idea for a cabled cardigan. So, my biggest swatch ever:


As a scientist, I apologize for not putting a scale bar on the image, but, as a hint of the size, this took close to a whole ball of yarn. I'm glad I swatched, too, because the cable pattern looks nothing like what the one in my head looks like. The aspect ratio is all wrong. I imagined the cables being taller and less wide. Oh, well.

Aside from the design, I also learned that I freakin' love working with this yarn. It's just so lovely. Light, even, springy, easy to knit...a great basic DK yarn. I've heard rumours that Rowan, who owns Jaeger, are discontinuing the whole Jaeger brand. I sincerely hope this is not true. I've worked with a few Jaeger yarns in my knitting life, and they have always been exceptional and joyous to knit with.

Now I'm not sure whether to continue trying to get the cable pattern in my head onto a swatch, or try for something else altogether.

3 comments:

jacqueline said...

I like this swatch.

Is there any reason why the center cable got the same directional twist as those on it's left? I suppose you had to choose a direction for the middle cable. I was just wonder how you decided which way to twist it?

Lien said...

The Limey picked up on the asymmetry right away, too. I just randomly chose one direction for the centre cable. I'm not happy with it.
Alternatives: a) two centre cables, so the twists can be paired, like the outer cables, or b) twist all the cables the same direction. I'm inclined to go with b) because the pattern is wide enough as it is, adding an extra cable would just make it wider.

Anonymous said...

Yes, Jaeger is definitely being discontinued. Colourway.co.uk is offering good discounts on all Jaeger yarns. I'm hoping that Springwools will get some in at reduced prices.