Tag: linen yarn

I finished the linen sweater. Here it is, a little shapeless, a little crunchy with all kinds of wonky stitches.A lot of unevenness going on. Some people don’t like to knit with unwashed linen, they say it hurts their hands. Some cotton can do that to me, linen – never, even if it stays stiff as I knit, it warms up in my hands.After  the washer,dryer and steam blocking, look how even the stitches are. They have bloomed a little and have relaxed into place, no more jagged look, as if I had knit with twine.The ends have softened  considerably. You can see how the ends are soft and crinkled, I find it easier to weave in the ends after the wash. I had tied a knot when I added the new color, so I wasn’t worried about any unraveling.This artistic image is the dryer lint – that is a lot of lint from one sweater. I will wash it again soon, to soften it further, I doubt I’ll get this much fuzz.The color blocking worked beautifully.Yes, the bottom edge is jagged, I cast off very loosely. Seeing these pictures made me realize how unprofessional it looks. Although I didn’t take another picture, I did remove and re-cast off. Much nicer now.I LOVE linen. Much more than cotton. Sure cotton breathes and is a good warm weather fiber, but it is heavy – especially when spun into yarn and knit into a sweater. Linen is also plant based, it is made from cellulose – but for some reason, it doesn’t have the weight of cotton. These days I can hardly wear synthetics, I’m not allergic in that I don’t get a rash. But synthetics rob me of my body heat. A linen sweater like this will retain my body heat and keep me warm. Not like wool of course, but for those times when I’m a little chilly, like summer nights – linen will keep me warm. If I wear something like this on a hot day, it will breathe and not suffocate me like synthetics do.I knew  when I started knitting this that I’d probably need a camisole, I was right. The elongated stitches are very transparent, but to be honest, the whole sweater is. I tend to run cold these days, even in summer, so I don’t mind a camisole, and once it gets chillier, even a long sleeve t-shirt will be nice.The only yarn that has any real yardage left is pink. I am so happy that I finally put this linen to good use! I find that as I get older I want my garments to be simpler. Gone are the days of everything but the kitchen sink.Like this linen sweater I made 8 years ago. The cables, the peplum, the bell sleeves. I love the color, I love the feel of the fabric, but it’s just too much. I guess that is a product of getting older.  Works for me, I’m enjoying the journey.

Yup, those extra long sleeves bothered me, a lot.  So I took out the scissors and got to work. No I didn’t take pictures of the surgery.Even after cutting off length in the middle of the sleeves as well as from the lace end, the sleeves are still on the long side.  Another advantage of linen – it holds it’s shape. So on the first sleeve I used two circular needles to pick up the stitches, and then unraveled the area between them. then I kitchener stitched the two portions together again. Half way through I realized that I didn’t need the needles; the stitches stayed firm, saved me some work on the other sleeve.Now, after knitting, frogging, re-knitting, cutting, re-sewing – I’m happy and have a sweater that I will wear a lot and with pride.