Pine Haven Shawl and Brooklyn Tweed Arbor: Quite the Arboreal Match

This shawl.

I have wanted to knit it since the day it was released.  I don't know WHY the Pine Haven Shawl, designed by Alicia Plummer, has so few project pages, as it's so pretty and rather classic, yet woodsy-looking all at the same time.  I imagine wearing it whilst working my land in a lovely, tree-filled setting - hauling logs or somesuch... you know, like I do!  

Yep.

I knit this gigantic shawl up in Brooklyn Tweed.  For my first knit with BT, I chose the Arbor base, because I knew I'd love it so much - surely because it's worsted spun, which I am traditionally more naturally drawn to, though I do like woolen spun yarns, too, these days.  I had help from Matt and a friend when it came to choosing colors.  We went with Butte, Treehouse and Degas, though I'd really wanted to throw a purple into the mix, aha!  I purchased from one of my favorite Portland yarn stores, Twisted.  (By the by, they always have size 00 and 000 DPNs in stock, if you need them!!!)

The pattern itself was lovely and well-written, short and to the point.  The major issue for me was with gauge.  I strangely, for ONCE, may have needed to use the needle size called for OR may have needed to size up.  That never happens.  But that would have given me a fabric I didn't love.  I will clearly admit Arbor is a DK weight yarn, and the shawl calls for worsted, so, it was a bit of a conundrum.  I just stuck with my size 7 needles I'd swatched on and knew I'd have to make changes.  And boy, did I EVER!  (Did I just say that???!)  I added one extra set of crosses to the top section, an additional two or three stripes in the next section then additional stripes and a bit more made-up colorwork below the called-for colorwork.  I had to go nuts, in order to make sure my shawl was wide/long enough.  What I knew would happen, though, in the doing of this, was that the shawl would be too deep.  Thankfully, my row gauge is always pretty tight, because the shawl didn't come out TOO dreadfully deep, though I could honestly do with a few inches shallower.  I was killing myself with back pain by the end, and I wanted it off the needles, though I really did try hard to get through most of the yarn, which makes me pretty happy.

A thoughtful boy helps with blocking - wearing Camden's old Abate

Overall, it's an awesome shawl.  I questioned how much I'd like it as I got further and further in, but it came out perfectly!  Go knit one!!!  And don't be afraid to modify like a lunatic in order to get what you want/need out of a pattern!!

Naturally, some January days in the life:

Table saw injury :O  And it felt AND still feels way worse than it looks

Sometimes, you tell them to pick up outside....and.....

Getting her knit on.... for a couple minutes

A girl in curlers - and a weird brother

Week 17, I believe, of the school year for Camden, wearing her Tallulah and a skirt she made

A flaming gas leak in the neighborhood gets you booted from your home, which means library time

It Seems I have Officially SEAMED! The Berenice Sweater

A child down on her luck???

I tell you what, folks:  this sweater was some sort of test...a test in patience?  Maybe a test in whether or not I actually know how to knit?  I have no idea.

But JEEZ.

I have wanted to knit the Berenice sweater since it first came out in the first Kids Collection by Brooklyn Tweed....along with several other BT KC patterns, LOL.  I also totally purchased the Rosy Green Wool (I buy from Yarn Culture or Warm 'n Fuzzy) with the pattern in mind...envious all the while of Camden, because I secretly wanted that colorway for myself!

I also used this yarn when knitting my Windswept shawl!

I knit the sweater on the Cheeky Merino Joy base in the Wild Mallow colorway.  This base is perfect for this style of sweater, as I think it lends a certain classiness, LOL, if there is such a thing.  But I'm in love with all things Rosy Green Wool, so, a bit of a bias exists here.  The base is perfect, though, for a loose knitter like ME.  When I move down needle sizes to reach gauge on fingering weight yarn, my row gauge tightens up too much, so, knitting on sport weight yarn is awesome, as it fills out my row gauge, while still giving me a nice fabric.

Now, if you check my project page, the knitting of the sweater doesn't appear too dramatic.  I did have to rip out once, due to forgetting about length of the sweater.  I wanted to knit a size 4/5, because I didn't want the excessive positive ease, but I had wanted to make sure it was long enough - though I clearly forgot.  Thankfully, I realized this while still knitting the first side.  The pattern itself is written by Julie Hoover (her FB page) and is totally easy to understand.  There is a lot of flipping from page to page to keep track of what I needed to be doing, but the chart is great, and while not memorizable, as the repeat is too long, it is easy to knit while catching knitting podcasts and such.

Once the sleeve increases started, though, I had to be more careful about where I was at.  I used two sets of stitch markers in order to keep track of chart repeats and sleeve increases.  I have to say that next time, I wouldn't worry about working between two sizes.  I wish I had just knit a size 6/7, though it fits Camden okay now - and hopefully through this fall.  I did forget, I am pretty sure (you should have SEEN me counting rows and stitch markers like a WACKO), one of my sleeve increase repeats...which is incredibly depressing, as I lost six rows of knitting, so, it surely won't fit that great if she grows another inch or so.  Sad days.

Honestly, this yarn is SO SOFT

The sweater is knit in reverse stockinette, so, that feature is new to me....though clearly, the other side is stockinette, which, when knit flat, just means a bunch of purling.  I wonder if that is partly why my hand is broken???  LOL.  (no, seriously.)

Other than the lovely lace and cables in the pattern, a main feature of the sweater is in the exposed seams - picking up the stitches on the wrong side.  I LIKE that idea, but in execution, I am not sure my work looks so pretty.  The cuffs and hem are okay, but the neck is a bit crazy.  I've decided, though, that I can be over THAT....it's the shoulder seaming that kills me.  I think I did the right thing with the side seams, in using the mattress stitch.  This is the first time I've ever fully seamed a sweater.  So, when I needed to seam the shoulders, I was thrown for a loop, as I clearly was presented with stitches in the wrong direction, so to speak.  I tried looking up information on this, but I finally just said EFF IT and tried my best...which looks WONKY.  Like...not cool.  I can pretend it's a design element, like Melinda over at the Yarnder Woman Podcast likes to say, but I'm not sure I can even pull that off.  Live and learn.  I was just over knitting the sweater at that point.  I want to point out again that the pattern is quite lovely, but I already felt like it was on the needles for far too long, having cast on over Thanksgiving weekend, and I just wanted the end product.

That seaming!!!  Sorry if you have hurt your eyes in the looking!

It IS cute, and I wish I was awesome like so many other knitters and could figure out how to knit it for myself!  Julie Hoover should just be cool and design it for women ;)