I think I mentioned once that I couldn't wear handknit lopi sweaters to work and that I was going to try to knit more elegant sweaters for the workplace. I work at a bank, if I haven't said that before. Last summer, the new part of the headquarters, which has been under construction for quite a while, was opened and my department was one of the first to move in there. The construction has continued since then and part of it included ripping down the entrance of the old building, which means that there has been a gaping hole in the building through which the wind could blow. The building has been seriously cold all winter, in fact it was bad enough to make the bank buy designer wool cardigans for the reception ladies. (I envied them a lot.)
So. I've been pretty frustrated not to have any bank-friendly wool sweaters to keep me warm at work. Then, a few weeks ago, I noticed that one of the reception ladies was wearing a classic lopi sweater. AHA! thought I. If the reception lady can wear a lopi sweater to work, then I damn well can. She's out there for all to see, and I'm sitting in front of a computer screen all day long. I never meet clients, I seldomly have important meetings. No one's going to mind.
I drove to the Álafoss factory outlet last saturday (a week ago) and bought some grey plötulopi (unspun singles). I thought I'd keep it simple and in muted colors so as not to draw too much attention to myself. Then I drove home, but instead of casting on I went cross-country skiing with Sigurlaug and Böðvar.
Ok, that doesn't have anything to do with the sweater but I just wanted to show you the beautiful surroundings and gorgeous weather. It was so much fun!
Back to the sweater. Initially the plan was to do the body in charcoal gray and then a single-colored yoke pattern in light-gray. Probably the pattern on the Él sweater from the last Lopi book. But one night last week, as I was falling asleep I had the idea to do the yoke in different shades of gray, starting with the charcoal and going gradually to white at the neck. There are of course very few original ideas left in the world, and this was most certainly subconsciously inspired by a Michael Kors sweater in the fall 2007 issue of Vogue (sorry, can't find a picture online).
Yesterday I finished the body of the sweater and I had already done the sleeves last weekend (I usually get the sleeves over with before I start the body). Last night I knit and knit and knit and finished the yoke. I had done minimal math before starting the sweater, just figured out the approximate stitch counts and then I tried it on as I went along. I probably tried it on three times while knitting the yoke, but apparently I was at first blind and didn't notice that it was a tad on the tight side and later my brain did an excellent job of convincing me that really, I wanted a tight fitting yoke. Really. Despite the nagging suspicions, I knit on and finished the sweater today in the afternoon. I grafted the underarm stitches and wove in the ends and thought: I can try to stretch it a bit when it's wet. Mhm. A recipe for failure.
Fortunately, my brother and nieces came to visit at that point so I had a few hours to let the feelings brew. When they left, I had come to my senses. I dug out the woven-in end at the collar and ripped right back to the beginning of the yoke. And I'm really glad I did. I spent the whole week knitting the body of the sweater and half a day doing the yoke. I'd rather redo half a day than wear a wool sweater that's so tight over the chest that there's a risk of me choking! And I like the sweater a lot. I think it's very bank-friendly and I'm already picturing myself wearing it at work.
So, back to yoke knitting. Fun fun fun.
