That little chill in the air… the small and gradual shift of the seasons…
And a new theme for Project Spectrum!
Looking WEST
Color: Blue
Material: Glass
Season: Autumn
Element: Water
This theme is really interesting to me – very unconventional, I think it is the West/Blue/Autumn mix. I am hoping that this is a theme that will bring a new wave of creativity to those of you participating in Project Spectrum Cardinal Directions (oh my, it is the last direction! how does it always sneak up on me like that?) and you will welcome the challenge.
My interest in this theme piqued a few weeks ago, as I started working on my mother’s Sienna. That lovely shade of periwinkle blue really got me excited about the possibilities with this new theme.
… Luckily, one of my other big unfinished projects fits in pretty well with this theme too …
Navy on natural stranded colorwork for Kris’s Olympics pullover. What a wonderful feeling to make it through 15.5 inches of stockinette on size 2.5 needles and then introduce this lovely navy blue for the colorwork… First is the little “lice” pattern (or as I call it “the tick pattern” because that seems more fitting for me…) and then the intricate snowflakes. I reached the point in the colorwork chart where I set aside the body and start the sleeves, only to yoke it all up later for the rest of the chest and the neckline colorwork. Putting the body of the sweater on waste yarn, I asked Kris to try it on.
The funny thing about Kris is that he can be quite photogenic… but when he doesn’t want his photo taken, he can turn in to an 11-year old kid (think: sticking tongue out, hand gestures, bad posture…) but this photo fills the intended purpose of showing you the progress and the fit – and also a little bit of Kris’s modesty 
To his credit, the stockinette portion was rolling down, and I wanted to show the colorwork!
The fit isn’t too bad, but it will benefit from a good blocking to make it a little more cozy around the middle.
This colorwork chart is a lot of fun and requires a good amount of concentration. I am always amazed when it comes out looking like it is supposed to! I especially love the way the stranding looks along the back:
As you may recall, this Dale of Norway sweater (the Liberec pattern) is my big project for our trip to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. If all goes as planned, I will have enough time to make myself a Nordic stranded pullover too… and I just recently figured out which pattern I am going to do!
I initially thought that I wanted to go with this lovely Dale pattern (and I still want to make it!). On a trip to my LYS, I started talking with the owner (another Dale of Norway fan) and she said she was planning to do a fall class for the official Olympic sweaters. Naturally, I was very interested. Participants in the class can choose from the 5 commemorative Canadian patterns, 
or from the official Vancouver Olympics sweater. After a lot of contemplation (I was *almost* sold on Le Massif, and still hope to make it some day!) I decided to do the Vancouver sweater. I am planning to modify it a little – I don’t really like the deep v-neck, but would rather have a zipper neck (like the men’s sweater, on the left); however, I like the shaping of the women’s sweater… so I am planning to combine the two elements into one sweater. My rationale for choosing “Vancouver” was that the simpler look would be more wearable and would (hopefully) be easier to knit between now and February 14th (the first day of the Olympics). So, with that part down all I needed to do was sign up for the class at the LYS and figure out my color palette.
Many thanks to Mary Ann at Two Strands – she made this part much easier! She charted the pattern on her computer and played with the Dale yarn colorways to figure out a palette for her own Vancouver sweater. One of her choices (well, several, actually) inspired me. I narrowed it down to #10 and #11 – and #11 won in the end. So, my main color will be indigo – with natural and turquoise for the OXO colorwork. Not too shabby, eh? I am pretty excited! And the planned colors should really go well with the PS theme for blues!
My class starts in 3 weeks, so I am using this time to really make progress on my unfinished knits – both Kris’s pullover and my sister’s cardigan. September will have a finished sweater… I am making my mind up for that right now! 
Lolly, it´s looking (and fitting) great!
Congratulations!
All your choices for your sweater sound fabulous! Can´t wait to see more of it!
It’s so cool that you got help figuring out which colour combo you’d use! The one you chose is lovely, it will really look great.
It’s impressive to see how much you’ve got done on Kris’ sweater already! It’s coming along really well.
Can I just say how cool I think it is that you are a) making these sweaters and b) going to the Winter Olympics?! Both sweaters are sure to be stunning, and I really can’t wait to see how yours turns out with that gorgeous color combo!
That class sounds fantastic! It’s funny that the next shift is blue; I was just thinking today that I’ve been knitting with a LOT of blue, which is quite rare for me. I think it’s an oddly fitting color for fall; something about those crisp, chilly blue morning skies screams autumn to me.
I really love the fit of the pullover so far. I can’t wait to see the finished sweater.
I’ve been thinking blue lately too! I’m knitting up a shawl in a lovely pale blue and lately the beautiful blue skies of September have me really inspired! Kris’ sweater looks great so far!
Man, that official sweater is gorgeous! I’m going to the Olympics too (my husband is a total Olympic nut, and it’s in Vancouver where we know a million people – too good to pass up!), and although I was planning on knitting a sweater during the Knitting Olympics to wear to the Closing Ceremonies, which is what we have tickets to, I might be swayed by that gorgeous sweater. Oh, indecision!
I think the woman’s (Vancouver) sweater will look great with a zipper neck. Kris’s sweater is going to go really fast from now on you know, that is my experience at least
You are definitely weakening my resolve to not look at Dale of Norway patterns.
Looks great!
Kris’ sweater looks great! I am really impressed by how far along you are. Can’t wait to see how both sweaters turn out.
I find colorwork to be the most rewarding and addictive kind of knitting there is. I’m planning a lot of it for this fall!
wow, that sweater is amazing! I’m also laughing because my husband is the same way with the camera… he can be SUCH a ham when he doesn’t want his pic taken! Cannot wait to see it done!! GOO LOLLY!
Beautiful! There’s something so satisfying about the way stockinette looks (either solid or color work)…kind of like grains of rice, all prettily laid out in perfect rows. Sigh. This is why I became a knitter!
(Oh, my, I’m a nerd!)
What a conincidence, I would have chosen number 11 too! I think it would look very slimming with a modest fair isle section against a dark background… very lovely
Wow, another PS season passes so quickly.
I think you’ve made a great choice with your sweater for pattern, color and shaping. It will most definitely be a useful sweater. Will you be steeking these?!?! Scary! Thanks for the great chat today, you’re the bestest. xoxox
You’ve made such amazing progress on Kris’ sweater! I hope he loves it! I love how traditional it looks, it’s such a cool color and pattern combination. I love seeing how modest he is, too
Beautiful already I can’t wait to see it finished…all that SS ..how did you get through it…LOL. It’s always a pleasure to see what your working on.
[...] all year. September means several things in the handmade world: Single Skein September begins, Project Spectrum switches colours to blue, and goodness gracious but Socktoberfest isn’t far behind. SSS is a [...]
Kris’s sweater looks great, but – Wow. HOW can this be the last theme of PS? I can definitely fill the bill, fiber-wise with some blue, and Autumn is my favorite time of year. Now to mix the two together . . . hrm. . . thinking, thinking. . .
:O)
[...] 9, 2009 by Yoga Witch Project Spectrum has just moved into its final phase, and as usual, I haven’t knitted a single thing in the past few months that related to the [...]
[...] Project Spectrum has just moved into its final phase, and as usual, I haven’t knitted a single thing in the past few months that related to the project at all. In fact, since March, I’ve only knitted one hat (pictures at the bottom of the post), and a scarf that I haven’t finished yet. [...]