Friday, November 7, 2014

Yes I can.....yes I can.......

.....and I did!!!! Yes indeedy, I have finished! The most exhaustive and colourful woolly that has taken the longest time in the annals of the history of knitting...EVER....is completed!!!  I have knitted the last stitch, tidied up the last of metre upon metre of spaghetti-like loose threads, sewn up my myriad coloured jumper and knitted the neck band! So strike up the band, let the drums roll out, let the trumpets call, while the throngs shout.....hip hip HOORAY!!

You will need to shout louder......I can't hear you all the way down here!! The orchestra is belting out a cacophonous tune!

This garment which took forever and a day to knit, taxed my brain pan no end. So much so that I did wonder if it would ever see the light of day. This garment has cured my curiosity in walking along the yarny road of making it up as I go; diverting down li'l paths and tributaries, loop-de-loopying through strands of lengthy colourful wool which resulted in oodles and oodles of unravelling, to only back track, time and time again to the beginning. If nothing else I can pat myself on the back for doggedness.....(and perhaps......lunacy),

I have asked my husband that if ever I should say "I think I will make another improv, brightly coloured jumper, with oodles and oodles of patterns; perhaps he could strangle me with lengths and lengths of tangled wool!!





There have been too many occasions when unravelling was the order of my day.



There were many occasions when my brain pan was taxed to the limit with the figuring out of the patterns.





And.....there were was the odd occasion where my thoughts were led down dark and murderous paths!! Ooops....just as well those knitting needles never found a spot in some poor unfortunate soul....they could have precipitated some serious damage! Ouch!!



But not to be defeated by a 'few' balls of unravelled, crinkly wool, the odd pair of knitting needles and of course my muddled brain pan; I was determined to see this through from beginning to end.

Without further ado....here 'tis.

The front......




The Back......


As I knitted a larger size than I normally would, it is a comfy fit; but that's perfectly fine as I do love to bum around the house in larger woollies that keep me warm and cosy. I love to live in thick, aran style jumpers that are longer than the norm, around the house through the colder months. An oversized aran woolly, a pair of jeans and a pair of boots....voila! I will certainly be warm as toast come next Autumn/Winter.


As you can see, I am no chromophobe! I adore colour! I have been knitting this jumper, off and on through three seasons...Autumn, Winter and Spring. We certainly cannot rush these things now, can we!

Down here in Tassie even though the days are beginning to warm up (today was 19 degrees Celsius...a heatwave), there might be one or two occasions where I will don my jumper for my early morning walks with my shadow, Miss Maisie, as we traipse through the countryside. There will be no more concerns of diving into muddy puddles to avoid being hit by a passing tractor! This woolly has an injection of a li'l dose of colour and pattern; an overdose, if truth be told. Yes indeedy, my colourful woolly will be like a neon light in this li'l neck of the woods.

So there you have it. The end of a very long knitting saga and one for which I am very thankful and somewhat relieved that is "all over red rover"!! The next garment I knit will most definitely be one where I follow the straight and narrow path; a path with no deviations down unexplored territory; a path where the instructions are in black and white; where the wandering along the woolly path is uncomplicated and straight forward! Yes indeedy, my fascination with colour and pattern in a hand knitted woolly has been alleviated!

I am linking up with Janine's "Wool on Sundays" over at her lovely blog, Rainbow Hare. Janine's lovely blog is filled with gorgeous, gorgeous woolly makes and terribly clever makes of the fabric kind. Janine is a born story teller. Her delightful stories of Granny Square, Knit and Purl are enchantingly captivating. You can find a snippet of 'Rainbow Hare' here....give yourself a treat and have a lookity look.

So it's toodles from me.  Have a colourful weekend everyone !!



19 comments:

  1. I think that this jumper is beyond fun! I love the colors and the different stitches. Thank you so much for sharing your finish with us. Warm and toasty.

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  2. Pretty bright fun colours, looks nice and warm too.

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  3. I'm hoping you me the annuals of history and not the arse end of history Or the " anals "of history...cracked me up being the colorectal nurse- right up my alley so to speak. Im going to go back and look at your superb jumper now. WOW

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    1. Haha...you are too, too funny Monique. Freudian slip perhaps, though there were many times whilst knitting this woolly jumper that is exactly how I felt. Thank you for proof reading my post, Monique. As a self respecting gal, I have fixed this li'l boo boo, this li'l oversight. Silly me....I meant "annals"....what a difference one li'l itty bitty consonant makes! ;))

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  4. Now that is a work of art. I have crochet before, but I only know three stitches and never got the hang of knitting. All I can say is that it is so pretty and WOW.

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  5. It's finished! Well done Kim. I can't imagine this 'improv' type knitting. My eyes rarely leave the pattern on my works. Death by knitting needle? Could be the plot of that book.......
    Enjoy your walks in the country and I hope you don't get splashed on your beautiful sweater ; )

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  6. Fantastic,wonderful sweater!!!
    Happy week.:*

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  7. This is an amazing sweater! Love all the different patterns and colours you have incorporated. You must be so very pleased and satisfied with the finished result. Wendy x

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  8. Hello Kim.

    Goodness me, that is one jumper! Absolutely love the Smarties or are they M&M's down the back. I hope you put a little label on the inside.

    Have a lovely weekend.
    Bev.

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  9. More WOWS for you. And lots of superlatives too.. I tried knitting once and it was awful. Your is wonderful. And fun. And comfy. Glad you made it to the end!

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    1. Thank you, Beth. I only just made it to the end! :)

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  10. It's amazing I love it a work of Art in fact, well done for completing it. )

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  11. What a colourful and fun jumper! The different stitches look amazing, Kim!! I have to start knitting something very soon and I am blaming you :)

    -Soma

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  12. Wow it all looks so colourful with rich patterns, a fun, comfy jumper Glad you finished it super-duper well done!

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  13. Amazing! Amazing! Amazing! I have been waiting for this post and your jumper has turned out even more lovely than I was expecting - and I always knew it would be stunning :) I am trying to focus on your words of caution but I am SO tempted to cast down my crochet hook and embark on a wonderful, colourful mixed stitch jumper...Thank you for sharing this rainbow of loveliness and you kind words about my blog :D

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  14. oh oh oh I am drooling all over this sweater, Kim---you have to be the most creative, talented person I have been blessed to 'meet'---I bow to you and your loveliness. Hugs, my friend.

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  15. I know I've said it before, but I am in awe of your ability to knit. I think this jumper is just incredible. All of those amazing patterns and wonderful colours. And it's finished! Well done!!

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  16. YOU are an amazing knitter. How in the world you could make this up and have it come up to 'close' to fitting...astounding! I gave my sweaters (jumpers) away cuz they are just too warm for this body of mine even when the temps dip into the teens or lower!!

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