Insulation wanted
Veronik on Dec 6th 2007
This is shaping up to be another season where all my design choices are dictated by how cold I am. I am ‘frileuse’*, and cold winters in an old house call for fuzzy layers. It used to be worse - I lived in an Old Montreal loft in the early nineties and one winter was particularly harsh. The pipes in the loft below burst on boxing day, and the firemen came to the rescue (not that anyone complained about that!). The building was so badly insulated, you could actually see outside through cracks in the brick… But it was cheap, and we had oodles of space for set and costume design.
So. The mittens are done, but the pattern isn’t. I have a deadline to attend to first, and will cast on a simple cozy sweater this weekend. All of my secret projects demand some thought, so it’ll be nice to have a little stockinette piece on the go. Actually, not too little - I’m cold.
*sensitive to the cold; I don’t know of an equivalent english word - do you?
Filed in Uncategorized | 20 responses so far
Anne Dec 6th 2007 at 11:39 am 1
Well, the sweater you are drawing there looks pretty darn warm to me - and the swatch is lovely — is the swatch for the sweater ?
Veronik Dec 6th 2007 at 11:45 am 2
No, this sweater will be a plain vanilla St st sweater. The swatch above is to reknit ’shimmer aran’ from an older IK. The original was a cotton ribbon with a metallic thread, and I’ve used CEY Princess for the swatch above.
wendelene Dec 6th 2007 at 12:16 pm 3
*sensitive to the cold; I don’t know of an equivalent english word - do you?
Umm- I think we call it sensitive to the cold
~Jo~ Dec 6th 2007 at 12:17 pm 4
Would chilly be a good word for ‘frileuse’? Can’t wait to see the reknitted shimmer aran, it’s still my all time favorite sweater.
woolcat Dec 6th 2007 at 01:14 pm 5
There is a word for frileux in Yorkshire - NESH. You are nesh! It sounds a bit more complimentary in French though.
I lived in France in 1990 when I was working as a language assistant in a “college” - the living quarters they gave me were in the school and were only heated during school hours. It was pretty miserable during the wet and windy Breton winter - thankfully I had a huge red aran sweater my mum had made me, which saw me through until some lovely breton people took me in and made me stay at their house on cold nights!
Veronik Dec 6th 2007 at 01:18 pm 6
Nesh!!! I love it.
emily Dec 6th 2007 at 01:27 pm 7
that sweater looks so fabulously cosy!
Toby Wollin Dec 6th 2007 at 03:27 pm 8
“Nesh” - now that is interesting - my Mum was from Yorkshire and her word for “getting your knickers in a twist” was “Fesh” (as in “Don’t fesh yourself”). Weird.
And, Veronique - here in Upstate New York this morning, it was minus 2 degrees at 7:30 this morning (thats -2F), so we were applying layers for sure. I’m a big fan of those “tucked into the front” shawl collars - if it really gets cold you can always unfold them, secure with whatever pin you have laying about (in my case, a large safety pin, I’m sure) for even more warmth.
Yay, sweaters. And, we are only in early December…I’m starting to think I should find a pattern for knitting myself some major hunky wool tights…
mindy Dec 6th 2007 at 05:48 pm 9
oooooh, love the sketch!
Tara Dec 6th 2007 at 09:29 pm 10
Wow - I love the swatch and the sketch! I think I’ll start using “nesh” in conversation! I love it!
And Toby, if you fnd a tights pattern, be sure to come back here and let us know!
Josiane Dec 6th 2007 at 10:02 pm 11
I *love* the sketch! I hope you’ll submit the pattern somewhere, or share it somehow. I really love it, and would love to knit that sweater! Please post progress pictures as you work on it!
connie Dec 7th 2007 at 12:38 am 12
Ooooh, pretty swatches and pretty sketch! I can’t wait to see what it all becomes
whitney Dec 7th 2007 at 07:26 am 13
Oooh, I love the sweater in the sketch!
Isa Dec 7th 2007 at 10:59 am 14
Sorry you’re cold. Get warm knitting, keep warm knitting. I never though anything good could come out of being cold … Please, let us know where we can find your patterns when published. Thanks
Julie Dec 7th 2007 at 11:24 am 15
Oooh, that sketch is certainly looking fabulous… Can’t wait to see it! And theer is something so appropriate and classic about red in the winter….
B. Dec 8th 2007 at 09:35 pm 16
Toby and Tara, you might want to look at a copy of Elizabeth Zimmerman’s “Knitter’s Almanac”. She has a chapter charmingly titled “Nether Garments” in which she explains all you would need to know to knit a pair of tights.
Kate Dec 8th 2007 at 10:59 pm 17
I would say you’re a “chillbaby”. Love the sweater!
Kylie Dec 10th 2007 at 11:15 am 18
That sketch looks lovely. I’ve been craving a shawl neck sweater myself. Looking forward to seeing pictures when it’s done!
ps-my mother and I always used to say we were “cold-blooded” like lizards because we were always wrapped in sweaters and standing on the furnace registers during the winters.
Emma Dec 11th 2007 at 09:41 am 19
Stop making so many yummy patterns I can’t keep up!!!
AliP in the Qc Dec 12th 2007 at 10:04 am 20
Veronik, I love the simplicity of this sweater. Lovely! Will you publish this pattern for the rest of us? hint…hint…LOL