Pure Linen he knits/she knits KAL

April 02, 2014




Here we go again!  Konrad and I have begun our second KAL.  This time we're knitting Trinity with Rowan Pure Linen.  My goal is to have a casual, lightweight yet elegant summer sweater with positive ease.  I plan on wearing it with black capris or white jeans.  (I hope you're not cringing at the thought of white jeans.  I don't know about the rest of the world, but in my neck of the woods we wear them all summer.  Or at least I do.  But I'll have to look around this summer and see if I'm the only one!)  Trinity has beading at the top and while I think it's very pretty, I have a feeling I'll eliminate that touch.  If you've been reading this blog for a while, you'll know I like my knits best if they are a bit plain.  But I'll decide at the end.  I can always sew them in when I'm finished if I think the sweater needs it.  What do you think, beads or no beads?  One more thing, I might begin the "V" a bit earlier for a deeper V-neck.  I like that for summer.

Konrad's goal will be to change the pattern to work for a man.  Sometimes he feels that it's slim pickins' in the men's sweater arena.  So what's a guy to do?  Well, take a woman's pattern and make it work for a man.  I'm guessing he will enlarge it a bit, remove the waist shaping, shorten the "V" and eliminate the beading. 

Well, we're off and running.  Konrad and I have given ourselves 4 weeks and we've got 3 more to go.  I've got my back almost finished.  The linen is surprisingly easy to knit.  Sometimes linen is more like kite string, but this, not at all.  Also, it softens as you work with it.  I had to rip out the same 2 inches twice and the yarn held up well and only got softer.  I played around with needles a bit and liked it on my Knit Picks Rainbow straights the best.  The linen can be slippy, it likes to do it's own thing a bit, so it needs a needle with a bit of grab to tame it.  The pattern calls for size US7 which makes an open, uneven fabric which would be unacceptable in a wool, but is perfect for linen.  It's earthy.  Almost fishnetty.  I love it.




We'll be back next week with a progress report.  Check out Konrad's post.  Oh my gosh, this guy has got to be the kindest and most patient man on earth!  And guess what?  I'm going to meet him in England this June!  We will have to wear our matching sweaters!  LOL!

The Pure Linen Collection by Lisa Richardson

I just made Maple Baked Bacon.  Check out the decadent recipe on my cooking blog.


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14 Comments

  1. Happy knitting, Kristen. Can't wait to see it finished!

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  2. Excited to follow along on your second KAL with Konrad! You two make a fun team. Which shade of Pure Linen are you using? Are you doing the beads or leaving it plain? SO fun – thanks for sharing! xx.

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  3. Hi Kristen, lower v, yes! beads are nice, but I vote no...then you can wear a necklace to dress it up..... I wear white Talbots jeans...is that good or bad ? Laughing....this will be lovely with black capris too! I love that black shade...it's so black it is blue!

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    1. Oh yay! I'm glad someone else is wearing white jeans! That's what I was thinking too about the beads. I have necklaces I like to wear, esp. with a v neck.

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  4. I love linen and can't wait to try Rowan's new one!

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  5. I vote for the lower V and no beads. I wear white jeans all year :-)

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  6. I would start the V earlier also but not sure what to do about the beads........maybe black sequins so they are very subtle but still add a little something. And.......I'm going to go out and buy some white jeans for the summer!

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  7. Hi Kristen! My votes are: yes on the white jeans, yes on the lower V neck and no on the beads. : ) I saw this yarn at my LYS and it seemed a bit rustic to me, so I can't really imagine it with beads, but I know your sweater will look beautiful either way!

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    Replies
    1. Yep, I'm certain I'll go with lower V and no beads. I'm glad I'm getting the all-clear with the white jeans. Sometimes you don't know if things are regional, right?

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  8. No beads until you see if Konrad uses them.

    Carole

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  9. well geez I didn't even know white jeans might *not* be OK! I've got two pairs of white and one pair of winter white... we wear them all year round here in the southeast. also, I LOVE that yarn/sweater. Might need one myself, too! Kristen, are you making the Small?

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  10. Lower the v neck, can the beads, WEAR the white jeans! That's my two cents!

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  11. What an excellent idea to do a KAL with a fellow knitter...and Konrad!! Wow!! Don't you just love his work!!

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