(eventually) Flowing Lines

I have been on a strict yarn diet over the last year. I have pretty much only been using yarn from my stash and haven’t been adding much at all. It’s been very satisfactory to watch the stash reduce and to actually be able to see what is in there, forcing myself to be inventive with those odd skeins of 4 ply or dk that were gifted to me some Christmases ago but never seemed enough or felt too special to do anything with. As it turned out I was in desperate need of a long sleeved comfy jumper to wear around the house and as I’m determined not to buy any more yarn until Edinburgh Yarn Festival I once again had to look through my stash, spend hours on ravelry and see what could be achieved with what is now left.

I finally knitted Flowing Lines by Vera Välimäki of rain knitwear designs.

I have long been a fan of Veera’s ever popular designs (particular favourites being the Hooray Cardigan, Color Affection and Gathering Stripes) but had never tried any of her patterns before. I’m attracted to her use of simple shapes and stark designs using both colour and texture. Flowing Lines seemed to do just that. It is a very simple boat neck jumper in reversed stocking stitch and flowing lines created by a simple cable stitch. It is finished now and I love it. It’s really comfortable and incredibly warm. Knitted in New Lanark Donegal Silk Tweed Aran it is just warm enough to be comfy in a drafty Victorian Edinburgh Tenement but too warm to wear in a well insulated restaurant (I tried).

To the untrained eye my Flowing Lines might look remarkably similar to another jumper I knitted in the same yarn. The knit and feel of the finished garments are however completely different. The reversed stocking stitch with only a simple cable stitch creates a much looser fabric that makes this jumper feel much more casual than the Beatnik with its fairly complicated cable pattern that creates so much structure and density to the garment. I love them both.

Generally, Flowing Lines provided an overall a pleasurable knitting experience but with a fairly traumatic beginning. I moaned fairly extensively about this over on ravelry and I think I better keep it there. 😉