Sweater Drama

In the past few posts I've hinted at some sweater drama. Now that the dust has settled (kind of) and I have a finished product (almost) I'm ready to get into it.

My friend Joe, Austin's best friend and housemate, is moving to Beirut at the end of this month for two years. For those of you who have been under a rock in a cave on Jupiter, Beirut is the capitol city of Lebanon that has been being bombed the fuck out of by Israelis for the last month. Typically, though not all the time, warfar in the middle east has been limited to the caves, desert or rural areas. And though many cities in the Middle East have their fair share of terrorism and gun violence, Beirut has been a direct hit of war practices- not individual suicide bombers. I'm not suggesting that the violence in Baghdad or Israel has not been as devastating, it's just that Beirut was caught with their pants down. No one would expect this city to be bombed as hard as is has been. Americans have been asked to leave the country. But my friend Joe is still planning to go. He's not in the military. He's not a photo journalist. He's a teacher. And he's contracted to teach high school kids at an international school for the next two years.

"If school is still open," he reasons, "then it's safe enough for me to go. If the kids weren't safe, I wouldn't go." So up until this point I've been cringing around the radio news, shaking my head at the headlines of bbc.com, terrified and angry of how stupid this boy is. For education and integrity, I wouldn't go- why risk it? There are other schools without life threatening danger- but he doesn't see it like that. God bless this boy for being so brave. How many of us wouldn't have the balls to do it? And who knows- even if next week the school is closed down or if he's only there a few days and turns around- he's still game, and that's more than many would do.

When Austin first introduced me to Joe, I was coming over for dinner. Austin said to me, "If you bring him a bottle of Jamison, he'll love you." Really, how much easier can it get to have your boyfriends friends like you if you bring them a bottle of good whiskey? Getting to know him wasn't much harder, and even though I haven't known him for very long, I'm going to be missing a really cool person when he moves.

When I first learned that he was  leaving the country for so long (pre-bombing) I figured I'd knit him a sweater. Wouldn't you hate to be away from your friends and family for so long? A sweater would be something he'd have from Brooklyn to hold onto. And besides, I had been eyeing the Drop Stitch pullover from Knit1* since christmas and I wasn't going to make anything for the LMOL- (not yet). And yes yes yes it'll be hot in Beirut- but it's a Mediterranean climate, so there WILL be sweater weather.

So after receiving permission from Austin** and a stunned thank you from Joe, who still is amazed that I'm making him something, I cast on some Andes- 100% Chilean wool, a gorgeous light and dark variegated blue. I got about five inches up the front when I realized that it had some big gaps between stitches, and the drop stitches at the base were looking weird with all the gaps. The YO's didn't make any sense- it was too "holey." I was so upset- my gauge was right, but it just wasn't working. It was the wrong yarn for this project.  Luckily, The Point  only had one skein, and I had ordered the rest-that means that more yarn shopping was necessary. I ended up going to the Yarn Connection  and I purchased some Reynolds Andean Alpaca Regal, which turned out to be a perfect fit. Evenly spaced sts, I plowed ahead.

Now, it was springtime during this period and I was really not in the best knitting or blogging shape. It was something worth blogging about, but it just wasn't in me. I didn't have any other projects going and you know how blogging gets- sometimes you just need a break. So anyway, I knit on in anonymity, and meanwhile, the extra yarn I ordered from The Point- it never made it in! Six weeks went by and it never came! I ended up canceling the order for a store credit, but what a blessing that turned out to be. If I hadn't changed yarns, I probably wouldn't have had enough time to finish. But their turned out to be another road bump- the shaping on the right side of the v-neck.

As I worked this edge, there turned out to not be enough stitches for the shaping. I ripped back, counted my math, counted the stitches in the shaping of the pattern- something was totally off. Knit1.com's errata said nothing about the shaping of the right v-neck, and I was certain there was a problem so I contacted the designer, Yarn Ball Boogie for some help. Sympathetically, he wasn't able to offer much insight because Knit1 had manipulated the pattern, but he did give me the e-mail address to the editor in chief and a link to Jay's Craft Room, someone else who had knitted the sweater. I contacted both of them and worked on the rest of the sweater until further notice.

Knit1 still hasn't gotten back to me. Jerks.  Jay totally knew what I was talking about, and if you're knitting this sweater- reverse the shaping on the left side of the v-neck and keep the YO's. Just ignore all those complicated instructions- these guys have no idea what their talking about.

So here we are: In pieces, blobby, waiting for blocking and seaming. Just in time too, Joe ships out on the 24th of this month.

Phew- that was a mouthful of a post, and enough sweater drama to make me bored. If you're interested, stop by the Rec Room in Brooklyn at 7pm this Saturday 8/19 for Joe's going away/art show/Austin's website launch release/musical happening. E-mail me for details.

*I'm not linking because I'm mad at them.
**poll- would you knit for your man's best friend without asking? I doubt it.

 

Comments

[gleek]

holy moses that's one long post! but worth it. that sweater has been total drama :) i'm glad to see it's done now.. just the seaming to go!

[Karin]

You still have the right v to do, yes? Could you just do the reverse of the other side? I don't have the pattern so I can't help--and I hope your friend's safe on his trip.

[Veronique]

I can't believe all the shit you had to go through to figure out a stupid V neck! Why would they manipulate John's pattern?!
As for the poll: I'd knit for a boyfriend's best friend, but uh, not a sweater. A scarf maybe, or mittens. I think you're crazy (in a good way).
Have fun seaming! (Oooh, I said the S word!).

[KnitsNPieces]

I loved this post! what a great story. snap a photo when it's all seamed up. Joe is very brave indeed.

[carrie m]

that's definitely a labor of love. i'm sure he'll really appreciate it, and what a wonderful, caring gesture on your part. i'm sure he'll love it.

[melissa]

that's so nice! what a wonderful story and he is so brave! i wish him luck.

[Austin]

You should get a photo of the sweater with Joe wearing it... But when you do, make sure he's in his best George Micheal pose.

(Ladies, He's a dead-ringer for the famed front-man of the 80's musical giant WHAM!)

[Austin]

You should get a photo of the sweater with Joe wearing it... But when you do, make sure he's in his best George Micheal pose.

(Ladies, He's a dead-ringer for the famed front-man of the 80's musical giant WHAM!)

[Mebeth]

Sounds like he is totally sweater-worthy! I've been teasing my husband's best friend about making him a pom-pom hat, but there's no way I'd make a whole sweater!