Sunday, August 14, 2005

Unrequited Love

I'm in love with this:

Knit me Laura! Knit me!

Not the girl, the sweater. What's not to love? It has everything I could ask for: interesting construction, interesting stitch pattern, and interesting yarn. From the moment I saw it, I knew I wanted to make it.

Unfortunately, the sweater does not love me. Or rather, the yarn does not love me. The yarn used is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted. A quick search on the Internet shows that it retails for around $17 per hank. (Insert bug-eyed look here.) After the rush on Lorna's Laces yarn for a certain over-hyped scarf, you'd think that Lorna's yarn would be a little more afforable. I could substitute a different yarn, but the gorgeous colors and patterning of the sweater come from the hand-painted yarn. If I searched for other hand-painted yarns, I'm sure I wouldn't find much difference in price. I suppose I could dye my own yarn, but that's a little scary for me.

Sigh. I wonder if when I will give into temptation. If you're very, very quiet, you can hear the sweater calling my name.

11 comments:

amylovie said...

It is a beautiful sweater. The cheapest I found the yarn was on Ebay for $14.

I think you should splurge on yourself. If you really love it, buy it. You could call it your birthday/christmas/anniversary present.

Amy

Anonymous said...

Actually, the yarn is not that bad! It's $17 for 225 yards, 100 grams... so if it were packed in the typical 110 yd/50 g format, it would only cost $8.50/skein, comparable to all the non-handpainted stuff out there. I say, save up for a bit, use stash yarn for other projects, but get the real deal for this beauty!

Jennifer said...

I think this is a situation where you really need to get the suggested yarn. I agree with Amylovie, buy the yarn in the name of a future gift.

GretchenX said...

I LOVE that jacket/shrug, too!! I think it's totally worth it!! But I'd say, you'd want to use Lorna's Laces - that's a classicly funky jacket, and I think it'd be worth the money to make something that turns out like that.

Did the kitty get to play with one of those knitted hearts?

:)
Gretchen

D said...

Agreed. I'm not a huge fan of the jacket, but in the words of my little italian mother, "You like it? Get it."

I agree...use stash stuff for the next few projects to justify the splurge :)

Anonymous said...

Rob at Threadbear made kits for this sweater.

http://blackdog.threadbearfiberarts.com/

Not sure how much $$, but it'd be an easy purchase eh?

Anonymous said...

That's an amazing sweater. I love how it's in circles; so unusual for knits...

EvaLux said...

Hello... I saw your comment on the price of the yarn. Have you looked at the yarn from http://handpaintedyarn.com/index.php ? They have gorgeous handpainted yarns for great prices. Not affiliated, just love their products :)
cheers Eva

thatfarmgirl said...

I fell in love with the sweater, too! There must be a less expensive sub and, if not, you're worth the splurge!

Anonymous said...

where did you find that sweater?

MiniLaura said...

zae--the sweater is in Vogue Knitting Fall 2005.

(I couldn't find your contact info. I hope you see this answer!)