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oh, that canadian wool!
Posted on | April 7, 2010 | 20 Comments
It’s some pretty nice stuff.
Hard to keep away from, although Mack was temporarily distracted by the flower water.
I told myself that I’d stop at a swatch. Sounds reasonable, yes?
I even cast on for a new project, one that is weather-appropriate, using Rowan Denim. After knitting 2/3 of the back, I realized that I didn’t have the required faith in my math. Rowan Denim shrinks 15-20% in length and although I swatched and caculated and calculated again, I couldn’t overcome the sinking feeling that I’d knit the entire top and it wouldn’t fit. Particularly since the top has a row of pockets across the front and calculating shrinkage on THAT made my brain hurt. So I frogged it and am washing the 13 skeins of yarn before I knit it.
In the meantime, I *had* to have something to work on! It will probably take me until winter to finish this, but I’m fine with that.
The sweater is Veronik Avery’s Fair Isle Cardigan from Knitting Classic Style, and my only modification (and it’s a big one) is to substitute the yarn. The pattern calls for Jamieson & Smith 2 ply jumper weight, and the yarn cost to knit a size medium would be … are you ready for this …
$250!!!!
For a medium! Even a small would cost like $180. Craziness. At least for me. I’ve often wondered if my thrifty ways would change if I became a millionaire – I just don’t think it would. Finding a good bargain is a challenge to me, I enjoy it. Although the one thing I probably would splurge on would be yarn.
Finding a substitute yarn wasn’t as as challenging as I was afraid it might be. I’ve had color cards from Briggs & Little for a long while, so long in fact that the price sheet I had was from 2006! I asked them for updated prices and they sent me an entire new set of color cards, so if anyone would like my first set, I’m happy to send them to you. Anyway. I tried to match up the colors as best I could; they won’t be identical but I’m hoping they’ll be close enough.
Total cost? Less than $80, including shipping from Canada!
Hoo yeah!
And I’m having so much fun knitting this. Colorwork! Size 3 needles! Rustic wool! Good stuff.
How’s your week coming along?
Comments
20 Responses to “oh, that canadian wool!”
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April 7th, 2010 @ 9:58 am
Great job on the yarn subsitution. I love Briggs (that’s why I carry some in my shop!)
I can’t wait to see your project done!
I love that your cat is named Mack. That’s my son’s name!
April 7th, 2010 @ 10:10 am
Cheapskates unite! You know I’m right there with you. I’m famous for saying “I’ll be damned if I’m paying THAT”. It’s one thing if the item is handmade. I’ll appreciate the craftsmanship of the dyer, spinner, etc. and walk away. But for machined yarn? Not so much. It may be fantastic yarn, but I’ll substitute, thank you very much.
I cringe thinking about frogging that whole sweater and starting over. Really feeling for you.
April 7th, 2010 @ 10:16 am
What beautiful colors!
April 7th, 2010 @ 10:50 am
Oh that’s the kind of colourwork I’m interested in pursuing – I’ve had enough for the moment with worsted.
As for pricey items…I’ll pay top dollar for high quality ingredients to bake and cook for my family and good quality bed linens and towels last forever and so are worth it but that’s pretty much it for my indulgences.
That being said, I will pay a bit more for yarn at my LYS because I want to have a LOCAL YS and there’s a price to having the luxury of that proximity.
April 7th, 2010 @ 10:50 am
What a fantastic substitute! I’m with you on staying away from super-pricey yarns . . . most of the time. I gave in and purchased a Starmore kit two years ago to knit a sweater for the DH (Lismore). It was pricey but worth every penny.
April 7th, 2010 @ 10:55 am
Very nice substitution! I’ve never knit with it but have seen umpteen projects using it. Let me know what you think after. Can’t beat a bargain esp if it fits the bill so to speak financially and fiber-wise.
April 7th, 2010 @ 11:51 am
wow, LOVELY!
April 7th, 2010 @ 12:40 pm
I love that fair isle cardi – it will be super pretty! Did you see Veronik Avery has a new book out?
April 7th, 2010 @ 1:50 pm
Oohhh. I don’t have that many knitting books that are just patterns, but I have Knitting Classic Style and I loooove it. This is a great sweater!
April 7th, 2010 @ 2:13 pm
Good call on the Denim. You won’t want to make something that won’t fit you once it’s blocked and everything.
This new project looks like a winner already.
April 7th, 2010 @ 2:15 pm
Oh, yum! Just yum!
April 7th, 2010 @ 2:24 pm
Ooh, look at those colors – gorgeous. Yes, generally speaking I will not spend $250 for a medium-sized sweater worth of yarn. I have to check out Briggs & Little.
April 7th, 2010 @ 6:28 pm
It’ll be a beautiful sweater. I’m with you on the cheaper substitutions…while I want something that will last (assuming more expensive yarn is ‘better’), I cringe at the thought of even half that amount for a sweater! But then, I’m seriously frugal!
April 7th, 2010 @ 6:33 pm
I recently bought enough Noro Silk Garden to make myself a sweater — even buying the yarn on eBay in 10-skein lots, it was >$200. I may never pay that much again, though. Generally, $100 is my limit for a sweater’s worth of yarn.
If no one else speaks up, I would love to have the Briggs & Little color cards. I just finished reading Sweater Quest and am inspired to think about knitting colorwork. (Notice I said “…inspired to THINK ABOUT knitting colorwork…”, not “…inspired to KNIT colorwork.”)
April 7th, 2010 @ 10:10 pm
I love that sweater, E, and it sounds like your yarn substitution will work well. However, you could have used the original yarn called for and paid approximately the same price. It sells for 1.69 GBP, which is about $2.57 per skein. Ravelry says it takes about 25 skeins for the small, which comes to less than $65. J&S is a wonderful company to work with and they sell direct via their website. If you’ve never worked with it, you should give it a try. It’s on my short list of desert island yarns.
April 8th, 2010 @ 7:02 am
I can go on with a list of what $200 will buy me, like…A new bike, four pairs of Lucky jeans that make my a$$ look less frightening from Steinmart, a new pair of leather boots, a whole slew of designer quilting fabric, etc…I could go on and on.
I will forever scrutinize value, no matter what’s in my bank account, too. I think it’s a good quality to have! I can’t wait to see the sweater once it’s finished! Do you have to carry the yarn through the whole time when working with this amount of color work?
April 8th, 2010 @ 8:38 am
I am such an idiot. I based my calculations on the prices listed on Schoolhouse Press’s website, even filled up the shopping cart for the XS/S size and M/L size, and the prices were $178 and $249, respectively, including shipping. They had all the colors and I just thought their prices would be in line with everyone else’s. CRAZINESS!!! I had no idea I could order direct from the manufacturer for less than half the price!
April 8th, 2010 @ 8:40 am
Is it the B&L sports weight? I used that for my EZ Green Sweater and it is great. I love B&L yarn and the fact that is comes from the oldest always-operating mill in Canada.
April 8th, 2010 @ 8:53 am
I have an order of B&L coming to me – expecting it any day now! I love it – good, solid workhorse yarn, reasonably priced, and great service. Like Brenda, I’m making the EZ green sweater, only I;m making them in cream, in red, and in blue…
April 9th, 2010 @ 4:58 am
What a great sub! Otherwise, quite the financial commitment. Crazymaking. I ordered from J*S in Scotland (FPS) and it was cheaper than Schoolhouse Press. By lots. (Have two Feitelson sweaters queued for when I feel ambitious and evenly stranded.)