Making: the Ranunculus
The six day sweater. (*Thinking time not included)
I’ve been wanting to change up the way I make videos and podcasts, so I’ve come up with the ‘making:’ series where I’ll talk about the process and experiences while making one project. I’m starting with the Ranunculus so you can watch the video or read the post…
Last year Sam (my yarn friend) and I went to Unravel Autumn and amongst the many gorgeous stands, one in particular stood out for us, the Raw Wool Company. There we met Anton who explained to us that their yarn is completely natural and undyed (different colours originate from a range of sheep breeds) and that he and a group of other young farmers, all based in Cornwall, oversee the whole process, from rearing the sheep themselves to spinning the yarn locally.
“Yarn in the colours sheep intended.” ~ Raw Wool Company
We loved everything about this stand. How it looked, the story, the people, the pictures of sheep and of course, the yarn. So naturally I wanted a special project to show off my special yarn. I pondered various different projects but when I stumbled across the softest, fluffiest yarn I’ve ever felt (also from Unravel) I thought that pairing these two together would be the ideal thing to do. So I tested them in a swatch to see how they would look, but the contrast between the two colours was too great and as much as the additional fluffiness was soft and lovely, it was rather hiding the gorgeous Raw Wool which I really wanted to shine.
I ended up settling on making a Ranunculus. I’m not sure how I came to it now, but it’s a hugely popular pattern which everyone seems to knit at some point so I’m sure it was just a matter of time before I did too. I do know I could imagine this lovely dark Raw Wool looking good in that pattern. So the paler yarn, despite its fluffy credentials had to go.
The pattern is designed to be knit using any weight of yarn from lace to worsted but on large needles, so that the weight of yarn determines the feel, drape and openness of the fabric. I didn’t want something very light and lacy, but as I had opted for the 4ply version of the yarn, I thought that holding it together with something else would still be the answer. So next I tried pairing it with some Kid Silk Mohair, in a dark brown. The colour was great, but the fabric was still very open and I wasn’t convinced I’d be happy if I went ahead with that either. So which was the best option, or should I do something else?
It seems I wasn’t willing or able to make a clear decision as my next step was to procrastinate for about three months. The swatches hung around, waiting me to get my act together. Eventually, I decided to have a look at the pattern details again, I think with a view to seeing if I could come up with third option. Exactly what yardage would I need and did I have something in stash maybe?
Well, apparently the 3 months time-out was all part of an elaborate but very necessary process, because somewhere along the way, my plan for a long sleeve winter sweater had morphed into a short sleeve, cropped version. Suddenly the answer was blindingly obvious, I could hold my Raw Wool Yarn double and include the strand of the mohair as well. This would equate roughly to a worsted weight, give me a nice fluffy, full fabric and show the natural yarn off in all it’s glory. Eureka!
The enthusiasm sparked by this discovery led to an immediate cast on and two episodes of Extraordinary Attorney Woo meant a decent amount of yoke progress on day one. In fact, due to the ‘moreish’ nature of the yoke pattern and the yarn weight, by the end of day three (Thursday), I had started to get an inkling that it might actually be possible to finish this sweater at the weekend. A sweater in a week(?) - get out of here!
There is an amazing amount of information included in this pattern. The explanations are detailed and, I would say, leave nothing open to misunderstanding. There are also copious tutorial links on the Ravelry page to assist further. I assume it’s aimed at someone knitting their very first sweater and I think it would be a good pattern to recommend in that case. In honesty though, as I am not a beginner, I found some of this excess of instruction to be a tiny bit of an a hinderance. I would come across a paragraph of text, think ‘gosh this needs some looking at’. Settle down to read the passage, just to discover it all boiled down to a simple, ‘knit to next marker’ or something similar. But that is the merest of mere gripes. It is as well to be thorough I suppose, and anyway, I soon acclimatised to the style.
The pattern has the option of two necklines, I cast on using the smaller version and my only modifications were to the body length and the sleeves. For the length, I knit to match an existing cropped sweater that I love and added some short rows to the back just before the ribbing. The short sleeve version of the pattern cast off immediately after separating for the body which left them very loose and open. I wanted something slightly more structured, so I added a few rounds, then worked a few decreases before finishing with the i-cord bind off from the long sleeve version.
But back to the mounting tension1 of the knitting itself, I was 3 days in, the weekend was approaching and I had aspirations of finishing in less than a week, I know you’ll be on tenterhooks…. did I manage it?
Yes, I did it! I actually knit a sweater in 6 days!
It would usually take me at least a month, probably two, so this feels like quite the achievement. Of course there are some massive caveats about why it was so quick, it had short sleeves, it’s cropped in style, it’s knit on big needles, I happened to have a lot of knitting time that weekend… you get the picture. This is not a normal level of production for me is what I’m saying. But, futile achievement though it may be, it’s still one that is very pleasing to me.
Pattern | Ranunculus by Midori Hirose
Yarn | Raw Wool Company 4ply in Shepard’s Silver (held double) with a strand of Drops Kid Silk Mohair in Dark Brown (15)
Project Page | Ranunculus
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That’s mounting tension I’ve attempted to create about the knitting situation you understand, not mounting tension in the actual knitting itself. A change to my knitting tension would have messed up the project and completely scuppered the whole finish-at-the-weekend plan entirely!
I find that sometimes a project needs to marinate for a while. Starting it too soon can lead to difficulties. This thinking stage is no less important than the stitching itself.
Thank you for the reminder. I have a Rannunculus stuck at the sleeve stage. I really must crack on and finish it although I fear we will be into the warmer weather soon and I'll lose the incentive.