Wear and Tear

Today, I'm going to look back at old projects to see how time has treated them.

But first, an update on the sweater.

The sweater is progressing. It's been a long time since I made a sweater (I've only ever made three), and it makes me remember why I prefer short projects. The time between the planning and the payoff is loooong, and there is a lot of time just doing simple stitching. Since I'm not a student anymore, and I don't do many conference calls, I don't have a lot of time when I want to be doing simple stitches. When I'm knitting on my commute I want to be entertained!

Sweater currently: no sleeves, no collar, no bottom. But top and middle are finished.

All that said, I'm pretty pleased with how it is coming out. The only thing I am worried about is that the yarn is pretty loosely plied. I knit English-style, which tends to loosen plies even further. It looks fine now, but who knows how it will wear - it's a pretty soft yarn. It's a lot of work for a sweater if it  will look awful in a year.

I've had some problems with soft yarns in the past. Here is my (award-winning) merino brioche hat when it was new in 2015:

Brioche hat in 2015

And now:

Brioche hat in 2019

 The merino wool is very soft, but it doesn't hold up to heavy wear. I've worn it for several winters, and it is pilling, stretching, and shedding. But it is still warm, and still pretty. So I'm going to keep wearing it.

This inspired me to look around to see what else I could find around the house. A couple looked pretty good, but they had stretched a bit.

My first pussy hat, made with acrylic eyelash yarn, made in 2017 and hardly worn

A slouchy beret in blue and purple, made in 2008.

One had shrunk, so that I don't really wear it anymore:

Red and blue reversible hat, newly made in January 2012.

Reversible hat in 2019: smaller (it no longer covers the tops of my ears), and pilling.

Other items were just looking worn - pilling, shedding, woven-in-ends pulling out:

Lap blanket made in 2005. You can barely see the stitches from all of the yarn halo. I have also had to resew the panels together several times.

Astronomy hat finished in early 2016.  My husband wears this a lot, so it is already pilling.

Baby blanket finished November 2017. It's not that old, but the yarn was loosely spun and slippery, so it is already showing a prominent halo of shed yarn. Woven ends are coming out too, because it is so slippery.

One scarf is made of rougher wool (coopworth) so it is not shedding or pilling. But... I made it using a slipped stitches pattern. It has curled a lot, and I don't bother trying to straighten it.

Scarf made from my first real handspun in 2014. Nice and blocked (though the yarn is uneven).

Same scarf in 2019. No pilling, but it has curled up into a tube.

Of course, all of these are survivors. We all have a tendency to lose things, even hand-knitted things (especially my husband). So, here's to a hat that has gone into the void of lost items: all we have is the picture. I hope it is keeping someone's ears warm, somewhere.

Reversible hat, finished in December 2011. Residing somewhere else in 2019.

Reversible hat, other side.

It is a nice reminder that the life of our projects is only beginning when we take them off the needles. A "finished" project is anything but.