i hate myself for loving you
:( (insert more dramatic sad face here)
anais is officially finished and although i absolutely love her, she'll be banished to the ziploc bag until i give her away. i was only able to wear this sweater for about 20 minutes total before i ended up with a rash and could no longer breathe out of the left side of my face. benadryl was administered, sad faces were made, but peeps, i had to face it, i am totally allergic to alpaca.
here are the first and last pictures you will ever see of it on my body:
the details:
pattern: anais, by norah gaughan from norah gaughan vol.1
yarn: berroco ultra alpaca light, almost exactly 4 skeins for the 34" size
needles: u.s. 10 bamboo straights (for inserts), u.s.4s for ribbing and u.s. 5s for the body
mods: i added 1.5 inches to the ribbing and another inch to the body because the pattern called for a much shorter garment than i wanted. i also ended up taking off the little webby capped sleeves because when i saw myself in the mirror after they were sewn in, the word "husky" kept popping into my head. i guess i felt like a wooly little football player. so i took them off and then all was well in my world. other than those little changes, i knit the pattern as written.
if i were to knit this pattern again, which i am determined to do (in an alpaca-free yarn), i would knit the body in the round up to the armholes, instead of having to seam the sides later. i re-seamed this baby 3 times. 3. times. that makes me cry a little. i'm just a perfectionist when it comes to the seaming and i make myself crazy for no good reason at all, because my seams were fine the first time, according to everyone else. this was also the first sweater that i've knit in pieces in over 2 years, ever since top-down raglans came into my life.
so yes, yes, go knit this sweater vest. i love it. the yarn is gorgeous stuff too and i'm very sad that i won't get to wear it.
the post title was inspired by joan jett. i just got back from seeing her play, it was awesome.
Comments
oh no! hope you recover from your allergies soon! my gosh, that sounded so horribly, you poor thing. :( x 1000, at least.
that top is gorgeous, such a shame you have to give it away. but i'm sure the next one you make will be just as lovely (if not lovelier). :)
Posted by: Sandra | September 15, 2007 01:07 AM
Anais is so pretty! How sad that you won't get to wear it. I've recently discovered that I am allergic to alpaca as well (my symptoms are all respiratory, no rash) and it makes me so sad! I am on a quest to find a bunch of pretty drapey alpaca subs.
I didn't like the little sleeves on Anais either, your version is much more pretty!
Posted by: Stitchywitch | September 15, 2007 01:27 AM
Oh that really is a shame because it looks so good on you! Glad you plan on knitting it again, it's a great vest :)
Posted by: Alice | September 15, 2007 01:44 AM
Oh, such a bummer :(
It sure does look good though, so someone will be very happy when you give it to them. I'm thinking of knitting Anais too, but have to finish some other things before I can allow myself casting on for a new project.
Posted by: kaisakaisa | September 15, 2007 05:40 AM
A damn shame! Sorry to hear that, M! It really does look cute on you :) I will get around to it one day...
Posted by: Lolly | September 15, 2007 07:29 AM
ugh! alpaca allergies :( did you break out at all while you were knitting it? it's so beautiful. too bad you have to give it away.
by the way, your comment form never remembers me. i'm not sure what's wrong with it but i'll take a look.
Posted by: gleek | September 15, 2007 07:32 AM
Gosh, I hope you feel better soon!
The vest is absolutely beautiful, and I'm sure your next one will be just as excellent. Well, minus the horrible allergic reaction and all.
Posted by: a.bumblingbee | September 15, 2007 10:45 AM
That really sucks! It is a gorgeous sweater and its a shame about the allergies. Hopefully you can do this top again in a different yarn because it looks great on you.
Posted by: Lauren | September 15, 2007 10:45 AM
Oh, what a shame. Such a pretty FO, and I like that blue, too. I do hope you redo it in a different yarn--it's so cute!
Posted by: femiknitter | September 15, 2007 11:19 AM
I am so sorry to hear about your allergies! That totally sucks but I will say whoever you give it to is one lucky person!
I can't wait to see which yarn you choose to make it in when you make another one!
Posted by: Leah | September 15, 2007 11:44 AM
Oh, it's so beautiful, that's terrible about the alpaca.
Posted by: Amy | September 15, 2007 12:41 PM
Oh how sad. That's such a gorgeous sweater, and looks great on you – I hope to see another one here soon!
Posted by: terhi | September 15, 2007 12:50 PM
What a beautiful job...too bad it didn't work out though. GRRR!!! Stupid alpaca!
Posted by: Christie | September 15, 2007 01:03 PM
Oh no! *Sympathy sadface* Such a gorgeous FO, too.
Posted by: kim | September 15, 2007 02:30 PM
Dang. That is the saddest thing I have ever heard. You can totally see the rash starting to appear on your upper chest in the second picture. :(
Posted by: nikki | September 15, 2007 04:02 PM
I'm so very sorry to hear about your sweater/allergy situation. I live in fear of developing a fiber allergy. My boss at the yarn shop became allergic to angora right after she opened the store and it's a damn shame. No angora for us now...not even blends. Still, Anais is lovely and I'm sure you'll make another ulta-fab one that you can actually wear.
Posted by: Lindsay | September 15, 2007 05:07 PM
Oh, totally gorgeous!! That neckline is one of the most interesting knits I've seen in a while. Someone is very, very lucky.
I imagine you singing to the sweater -- "I wanna run, but I come back to you!" -- and fondling it, all rashy and sad.
Posted by: pamela wynne | September 15, 2007 10:25 PM
That's too bad that you knit the whole thing with no reaction and now you can't wear it. I just got that pattern book and have a few of them in my queue, including that top.
Posted by: Val | September 16, 2007 12:08 AM
Aw, man - that totally sucks. I'm sorry. But the top is gorgeous. Maybe you can make another one in a less offensive yarn?
Posted by: Elizabeth | September 16, 2007 03:02 PM
So beautiful! I have very similar sweaters selling in my boutique right now for $375. Thanks for posting your FO, it makes me want to buy the pattern book! Sorry you have to redo it, and am surprised that you didn't discover any allergies while knitting it. bummer!
Posted by: anne | September 16, 2007 08:46 PM
Very nice Anais. I've just finished mine too! Your seaming around the cobweb insert is soooo much neater than mine. Great job!! It looks great without the sleeves.
Posted by: thepurler | September 17, 2007 07:20 AM
That sucks! It looks great on you and you should definitely knit a non-alpaca version for yourself.
Posted by: Jill | September 17, 2007 12:19 PM
What a shame! Yours looks beautiful, and it fits you well. The webbing came out very nicely. It almost looks as if we chose the same colorway. I used Denim Mix...
Posted by: Heather | September 17, 2007 01:24 PM
Allergic?!! Nooooooo! That sucks :( And it's such a beautiful sweater...
Posted by: Veronique | September 17, 2007 02:43 PM
This looks SO GOOD on you. I'm so sorry that you can't wear it! You're welcome to mail it to me! heh...
Posted by: elizabeth | September 17, 2007 10:42 PM
Sorry about the allergies :( It's a beautiful knit, though!
Posted by: amanda | September 18, 2007 12:30 PM
I'm allergic too. :(
It's beautiful. I hope it finds a good home. The holidays are coming!
Posted by: Sunflowerfairy | September 20, 2007 12:00 AM
It's too bad that the sweater tried to kill you, it's very cute!
Posted by: kala | September 20, 2007 01:42 PM
Sorry about your allergy to alpaca. It looks wonderful though.
Posted by: Becky | September 22, 2007 10:46 AM
Allergic to ALPACA??? That is the saddest story I have heard in a long time. My condolences. But you are going to make someone very happy when you give that away!
P.S. My birthday is in October.
Posted by: jenna | September 22, 2007 07:12 PM