Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Knit Picks Palette Substitutions for AS Oregon Cardigan, Autumn Colorway







Okay, I have numerous other projects to finish (including a sweater with Rowan yarns that is my own design), but ever since I saw the pic in the Holiday Vogue Knitting, I knew that the autumn colorway of the AS Oregon sweater was in my future.


Since I have vowed to use up as much of my stash as possible, instead of ordering the *proper*yarn for this sweater, I'm going to use Knit Picks Palette yarns, of which I have a huge amount, in all of the colors (including the new heathers). I went through the color charts and matched KP yarns as best I could to the smallish pic in Vogue. And then I entered the chart into my cross stitch program (which is where I design all of my Fair Isle things). And then I made a list of the KP substitutions. And then I knit the swatch, which turned out beautifully (though I think I may make a couple of color changes- one brown and one red are both too dark, and I mistook one color on my chart and used green instead of gray as the background on the lowest leaf section). The color substitutions are my own approximations and preferences- you may think other colors work better (and you may well be right), but just in case anyone is interested, I've uploaded the substitution list (click to enlarge, right click to save). The yardage estimates are just that- they may or may not be enough to complete the sweater as shown.


But I am absolutely not starting this sweater yet.

7 comments:

AnneB said...

You are an AMAZING woman. Think of the hours of thought and swatching you have saved knitters all over the world. This sweater now goes into my list of to be knitteds since it is now an affordable sweater.

Kathleen Taylor said...

Thank you. I have loved this sweater since I first saw it online (I don't have the original book). And when I saw the autumn colorway, I knew I had to knit it. I'm pleased with how well the KP yarns match. I still might change a couple of the colors (a lighter dark-brown for example), but I think it's going to look smashing. But first, I need to finish a couple of other projects. Yep, I need to do that. Not gonna cast on. Nope.

Laura said...

Oh! Oh! Oh! Kathleen, how fun to have found you on Ravelry! I've queued those darling pumpkin mitts - I hope I can make them in this lifetime. I began a knitalong for the Palette FI Cardigan Last October (as in 2006) but I've hardly made it past the first pattern motif with holiday knitting (um, yeah - last year) and now a huge charity project I've been messing with.

But all of that is really beside the point of this comment. LOVE that AS cardigan - that alone has now made me NEED that magazine. When you do a little swatch like that, do you just use a DPN and continue adding a new strand from the right every time? LOVE the colors you've subbed. Are some of them the new heathers?

Lorri said...

Great job with the substitutions. I am quite impressed especially with the number of colors.

I tried to rework Donegal in Knitpicks awhile ago with little success in large part due to the limited colors. I am so glad that they have added the darker and heathered colors. I have been ordering them all so that I can play with them a bit. That is half of the fun.

Kathleen Taylor said...

Laura- yes, I just work the swatch on a dpn, and move the stitches over for each row, rather than trying to purl the patterning (which I hate doing). You can't take the swatch apart later because the pieces are only about 18" long, but it saves so much time. Several of the new KP heathers are worked into this swatch.

Lorri- the only complaint I've ever had with the Palette line was the limited color range. The new heathers help that a lot, and it just happens that they fit in with this sweater's colorway erfectly.

Unknown said...

Hi,

I am finally in the position to knit my Knitpicks Palette cardigan kit but I can't find the pattern book anywhere! Is there a way to purchase a copy of it? This is the one from 5 years or so ago. Thanks!

Kathleen Taylor said...

Natasha- send me your e-mail address and I'll send the pdf file for the instructions. to:
kathleentaylor1952 at gmail dot com