It took nearly six years, but my husband has finally broken me into camping. Since I’ve been having so much fun knitting garments for myself, I wanted to make something that I could wear while out in the bush this summer.
While scrolling through Ravelry I came across the Sleeveless Hoodie from Issue 14 of Noro Magazine — a knitting magazine focusing on patterns with the Japanese yarn brand of the same name. I could already see myself sitting by the fire pit on cool summer nights, all cozied up under my hood.
When it came to selecting material, I had to go against my growing yarn-snob tendencies. I needed something robust enough to withstand being tossed into the wash after being infused with a weekend’s worth of sweat and campfire smoke. Unfortunately, many of my favourite yarns are more like, “If this yarn even gets within 3 feet of a machine it’ll DIE.” And I’m not about to hand-wash my camp clothes.
I was also still trying to resist the siren song of new yarn purchases at the time; luckily, I still had most of the Scheepjes Stone Washed/River Washed Colour Pack — a collection of all 58 colours in the range in the form of tiny 10-gram balls. Stone Washed and River Washed are a cotton-acrylic blend and are machine washable. Can’t be put in the dryer but one out of two ain’t bad!
This knitting journey I’ve been on this past year has taught me what knitting techniques I like and what ones I don’t care for. For instance, I found I much prefer knitting seamless garments. So in a fit of brilliance, I decided to knit this top in the round — rather than knit flat and then sewn together as the pattern called for. This way I could get it all done at the same time, and also be able to try it on as I went to check the fit.
The only snag I hit was the armholes — I have yet to figure out how to add edging without making them so small and tight that I can’t fit my arms through. The raw edge was already almost too tight so I didn’t want to take my chances.
I love the heathered look of Stone Washed and River Washed, and this hoodie is as cozy as I imagined. Even though with the hood up, my husband thinks I look like a wood elf.