He's Still Got It! Arezzo by Kaffe Fassett in Rowan Pure Linen

 

Anyone familiar with flamboyant gigantic intarsia-tastic knits will know the eminent color maniac Kaffe Fassett. (If you don't know his work, I recommend a peek at this Google search.) In the 90s, he probably had at least 5 patterns per Rowan Magazine, including the famous Kilim worn by Kate Moss in #10:

It would not be an exaggeration to say that I'm a hue-ge Kaffe fan. From top left clockwise: Sofia Wrap, Kaffe Rowan Mystery Afghan KAL, Earth Stripe Wrap, Staccato Coat, Brocade.

Now -- let's put it out there. While many patterns in newer Rowan mags are "by Kaffe", in reality they were designed decades ago. It's all the same motifs in different yarns. Even that Sofia Wrap with the cross motifs was originally a vest published in 1985 in Glorious Knits.

That's why I fell in love with Arezzo from Rowan Mag 57 -- I didn't recognize the pattern from any of his previous work. Not to mention (and here I am gobsmacked) that the colors and fit were completely modern!! Yes, fine, they're drop sleeves, BUT THEY'RE SKINNY!

There are two yarns used in this, Rowan Pure Linen (a fave) and Creative Linen. I didn't change any of the Pure Linen shades, but I used leftovers from a sweater I made for my husband for the Creative Linen. The pink color morphed into a deep eggplant and muted the piece nicely, I think.

Vidal by Carlo Volpi, Rowan Magazine 53

I did run out of the white used for the intarsia bands, so if you look closely at the very top of the sleeves, you'll see they are grey and black instead white and black! Anything to save buying another ball, baby. $$$$$$

Oh -- and about that intarsia. It is absolutely essential that you either 1) knit those intarsia sections purposefully loosely, or 2) use a needle 2 sizes larger for those parts. If not, you WILL see changes in tension and unsightly puckering.

As usual, I had a bit of a disaster I had to fix! Halfway through the front I realized I hadn't finished a repeat of a motif, UGH.

To fix something like this without frogging, take one knitting needle and slide it through the last row that was correct (in this case, the end of the black and white section). Then slide the stitches from TWO rows above onto another knitting needle and put it aside. SNIP the center of the row above the first needle and unravel the row to separate the knitting into 2 pieces. Pick up the first needle and use it to knit the rest of the rows you missed MINUS one row (the row that was below the other needle holding stitches). To finish, use kitchener stitch to link the two sections together with the color of that remaining row.

TIP FOR THOSE WHO HATE WEAVING IN ENDS: In this garment, there is often only one row of a color before it changes. If a row of the same color is coming soon and you want to carry the yarn, you might be out of luck because your yarn is stuck on the wrong side. DON'T CUT IT! Did you know, you can start a row from any side of the knit with the identical result? Yup. Just start the rows wherever you need to, purl side or knit.

I mentioned I'm completely addicted to beadweaving right now. I made these earrings recently and they match the sweater perfectly! They were done with size 8, 11 and 15 seed beads and a couple of bicone crystals. The pattern is from Marcia DeCoster's book Beads in Motion.

I have a Pinterest board where I am adding my beadweaving pieces and their patterns, if you'd like to follow.

As for the non-crafting part of my life, winter has settled in Maine. We took off 2 weeks to go to Maui and barely took pictures of my knits (total wonderful laziness), but one killer one is in the sunrise on top of the dormant 10,000 foot volcano Haleakala, with the "supermoon" behind me. If you've got one picture to take, GO BIG. (But if you've got to take a Cessna and only one knitting project, GO SMALL. 💥💥)

Gingko Socks by Cotton and Cloud (free pattern!) at Baldwin Beach State Park, Maui

See my Arezzo on Ravelry

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