Lesley

The Lesley sweater is part of Hannah Fettig's newest book, Home and Away, which is available for preorder now (preorder of the hard copy includes a digital copy too!).

Back before Thanksgiving I had the opportunity to knit another sample for designer Hannah Fettig. I started sample knitting for her over 4 years ago in 2010 (how has it been that long?). She had sent the yarn for this pattern during the summer but the pattern didn't come until much later. And I think it was perfect timing. In August I started working on my own all-consuming design project and didn't have much brain (or knitting) space. But in November, we had a family crisis. My father-in-law went in for a routine procedure and suffered a stroke 3 days later. Three days after that he suffered a second stroke, never regained consciousness, and passed away a few days later. 

During that time, I was so overwhelmed with work, trying to keep our home afloat, and still be supportive to my husband who was the one suffering the most. I wanted to knit. I needed to knit. But I was completely incapable of thinking. Then this pattern showed up and the aran weight Osprey and seamless construction of this lovely stockinette sweater saved my sanity. I needed to loose myself in something, to not have to think. And what resulted was this simple and beautiful pullover. 

I remember when Hannah posted photos of the photoshoot day. It was a freezing day in January and I'm pretty sure I was home for a snow day. What an amazing model to stand in those frigid temps and not look at all cold! 

When people tell me what a faster knitter I am, I say that I used to be. It's hard to find a lot of knitting time with a 2-year-old running around. But this sweater really did fly off the needles. I knit the entire thing in 10 days! I'd credit it to Osprey and and a seamless stockinette design. I love the gentle scoop of the neck.

I'm already planning my own (I seriously have said this about every design of Hannah's I've ever knit!) and since the smallest size uses less than 4 skeins of Osprey, this will be a fantastically economical knit. 

As much as I love Lesley, this is just one in an amazing collection of patterns from Hannah. My favorite might be Georgetown. What also makes this collection really unique is that each pattern is written for seamless or seamed construction. I love this since for some shapes I have a preference to what I think fits well and maintains shape. 

You can preorder the collection on Knitbot, or you can queue and view the entire collection on Ravelry. Have you seen this collection yet? Which is your favorite?