I’ve been trying to think back to my inspiration for Off The Avenue. I made the prototype in 2017 during the start of my soul-searching time (written about previous posts and on the About page). It started as a wish to put lessons from my Cables Front and Back (Reversible Cables) class into a real-world project.
When I teach a class, I like to give my students a project pattern so they can practice the skills learned in the class. It’s always a small thing like a hat or a cowl but, if you know me at all you know sweaters are my jam. If you don’t know me well yet, let me tell you: sweaters are my jam! So, I wanted to make some sweaters using techniques from some of my classes.
I started with a band of reversible cables around the waist. These reversible cables are a bit like double knitting; the purls of one side make the knits of the other side. Maybe you can imagine, they take a coon’s age to knit.
So, as much as I love the reversible cables, most of the sweater needs to be stockinette. Once the band is complete, the body is worked up to the shoulder on one side of the band and down to the hem on the other side.
The hem and the collar are a different pattern of reversible cable with dropped stitches in between.
On one of my teaching excursions at Stitches, I found this yarn by Julie Asselin Yarns
called Fino. It’s a merino, cashmere, silk blend and it’s luscious. The Midnight Oil colorway just spoke shouted “take me home!”. I knew right away it would become this sweater.