Project Spectrum 2.0 or How Even Bad Roommates Are Good for Something

I was going to post this a while ago, but life sort of got in the way (in a good way). Thanks for all the wedding love, and the kitty support (my dad promises me it doesn't look as bad, I'm clinging to that). Got to love this little community of ours.


So.... We finally get to take a first look at my Project Spectrum 2.0: This a first for me, an original design! It's a shrug/cardi of sort, in a practical grey, which is meant to be a high usage, comfy and fun little thing. I have a very general idea of how I want it to look, and I've swatched like a nut before I cast on, and knock-on-wood, so far so good. What do I call it? I call it The "I'll Never Buy Abercrombie" Shrug. Why? Read on.

I have the worst luck with roommates. Even after I moved to the junior/senior dorms and got my own little room, I managed to get stuck with some real nut-jobs. Granted, the fact that I went to an art school probably made it more likely that I meet and live with more nut-jobs, but that's beside the point. Anyway, in my senior week, we shared our little dorm apartment with one particular nut-job that broke all the nut-job records. I'll spare you the worst of it. Suffice it is to say that we managed to lose her phone number as soon as she left our happy little lives.
Anyway, one of her least favorite properties, was her consistency of ideology: she was (and probably still is) a Yippy. Not a particularly cheerful person, but a Yuppie + Hippie. She loves Whole Foods to a religious degree, follows any new age fad, all while having no understanding and knowledge about holistic and natural medicine (and I should know because I am very much into them myself, only in an educated way) - all this while she happily goes shopping at Abercrombie & Fitch (the racist, sexist, 3rd world abuser and in every other way - evil). You can tell this is just the tip of the iceberg, right?
Anyway, one day the Y returns from (yet another) shopping trip - with this (evil yet) cute grey shrug/cardi from A&F. Hey, they're evil, but it doesn't mean that they don't know how to design cute things. The idea is just to have the strength of spirit not to give them any money. I was then just a beginner knitter, but I was studying her cute little new piece while half listening to her ramblings, and all I could think was - "I can totally make this. Totally".
And frankly, isn't that the beauty of this renewal of the DIY movement? Being able to wear your own take on the commercial, common, everybody-and-their-sister-have-one clothes? Anyway, back then I had no clue how to even aproach such a project, and I was busy graduating/keeping my sanity, so the grey shrug/cardi remained on a back burner. And then, I made the Somewhat Cowl, and a few things clicked in my head construction-wise. And I started plotting.


It's a basic raglan that doesn't get worked into a circle, with long-long sleeves and a thick ribbed collar. It's knit with Knit Picks Sierra in Mist, which is fun and cushie and knits up very quickly. I'm not at all a bulky yarn person, but I'm enjoying it a lot so far. And I may actually finish it while it's still cold outside, what do you know?
Anyhow, this is my (long) PS2.0 project. I'll try and keep you in the loop with photos and such, like a good knit blogger should. And I'll try and not let life get in the way (although planning a wedding is a project all by itself, isn't it?)