Let’s review the basics. My name is Cecilia. I like to knit. I really like knitting deliciously squooshy cables. Thea Colman tends to design knits with squooshy cables and excellent cocktail themed names. (I also like a good cocktail. I love a great one.) I really like Thea Colman’s sweaters. Sometimes I get really lucky, and I get to test knit for Thea.
Well, that happened recently. Thea had some deliciously squooshy cables on a fantastic cardigan and was looking for testers. (Oh, yes, I love a good cardigan.) I jumped on the opportunity to test it, which also meant that I got to use the utterly amazing Studio Worsted from Neighborhood Fiber Co for the first (but DEFINITELY not last time.) The result was a gorgeous cardigan that I’m delighted with.
Thea chose to name this sweater the Bee’s Knees. The name is perfect in my mind. It’s a cocktail that I love and an excellent idiom. I like bees. I like honey. I really like honey with lemon. I love gin. I love Prohibition cocktails. I like rhyming. I love the name, and honestly? This sweater really is the bee’s knees in my book.
This sweater has many things going for it. It has a really gorgeous (and easy to follow) cable pattern next to the button-band and collar. It has a fun and pretty texture pattern on the body and sleeves. It has an utterly wonderful shawl collar. I love a good shawl collar. This sweater is just a cozy piece. It really is, as the name suggests, the Bee’s Knees. It might be far too warm to wear it today, but summer never lasts. And come fall and winter, I know that I’ll be found snuggling up in this lovely sweater.
The pattern is, as always, very well written and easy to follow. Thea explains the necessary techniques clearly. I found this to be a very smooth and easy knit. You need to pay attention to what you’re doing and make sure that you know where you are in the sweater. But as long as you’re keeping track of yourself, it’s a really easy sweater to knit.
And yes, I know that the cable looks complicated. And I know that some of you will never believe me on this. But I still promise that it is well-explained and an intuitive process. It looks complex when all of the parts are put together but when you do them slowly, one at a time, they’re much simpler than you might otherwise suspect.
Pattern here.
Raveled here.
Buttons can be found here.
Thea and Karida are using this pattern to encourage voting. If you know me, you know that I believe that voting is important. I love living in a democracy, and I believe that voting is one of the most important things that we can do as Americans. I’m also well aware that not everyone is able to vote, that some people choose to not vote, and that some people work to make it hard/impossible for certain racial groups to vote. If you can vote, do it. If you can help others to vote, do it. Please take voting seriously. Please do what you believe to be best for everyone who lives in this country.
A Large Cup of Tea and a Long Book 