An Echo of Blackcurrant

I've finished a jumper I have been knitting in Twilley's Echo, a recycled DK cotton yarn.  It's made from old clothes - one of the colours looks like denim jeans.  The colour I chose is a sort of dark purply pink - a bit like a blackcurrant fool, I think.  ( We have blackcurrant bushes in the garden, so I have been I have been eating a lot of blackcurrant fool and similar dishes lately.)  It has tiny flecks of other colours in it, too - white, blue, red.  So either it has not been dyed at all (though in that case, where do they find a consistent supply of old clothes in that colour?) or dyed before it is spun. 

The stitch pattern I chose is mostly reverse stocking stitch, but with ridges of stocking stitch.  I made a pattern of eyelets either side of these ridges on the lower part of the back and front.  I liked the idea of varying the stitch pattern, and I wanted to experiment with shaping the waist by hiding the increases or decreases in the eyelet pattern. The eyelet pattern is made by yarn-overs either side of the ridge, balanced by a 3-into-one decrease with the central stitch (the ridge stitch)  ending up on top of the other two.  (I used a cable needle to do that.)  It's easy to do an extra pair of increases or an extra pair of decreases at the top of a column of eyelets, and they are not noticeable.    So the waist shaping isn't just at the sides, but all round.  The distances between the ridges decrease and increase, but without looking closely, it's not easy to see where it's been done.  

Detail of stitch pattern

 I was planning to do something similar on the sleeves, but then decided that increases and decreases aren't very visible in reverse stocking stitch anyway.  So I did the sleeve shaping by gradually increasing the number of stitches between the ridges from 5 to 8.   It gives an interesting look to the sleeves.  (Not an original idea, though - I got it from a book by Marianne Isager.)  

I'm pleased with the neckline, too - it's nicely shaped.  The neck edge, cuffs and bottom edge are all in garter stitch.  I used not to like garter stitch, and still don't use it for large areas, but for an edging it looks good.  

I finished the jumper about 10 days ago, when the Olympics had already started.  I did a lot of the sewing up (which I do not like at all) while watching the men's cycling time trial event.  A good event to watch while sewing - it lasts well over an hour, there are few sudden crises or dramas, and it's quite easy to understand what's going on.  (Unlike the Tour de France, for instance - I watched that for several evenings in a row with my brother-in-law and found it completely incomprehensible, ins spite of his explanations. Or the keirin, which is just bizarre.)   And it gradually gets more exciting and faster, because the most likely winners start last.  And Bradley Wiggins won!  Brilliant!