Ordered Chaos Sweater

Deep in the human unconscious is a pervasive need for a logical universe that makes sense. But the real universe is always one step beyond logic.-― Frank Herbert, Dune

I listened to a podcast with Seth Rogan yesterday while I was soaking in the bath. I am not an avid fan of Seth Rogan, but he has a contagious laugh and I was in the mood for something cheery. He was having a conversation with David Crosby and in the midst of all the storytelling and banter, he said something along the lines of, "That's what artists do: they take chaos and translate it into something that everyone can understand."

And of course, I thought of yarn at that moment. Didn't you?

I think people have been talking about the whole "order out of chaos" concept for ages, but I don't know if it's just artists that do that. I think we are all trying to make sense of the randomness of the universe, trying to corral it into predictability and organization. Is it in vain? Maybe, but it's also continuous. I currently work as an office manager for a medical clinic, and I feel like that's all I do: figure out all the complicated stuff so that the place runs smoothly.

And when I really think about it, that's all this blog is: the mishmash of stuff that goes on in my brain neatly organized into something vaguely coherent enough for you to read.

Anyway, about the yarn...

When I heard Seth talk about order out of chaos, I thought about my newly finished sweater experiment. It's a perfect example of that:

This is the finished product of an attempt to use some of my own hand-dyed variegated yarn. Indeed, variegated yarn is the very epitome of chaos, the result of a fun session of splashing about with dyes and wool. And while it's pretty, it's not particularly straightforward to use. But I think this worked. I am ever so pleased to have used my hand-dyed yarn in a wearable project that I actually really like. It is a very satisfying feeling knowing that I have a cozy sweater to wear instead of a wee shawl that will sit in my drawer for ages. I have nothing against shawls, but I think I have outgrown that phase for the moment. Gimme a wearable project any day.

I've enjoyed looking at the colours along the length of the back. I particularly like the little flecks of dark grey throughout:

The hood was a bit of a last-minute addition. I had so much of the variegated yarn left that it was actually kind of annoying me (leftover yarn actually stresses me out almost as much as running out, because then I have to figure out what to do with it):

I've only ever knitted a hood once a long time ago, and I was too eager to get this finished to look up how to do it properly. I winged it this time, and it was a half-success. I mean, it's a hood, but it's not particularly flattering:

It reminds me of the Green Creatures from the Care Bears. Comme ça:

Anyway, I'm still quite happy with it. It's warm and cozy and comfortable, and if I am really cold and want a hood on my head, I'll embrace my inner Green Creature and pop it on. And that's that.

While I was sitting in the monotony of finishing up the miles of 2x2 ribbing, my eyes were drifting over to the stash searching out the next project. I am trying very hard to work through the stuff that I have, but a lot of my yarn was bought back when I was making a lot of accessories, and as mentioned earlier, I'm just not into that at the moment. It means that I have a lot of single variegated skeins of sock yarn, and I have to do a lot of imagining and mixing and matching of skeins to figure out what I can make with it. It's a difficult way to knit, but it's also the most creative I've felt in a long time, and that alone makes it a worthwhile endeavour.

Off topic: I went to school with a girl who pronounced endeavour as "en-deev-or." That's how I say it in my head every time now. Anyway...

I'm playing around with this skein of fingering weight yarn that I dyed yonks ago during a dye session with my friends Tara and dkzack. It was a total fluke, but I really like it. In case you can't see it on your screen: it's chocolate brown with streaks of navy blue. I think it's super interesting:

I am toying around with making a top by mixing it with this cream-coloured yarn. The idea has evolved in my brain from stripes to short rows to sideways yokes. I really want to show off the variegated yarn but I also am keenly aware of the contrast between it and the cream yarn as sometimes contrast can be lovely, but it can also be jarring:

.

After a few hours of searching and a bit of experimenting, I think I've hit on a solution.  I think it's going to be a top knit diagonally on the bias. We'll see what comes of it:

Ordered chaos if I ever saw it:

It's a rainy weekend here on Vancouver Island and I'm feeling a bit run down and tired. Luckily, I mustered enough energy to make a Lemon Madeira Cake yesterday. It's a very reliable and tasty cake, perfect for sitting around and nibbling and drinking tea:

And I have great company for that, after all. Have a great week!