Yes, I know it is technically winter, Solstice in fact, in Melbourne but you know how crazy our weather is.  Our apricot tree has only just realised that it is or was Autumn and dropped its leaves.

And with the ensuing chill, the sweaters have been coming out. Our Dear Girl has been wearing the Autumn Jumper as it is know in our house…so lyrical aren’t we!  She appreciates synchronicity and enjoys wearing the Autumn Jumper in Autumn.

I made this for Our Dear Boy in 2008…soooo long ago now. I think it was the first sweater I made after reading Elizabeth Zimmermann’s great work, Knitting Without Tears (1971).  Like most folks who read her books, I was transformed.  I lifted my trembling, knitterly wings and soared free of a prescriptive pattern and brought forth an idea from my head.  Heady, heady stuff.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Elizabeth Zimmerman, she formulated a percentage or proportional approach to knitting sweaters.  She related various measurements of a sweater such as arm circumference, shoulder width and neck to a key measurement, usually the chest measurement.  She also had a brave, inventive and witty approach to knitting that she shared in copious writings.  One of her most enduring patterns, the Baby Surprise Jacket has almost 20,000 projects logged on Ravelry.

The yarn for Autumn Jumper is hand spun, hand dyed yarn from the Handweavers  and Spinners Guild of Victoria. The yarn is all slightly different thicknesses and wool types but it works in a hippy, homespun kind of way.  Unfortunately, Our Dear Boy was a drooler and the front neck of the sweater is felted stiff. Kid spit is an extraordinary beastie.  Apart from that, the sweater has worn extremely well, no pilling at all.  I think the majority of the yarn must have been worsted spun which is less prone to pilling.

Classic EZ, it was knit in the round, bottom up, sleeve joined at armholes for raglan shoulders and a button-up back.

It will break my heart when Our Dear Girl grows out of it.