love.

Fiddled around with the picture to try to see what it would look like in a darker blue & white.

October 24th Started swatching for this sweater on Saturday and decided on a #7 needle for everything but the two stranded knitting. I’m actually getting 30 stitches per inch in k1 p1 ribbing on a size #6, so in the pattern, where it says “smaller needle”, I’m actually using the larger.

I started the pattern on Sunday and I’m through the sixth repeat of lace. This is my first experience in lace and it takes a little getting used to, but I have to say that the Juniper Moon Farm Findley is a dream to knit and makes the sometimes difficult learning part of this project much more pleasant.

November 14th This project is slow-going… considering it’s the equivalent of two sweaters, it takes a bit of time.

I’ve finished blocking the pieces and am ready to try seaming. The amount of ease in the armholes seems a little excessive, given the schematic measurements. It looks like there will be at least three inches of ease, so I’m hoping they look okay once they’re pieced together. If not, I can always adjust the armholes a little by shortening them on the body pieces.

I’m also going to wash and block the stockinette layer once more after seaming… the color bled quite a bit on the first soak, and I really don’t want all of this hard work to go to waste the first time I have to wash it.

November 21st I finally got the sleeves set in, which was a bit of a PItA. I had to undo a few rows from the front sleeve edge and still had a little over an inch or so of ease, even when stretching the top of the sleeve cap. The lace is a little tight under the arms and I may undo the bottom of the sleeves and make a small adjustment for better fit… or just wear it a couple of times and see if it eases up. It’s not that it fits poorly, just could have an extra half inch or so more lace armhole.

I also decided to go down to a #5 needle for the ribbing.

The gauge for the lace may have been a little off, and the under layer seems a little bigger than the lace. Not unwearable, but it tends to bunch up, especially in the sleeves when I pull it on. I can adjust it to be even, but it would probably benefit from removing the cuffs and three rows from the stockinette layer and then re-doing the cuff.

November 22nd All that I have left is to weave in the ends, unless I decide to make the two adjustments. (But I wanna wear it!!!!!) After trying this on last night, it really isn’t too bad in the armholes, but it could be better.

If I can figure out which little itsy bitsy strand of yarn is the one I used for seaming, I could just do a small snip and seam right along the edge and very loosely… it would be just enough to take the “something is in my armpit” feel away from this sweater.

Removing the cuff, OTOH, seems like more work than is really necessary. I think that with the adjustment of the armhole, this would even out more and wouldn’t be needed.

I think I’m giving the wrong impression of this, however…. I really, really, really love how this sweater is turning out. And, after all, where can you find a pretty merino & silk sweater for $40?!?

November 22nd I removed about four inches of seaming stitches from under the arms and re-seamed more loosely and on the very edge. It eased up the pinching and added enough to the length of the lace sleeves that re-doing the cuffs was superfluous. Not the greatest pictures, because this sweater is absolutely gorgeous in person and fits like a glove. I know this one will get a lot of wear!

November 29th Made a couple more minor fixes and it fits and looks great. Love this sweater!