October 18

This sweater looks so cosy and at the same time flattering, but the idea of using several strands of my red-yarn stash just blew my mind! It’s going to be amazing! I don’t know why I haven’t thought about knitting with many strands before!

Swatched on 12mm needles and NOT 12.75mm (for some reason not an option in the menu)… When I say I am a tight knitter I mean it… =) I’m happy, because I don’t actually have #15 / 10mm needles… #13 were waaay to small. Gauge is now spot on with 5 strands of yarns.

Revision: taking out one strand. After knitting a few inches of a sleeve I realised it was a bit too bulky…. I would rather keep it light and airy… so I’ve taken out the brushed alpaca-silk, because of the colour (coral pink) and the bulk.

MODS:

• Throw together all the yarns in shades of red (and some pink), group them by weight, and then arrange them in 5-8 different streams of colour, combine them until you get a bulky yarn (do some math or simply swatch). I tried to have a couple of solid colours (for consistency), and 2 strands where colours naturally fade from dark red to bright red and then pink-ish (I don’t want the variations to be too dramatic, I prefer long grads). Kauni will bring an element of surprise to it though. The whole thing will be a bit of a surprise I think! =)

• Starting with the sleeves because I want to have an even transition of colour between body and yoke when joining in the sleeves.

October 23

Things are a bit hectic right now, but I have finished the sleeves! Yay! Moving to the body! =)

The two sleeves took about 145-150 meters.

Long story short:

• The pattern had some systematic errors, and being the first one to knit it, I spotted them all… it was quite stressful, as every section had errors, and spent more time unravelling and doing maths than knitting…

But the designer was very available and helped correct the pattern… every cloud has it silver lining! =)

• Tested some math and knitting skills, made friends, and learned to be patient! =)

Reminder to self

Never be the first one to knit a pattern!! I don’t have much time for knitting and don’t like having to spend more time unravelling than knitting… =)

Conclusions:

• Underestimated the stretchiness of the fabric, although the length was right when flat, it stretched so much… that ow I have a dress!! :D I was a bit disappointed at first, because I thought it was a “failure”.. miscalculating and stuff… but after quite a few fittings, I realised it actually suits me better as a dress (instead of a long sweater), and also.. I always wanted to have a woollen dress to wear in winter with tights and cute shoes! :D I love it!

• I love my choice of yarn! Congratulations, Mimi! You got one thing right in this pattern! The brushed alpaca gives a nice softness, and the idea of using Kauni Effektgarn was brilliant! you can see different shades throughout the dress… for the yoke, I also changed one of the yarns /from red to pink, for a more dramatic shift.

• So, I used 4 strands of yarn:

1. Kauni all the way… (used 80% of the 150 gr skein)… The shades are beautiful, they go from dark to rich red, and to bright pink.

2. Drops Baby Alpaca Silk in red, from yoke switched to Drops Alpaca in Raspberry Pink shade.

3. Drops Brushed Alpaca Silk, always in red (I needed a solid color for consistency throughout).

4. Alternated between (fingering) wool and baby merino (in bright red) to pink wool for the yoke (but made sure Kauni was red in the yoke because two pinks in the yoke was enough.

• Total weight: 520 grams

• Yardage: according to my calculations (should be quite precise), I used about 560 meters (much less than required), BUT I did knit very long sleeves, it’s much longer, perhaps because I used much bigger needles…

• Oh, almost forgot… I didn’t have the patience to wait for a second correction involving the yoke and started knitting according to my own maths… which means that I only decreased in the front and back (the pattern now says to do it in the sleeves as well)… I had to stop 4 rounds earlier because it was getting too tall, like turtle neck… so if you look closely, the yoke is a bit different, but I like it anyway, and don’t feel like unraveling the thing for the 11th time!… =)

I had to wait a lot until there was proper light to photograph this (bright sunlight overexposes the red)… it’s difficult to catch the colors, but I think you get the idea… in the last two photos you can see clearly the shades… =)

I absolutely love it, even though it makes me look fat… =)
Maybe next time I’ll stick to the smaller size, as usual…

But the design is brilliant, I love the diamond pattern and the ribbing, it can be very flattering if knitted at the right gauge and length… I might even knit it again in a different yarn at different gauge…. maybe as a summer dress…. =)