This sweater was drafted almost a year ago on 2019-10-31 but I only chose to cast on in August. As is the case with all such delays, all my learnings in that year were not reflected in the original draft. As a result I had to cast on and rip out this sweater many times before I ended up on a good path. The main difference between Aug 2020 and Oct 2019 is that I had started to notice that I was stretching my swatches too much for the gauge measurements. This results in the sweaters being far too small when I actually knit them up. In my defense, I was being aggressive with the stretching because I have also been burnt in the past with chainette yarns growing considerably when first wetted. This particular yarn did not grow nearly as much as the Classic Elite Chalet or the Illimani Amelie. (Amelie doesn’t really grow that much either unless you stretch it while wet.)

While this yarn did not grow much with blocking, it creates a very stretchy elastic fabric with good recovery. Because of this, my high negative ease worked out just fine. It just happens to be a very fitted sweater, which was mostly the intent.

This was also one of my early attempts to knit shorter sweaters. I used to always think longer is safer. That actually turned out not to be the case as I’ve learned with a few recent sweaters. There is actually a such thing as too long - certain styles can interfere with the belted waist region of my pants and skirts if I’m not wearing low-rise bottoms (which is more often the case as I age

After a few sweaters at this new 13” side-seam length, I have to conclude this is a good length. It doesn’t bunch up when I sit down either, as my pants and skirts tend to ride up in the waist area when I sit nowadays.

Due to the stretch and recovery of this fabric, as well as the felty nature, I chose not to go down a needle size for the 1x1 rib or the 3 x 1 rib (at the waist.)

This was also the first knit in which I realized I have to indent the front armhole more compared to the back, and then increase out to the shoulder width again. This successfully accomodated for the narrowness of the chest above the full bust and removed the excess fabric I often see in my front armhole/upper-bodice join.

Given how warm this yarn is, the extra scoop in the back neck allows me to wear this sweater in a wider range of overly heated indoor spaces in the winter.