ok, bought the pattern, bought the yarn (hide the credit card)…. just waiting for it all to arrive….

so excited

ok, my yarn supplieers have emailed and explained that they are out of 2 of the specified yarns… Wensley and Skipton OH NOOOOOOOOOO….
So got to shop around and find them somewhere else….. in the mean time i can do a swatch for gauge with the Stash fine rowan tweed, just to get going.

SWATCH DONE - first time i have ever ever EVER done a swatch, and am really pleased with myself as the gauge came out great. should be 26 1/2 stittches and 38 rows for a 10cm x 10cm, and i managed 26 stitches and 38 rows, so even though slightly off, i will knit a tiny weeny bit tighter as a change of needles would put me way off. I think this 1/2 a stitch difference is manageable.

THE YARN IS ALL HERE!!!!! SUBSTITUTIONS
hi all, the yarn is hear I got most of it from Up Rowan, but there are 2 yarns out of stock now so they gave me substitutions that i requested following their advice. The discontinued yarns are

WENSLEY 371 replaced with NIDD
(see the first photo of yarns comparison. Original yarn on the left and replacement yarn on the right)
SKIPTON 379 replaced with MUKER
(see the second photo of yarns comparison, Again the original yarn is on the left and replacement yarn on the right)

so here you have the replacement yarns next to the originals so you can see the difference, but as far as i can tell the the way that Nidd and Wensley differ is that all the same bluey greeny colours are there in the yarn but in Wensley it is more Green/Teal, and in Nidd is is predominantly Blue/Teal. Both are gorgeous.
With regards so the skipton replacement muker, Muker is the paler of the two and has a hink of grey to it, where as the origional Skipton is a brighter blue, think mediteranean skies in tweed form.
I hope someone finds this useful. I have both yarns so need to decide which to use. You can find the missing yarns at other suppliers if you are lucky.

OK. THURSDAY 16th JUNE 2016. BRING IT ON!!!!!

day 1
- knitted back ribbing 2k 2p for 8cm, then started colour work, done 2 rows.
day 2
- stuck tiny bits of yarn on to paper pattern (photocopied for personal use and for notes and stuff to be written onto), and made some yarn substitutions, so not using Richmond and Bedale yarn at all on the body, just for the sleeves (so save for another project). Wound up yarn on short lengths. Continued intarsia colour work until …

(aaarrggghh, did i mention this was my first intarsia… finding holding the yarns tricky!!!!)

day 3 (INTARSIA HELL) so going to start on the
sleeves as they are kinder to do!!
day 4 sleeves….
day 5 sleeves …..
day 6 (21st June) sleeves…. FINISHED SLEEVES!

so the sleeves are now finished, and i have also managed to finish the bottom ribbed section for the back of the jumper. I have done it this was as it was easier to knit the single colour bits and the simple stripes while i have 3 young kids running around the house.

day 11
need to have a few day off as i have a birthday gift i need to finish, so i will be back on the job today hopefully

Day 18
Ok, so it is Sunday the 3rd July.
I have done the back as specified by the chart so 78 rows of pattern, and have put that aside to do the front as well, that way i can have all the chart work done before the shaping for the arms and the neck front and back.

once i have finished the 78 rows, i will decide which piece i will use for the front and the back (as they are the same at this point) and then finalise the front and back length length as i dont want to look too buxom!!

day 19 Mon 4th July

day 20 Tues 5th July

day 21 Weds 6th July
- have finished the first 78 intarsia rows for the front and the back, just going to add a few more rows to front so that i look decent and not too buxom! ok, done that, so now for the shaping of armholes and neck. Going to notate a chart to help me with this, or it will all go horribly wrong!!!!

day 22
day 23
day 24

day 25 - ok, have finished the front with armhole and neck shaping. I will need to add a few more rows to the front to get the right depth around neck, but it is pretty much finished, will just need to do a few more rows keeping pattern. So, i am going to try to finish the back as well today. It ‘should’ be possible, but we will see. My next part will be the neckline ribbing, and what colour to use… should i stick with specified, or should i use the lovely teal colour to match with the cuffs and bottom of sweater……

day 26

day 28

day 30 - ok, this is getting a bit confusing as i have stuck completely to the patterm, but for some reason it just isnt right. going to ignore pattern for the shoulders (front and back before they join)and just do what feels right. Very confused as to why it didnt make sense, but i am not the best at reading patterns, so i am sure it is my error!

day 32 - 18th July 2016.
BY JOVE I THINK I’VE DONE IT!!! have sewn up arms and sides and have done the ribbing on neckline. I decided on doing the neckline on the Wensley to match the cuffs and bottom edge. Again, like the shoulder shaping, the numbers didnt add up so i did what i felt would work. had to use a wool mix yarns to sew up as the fine tweed is a bu@@er to sew up with.
only thing left is to reinforce the colour change places with some small stitches in cotton, just to make is more sturdy. Then off the block it out. Probably should have done it before sewwing up, but hey ho!!

So, here you have it! all finished. I still havent blocked it but am going to wait until the autumn when i will wear it.

Sooooooo, now that i have all this left over yarn, what do i need to bump it up with to start another project??!!