Thrilled to be starting another test knit for Suvi and I absolutely adore the understated v-neck details of this sweater.

23 Feb. My swatch, although it hit perfect gauge, knitted up a little loosely - this is quite a light fingering yarn - so I’m going to go down a needle size, and up a pattern size, to hopefully end up with something that fits well, but gives a fabric that I like too. About to cast on this evening, and I’m going to attempt a version of Judy’s magic cast on, to ensure a smooth back of the neck join.

24 Feb. Judy’s magic cast on worked perfectly and the first sections of the neckband were a delight to knit - the pattern is so well written and clear. I used DPNS rather than a circular needle here because I find working with cabled needle fiddly for short rows like this - and DPNS give a neater finish in my opinion. The yarn is knitting up beautifully with gorgeous stitch definition - I’m really pleased with my decision to use the Eden Cottage Yarn Brimham, it’s just lovely! Stitches picked up easily and now about to start the raglan shaping rows.

26 Feb. Yoke finished and fronts joined - full steam ahead to the body - what tiny stitches, this is going to be fun!

28 Feb. Powering down the body - so many stitches, so many rows! But I am loving this project and want to see it finished soon. Annoyingly I’ve only just noticed the marked difference between the first two skeins of yarn - I can live with it, but perhaps knitting mostly at night is not advisable as there was no way of picking up the difference until I saw it in the day light. Nearing the end of my second skein and I think I will “fade” in the 3rd just so it’s not so noticeable if there’s a variation in colour.

3 Feb. Lots of grey knitting going on and I’m down to the bottom hem, after adding about 5cm to the length. And to mix things up, I’ve started the sleeves and have done around 15cm of each. I’m going for long sleeves so have started the decreases a little later than the pattern requires.

6 Feb. Off the needles and ready to block.

14 April… update: I was never quite happy with the variation in the pale greys and so this sweater went through a little journey … some success, some failure, a lot learned. To cut a very long story short, a yarn dyeing friend very kindly rescued my botched attempt at overdyeing the sweater … and now it is a gorgeous slate grey and I love it. The photos still show slight variations in the grey, but this is far more visible in the photos than in real life, and at any rate, the sweater has a great stonewashed quality about it now that I adore. Happy me!