edit 30 Oct 2022: following a nasty bout of long covid, which has caused me to lose a huge amount of weight, I’m now working through my winter knitwear and making things “wearable” again. This was oversized to start with, and definitely didn’t fall into the “wearable” camp at all - but the pattern and the yarn are all far too good to leave on a shelf so I frogged all the way back to the lace yoke and steamed and rewound the extra yarn. Picked it up again last night and calculated how to work the sleeves and body. Because the yoke is knitted to the larger size and because I didn’t want to frog that part (too pretty!) it’ll mean a bit of mathematical guesswork. Let’s see how it goes! I also folded over the neckline and sewed it down (loosely) think I prefer it this way.

8 November update: it’s finished! Quite a transformation, I’ve shrunk it quite a lot; and knitted it quite cropped, and with short sleeves. I also added a deeper ribbed band at the waist and added a sprinkle of the yoke lace pattern along the hips. Just for fun. It’s had a soak and is now blocking and drying - updated photos to follow…

PREVIOUS NOTES:
So excited to be able to test this gorgeous new design by Sari!

This pattern is written for fingering weight yarn, held together with mohair - which alas I cannot go near - so have substituted with knitting with this deliciously soft Skein Queen crush DK yarn which is a delight to knit with.

Cast on 120 stitches which is the same for size 5 and 6 - I’m after something a little roomier so will see how the neck and yoke knit up and decide as I go along.

27 Jan… have decided to go with the size 6 as I want this to be a little roomier. The lace is knitting up beautifully and I’m finding it really hard to put down. Have a long list of things I SHOULD be doing today but that “just one more row” goblin is pretty noisy on my shoulder today!

28 Jan. A lazy afternoon of knitting and I am 36 rows into the lace pattern and loving every stitch - although my wrists are feeling a little grumpy - many DK stitches per row when I am more used to knitting with fingering weight! It’s a delight to watch this gorgeous pattern emerging and starting to look more like a wearable item. Need to wind skein #2…

5 Feb. This has been put on hold this week as it’s been a busy one and also I’ve been trying to get two test knit shawls out this way. Picked it up again this evening and I’ve managed 4 rows which feel very long! 18 rows left of the chart and then things will feel a lot easier. Can’t get over how beautiful this lace is!

7 Feb. Just finished the yoke lace and quite a relief - beautiful as it is, it takes up quite a bit of concentration and the lacework feels tough on my hands - I think I could have gone up a needle size with this yarn. Will separate for sleeves tomorrow.

10 Feb. Sleeves separated and short row shaping complete. Now just to knit until my tummy is all covered up

12 Feb. About a third of the way down the body now - this is such relaxing knitting and easy to fit around zoom meetings or television watching so should fly along now. Just tried it on and the fit is PERFECT! I love it already!

16 Feb. This body seems to take forever to knit - but I’ve finally reached the hem - thanks to Netflix! Hoping to finish the body tomorrow and make a start on sleeve island…

19 Feb. Made a start on the sleeves last night and they’re going really well. Very pleased I was able to find an extra skein as I’ll need it. Looking forward to finishing this! … after a manic day of sleeve knitting, I’ve finished the first sleeve and most of the second one - just a few more rows then the lace and the cuff and then it’s done!

20 Feb. And it’s finished! Loved the Italian bind off on this and I knitted the cuffs until the last few cm of yarn - zero wastage and sleeves that are long enough for my long arms - happy me! Off to block this and will update photos when it’s dry

Post blocking: the lace has opened up beautifully but the whole sweater has grown quite a bit - I love the oversized look and it feels extremely comfortable, however the sleeves are quite long… I’m going to give it a wear tomorrow and see how it fares, and may re-block it - it really needs no stretching whatsoever - and if needs be I’ll take back a bit of the cuffs. With really long arms, I’m so conscious of how short most store-bought items’ sleeves are, that I think I overcompensated! edit after a day of wear - I dampened the cuffs slightly and let them “shrink” back to their pre-blocked state and they are now perfect! Ever so slightly long but this gives me the flexibility to fold them back if needed, or otherwise they cover my wrists perfectly and I love that - so cosy and warm as I do HATE having cold wrists! And the general fabric has relaxed from it’s blocking and is just perfect!