OhSewCrafty Blog

 So this isn’t so new… I started work on it around December 7th.  I was hoping it would be my Christmas sweater, but alas, I had other gift-related knitting that took precedence.  The gifts were finished and given by Christmas day, and now seaming has finally commenced on this project. The pattern has you knit the sweater in many small sections, so there is quite a lot of finishing.  There is a reason for this, and I’m not averse to seaming, so I went with it.  My only modification was to add 1″ (4 rows each side = 8 rows total) of short row shaping on the front before before beginning the armhole shaping.  This was necessary for the underbust band to sit, well, under my bust.

As for the yarn (Elann Lana Pura)… my feeling is neutral.  It’s really soft, gorgeous color (a vibrant green, more true in the first photo), good yardage of 152 yds/50 g.  The suggested gauge is 21 st/4″.  Well, I’m knitting it at 22 st/4″ and it feels too loose.  Actually, based on the results of blocking my swatch, I’m knitting at 24″ st/4″ on US 4 needles and expecting it to grow when blocked.  Even at this gauge, it feels loose.  Also, the yarn is incredibly splitty, and snags easily.  It doesn’t have the bounce or resilience you normally associate with wool.  I suspect that I may enjoy wearing it more than knitting it.  The yarn was a limited edition with many beautiful colors, and I bought quite a bit on release day, but I’m not sure if it’s ideal for the projects I had in mind.  Further swatching is necessary.