- Pattern: by Snowden Becker
- Yarn: Pagewood Farms Yukon (70 wool/20 bamboo/10 nylon), 810 yds
- Needles/Size/Gauge: 6 spi in stockinette on US 6, 34″ chest
- Time to knit: Just shy of 4 weeks in March/April 2010
This is my first sweater knit in fingering weight but it certainly won’t be the last. I love the drape and lightness.
The pattern, which was indepedently published, is fine. Watch out for rows 5 and 13 on the dayflower lace chart, I had to frog a row before I realized there are some decreases done on the WS. My only quibble with the pattern is with the sleeve/shoulder shaping directions which are a bit vague, but I was able to figure out what the designer intended. The tricky part is that the lace motif is asymetric, so even if you’re decreasing evenly on each side, your stitch count will get messed up periodically. I counted frequently and did extra decreases or increases as necessary. My only real modification was to move the neckline up; I joined the sleeves and began the scoop neck simultaneously. I also picked up more stitches for the buttonbands; it’s my practice to pick up stitches along the same ratio as stitch/row gauge. For example, the pattern gauge was about 24 st/33 rows so I simply picked up 3 stitches for every 4 rows.
The yarn is really fabulous; I’d defintely buy it again and I’m curious about other Pagewood Farms yarn. The Yukon, in colorway “Leaf” is a gorgeous semisolid green. Just enough variegation for interest, not enough to obscure the pattern in the slightest. The feel is silky with a slight sheen from the bamboo, and it has a nice round construction and nice moderate twist. The only issue I came across was infrequent small tufts of undyed fiber- these came off easily enough with a gentle tug. The bamboo and nylon content make a felted join impossible, so I used a Russian join from instructions in the new Summer Knitty. The method is easy enough and my join was neat; I wasn’t thrilled the bulk on each side of the join, but it was better than any of the alternatives considering that I was working open lace. Along with the gorgeous color and and lovely drape, the other bonus of this yarn is fabulous yardage- this was a 2 skein project!
Overall, I’m really pleased with this sweater; it’s perfect for spring, and it was fun to knit. The dayflower lace pattern in particular, and the allover lacework, posed an interesting, engaging challenge.
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