- Pattern by Connie Chang Chinchio, Knitscene Spring 2010
- Yarn: Miss Babs Yet, (65 wool/35 silk) color: pewter, 960 yds
- Size/Needles/Gauge: 34″ for 0 ease, 6 spi on US 4
- Time to knit: Less than 3 weeks in May 2010
So here’s my first laceweight garment. I really like it!
The pattern is fine. It’s dead easy up until the armholes, then gets bit complicated with the so much going on at once (neck tucks, neck shaping, arm shaping), but I made myself a list and all was well. One quibble- row gauge. Is it really possible to get 6 spi and 10 rpi simultaneously? My gauge tended to vary some throughout the garment and so it turned out a bit longer than it needed to be, but that’s not a huge deal. I found the sleeve directions needlessly complicated so I did a simple rewrite. I knit the sleeves in the round from the bottom up, then switched to flat knitting to shape the cap.
The yarn is lovely, it’s got a great silky hand, plus a lofty spin. The fabric plumped and evened with blocking; it feels like wearing a cloud. I love the slight variegation in the dark grey dye, reminds me of a stormy night. The fabric is so lightweight, I had a bit of trouble with the finishing. At first I decided to stabililze the front edges with a lightweight ribbon, but even that turned out to be too much, significantly changing the drape of the fabric. In the end I left just a few inches of ribbon on each side, to serve as facing where I wanted the hooks and eyes to be. I’m not fond of cardigans that don’t close.
I’m really happy with this garment overall. As a dark neutral, it coordinates with many of my clothes. Providing just a whisper of warmth, it’s wearable on a hot summer day for cold-blooded person like me. I’ve been knitting a lot of cardigans lately, as it is the theme of the current SKC knitalong, but I’ve come to realize that cardigans get the most use out of all my knitwear, especially during the spring and summer.
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