OhSewCrafty Blog

• Pattern by Kim Hargreaves, from “Rowan Vintage Knits”
• Yarn: Fibranatura Oak, in “Wood”, 1124 yds
• Size/Needles/Gauge: S (35″), 5.75 spi on US 4’s, US 3’s for hems
• Time to knit: 4 weeks in October/November among other projects

This pattern has long resided on my queue; I was keen to work up the brown yarn, aging in the stash for two years, into a sweater for fall.   

The pattern is fine, written in a clear and pithy manner that I appreciate and is typical of Ms. Hargreaves.  I only made a few small modifications.  First, I did short row shaping for the shouders, and joined shoulder seams via 3 needle bind off.  Also, I did short row bust shaping on the front piece only (4 wraps and turns each side).  Finally, I reworked the collar because the back collar wasn’t tall enough to fold over nicely as the front does.  So, I raised the back collar by doing short rows.  Beginning 5 st outside the shoulder seams (ie, closer to the front edges), I worked 10 short rows (5 w&t each side) on the back stitches only.  In this manner, the back collar is double-high and folds nicely.  More detailed instructions can be found in my Ravelry notes for this project.  It’s not really a mod, but I worked the collar on size 4 needle since that’s how the lower part of the (front) collar is worked. 

Fibranatura Oak is 50 merino/30 silk/20 linen, with excellent yardage (175 yds/50g).  It’s a nice blend of fibers; the fabric works up lightweight yet warm, drapey yet slighty crisp, with a nice heathered/tweedy look.  The problem was copious loosely spun white threads (linen?) that were sticking out of the yarn and created a hairy looking fabric if I didn’t remove them.  By the end of the project, my pointer fingertip was hurt, from all the pinching and pulling of loose threads.  The project also took much longer than it should have, since I had to “clean up” each length of yarn before knitting it.  At least the yarn is “stashbusted” and I certainly won’t buy it again.  Buttons are dull brass metal from Joann.

My favorite aspects of this top are the nice lightweight, and jaunty vintage style.  I am eyeing several other pattern from “Rowan Vintage Knits” and I’m happy I finally got a chance to knit from this lovely book.