March 2011
Thanks to using a recycled yarn and a freebie pattern, the total project cost for this was £7.25 - not bad for a sweater which I think I'm going to get a LOT of use from.
The yarn has previously been Chantal, which was nice enough, but I'd made it a little on the large side, and anyway I'm increasingly less convinced about crew-necked sweaters on me. So I frogged it, wound it into loose hanks, tied some white cotton around them to keep them tidy, soaked them in the bath for an hour, rolled them in some towels to help dry them off and let them hang from hooks with a little bit of weight attached. Once dried, there were no kinks left at all - and the yarn knitted up as good as new.
I did need to buy one extra skein in order to make the sleeves, and since I'd finished the body at that point, I wound it into two balls of equal weight, one for each sleeve, and made them as long as that would allow (around 57 rows as it turns out). I really like the end result though - it's very practical.
I also reshaped this from an a-line into a fitted sweater with bust darts because I thought that would flatter my figure best. Full details of how I did it can be found on my ravelry page.
As far as I can see there was no noticeable difference between the yarn I'd recycled and the top-up supplies I ordered, colour wise. They did come from the same shop, though, and so it's possible that I matched dyelots without realising.
Pattern: Buttercup by Heidi Kirrmaier
Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light
Amount: 6 skeins
Colourway: 4212 Gordoba Grape
Needles: 3.50mm
Size: Custom
On ravelry: here
I've always liked Buttercup but thought it wouldn't really suit me. I like how you have shaped it though. It's made me think that I could keep the neckline and change everything else! It looks great on you, very flattering and I wouldn't know the yarn had been recycled. I am yet to frog a garment I made last year, but I really must give it a go and recycle it as the yarn is lovely, but I'll never wear the tunic.
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