Dahlia

December 2014

I’m mildly disappointed with this, as it’s a really beautiful yarn and a really beautiful pattern, but the finished product just doesn’t seem to want to fit as one would hope it to, and so it’s less enjoyable to wear than the sum of its parts should make it.

You start with the lace panel, which is knitted from the middle out. Then, starting from the middle again, you make stocking stitch strips to frame it top and bottom, which when they are long enough, and joined to the live stitches from the side edges of the panel. You do a little clever tinkering after a few rows, to take account of where the sleeves will need to go, but then you just knit outwards until you have two panels wide enough to make the front of a cardigan. It’s very clever, and nothing like any other project I’ve tackled.

I tweaked the pattern as I went, adding a bit of length, and short row shaping to try to bring the two edges of the cardigan a little closer to meeting when hanging at an angle. I also followed uncials notes with regard to the sleeves, but even so I find this is a little wider across the shoulders than it really ought to be.

The trickiest part was the collar. Initially I followed the pattern as written, but that gave me a really wide collar which seemed to always be facing the wrong way. So I ran a steek along about 20 stitches in from the edge (where the knit turned to purl) and cut a strip off. I sewed a moss stitch edging along to try to tidy it up a little bit, but it’s rather prone to wrinkling

So all in all, this was a real pain to make wearable. I love that lace panel, but I’d think twice about making anything knitted sideways again.

Pattern: Dahlia Cardigan by Heather Zopetti rom Interweave Knits, Fall 2011
Size: Second
Yarn: Supreme Possum Merino Possum Merino with Silk 4-ply
Colours: Red-purple
Needle 3.25mm
On ravelry: here

Gathered Pullover the Third

January 2013

Ooooooooold pattern, but still one of the most wearable ones I've ever seen. Here are the first and the second.

This one feels a bit tight, but I think that's just because I wanted to add bust darts but couldn't figure out how, given the placing of the cable. Plus it's been a while since I made something for me, and I'm a bit bigger than I was maybe...

I added a lot of length, but would have been comfortable with another inch or so even then. This is designed to be a much shorter sweater than I would ever wear.

This might have been better on slightly bigger needles, as the pattern is intended to be pretty loosely knit and drapey. Trouble is I've had one or two projects like that which grew and grew on blocking and ended up too big, so I'm not very confident about that sort of thing, and tend to go with the recommended gauge on the ball-band.

This yarn was bought back from Peru as a present by my Mother, so I'm a bit sketchy on the details. Feels excellent quality though. Hope I did it justice.

Sorry about the indoor photography, but it's much too cold to go out today, and I think we managed to get the colour pretty accurate anyway.

This is the first adult sweater I've made since I was pregnant, well over a year ago. I really need to remedy that, although I'm not sure that the 4-ply weight stocking stitch dress I have in mind next is the most sensible way to go about it. Ho-hum.

Pattern: Gathered Pullover by Hana Jason from Interweave Knits Winter 2007
Yarn: Michell & CIA Indiecita DK
Amount: 7 skeins
Colourway: 1018
Needles: 4.00mm
Size: 36.5"
On ravelry: here