purlsandmurmers

Teal Blue Mohair

I alternated between knitting projects during the week.  One night I picked up the mohair  but it was already late and I was messing up the simple 2x2 rib and the decreases so I just put it aside and zoned out in front of the TV.  It was that kind of week really, terribly busy and at times terribly frazzled.  Sometimes I just wanted to sit and dream, or read.  There was a terribly large amount of reading too with the new budget proposals and everyone's opinions on them.  I am already exhausted from it all.  

 

As you can see, despite all this business, the depression of doing taxes (it galls me to have to pay money I no longer have on gains that have disappeared into the ether) and worry and general upheaval I did manage to finish the mohair sweater.  Here it is on Matilda late last night.  She demanded a try-on practically the instant I finished the seaming, and it was good because it looked so tiny lying in my lap.

But of course it is mohair on fair sized needles. 9's for me, but I went down a size or two from the pattern. and the top and sleeves are ribbed, which accounts for their apparent narrowness.

I like the way the shaping turned out as well.  I think there were one or two places in the pattern where I was supposed to K2tog when I felt a purl would be better, but really those were the only minor adjustments and could have just been my knitting rather than major problems with the pattern.

I wore the sweater today and just love it.  This will be a favorite and a basic in my wardrobe.  And considering that it is supposed to be cold all next week at least, I think there are still ample opportunities for wear.  I am going to Tennessee for a week after that, and I hope I don't need to take it with me, or wear it upon my return, but I am not counting on either.

Unfortunately the best picture of the sweater on me is the one where I decided to shift at the last minute and I was looking down just as G snapped the photo.   The sweater was knit in pieces up to the yoke where it was joined on circular needles and finished in the round.  You can see the nice shaping in the decreases on this photo.

Pattern:  La Gran Ribbed Yoke Pullover

Designed by Debbie Allen

in CEY Autumn book1

I knit a size medium and used not quite 7 skeins of yarn.

[edited to add that I did add about an inch and a half of length through short row shaping at the bust in the front ribbed section.  It seems to have worked out quite well.  I did not make any alterations to the back, although I considered taking out a little back length.  I don't think it was necessary in this sweater.]

I am incredibly happy.

I like this sweater so much that I would consider making it again, really the ultimate praise.  Not that I probably will ever make it again, but you never know. There are too many new things to make. I do tend to wear the same kinds of sweaters over and over though, and someday this one might need replacing.  Mohair usually wears well, and I have a few ancient LaGran sweaters, so it probably won't be for a long time.

Weekend Progress

I've done pretty well, knitting-wise, this weekend.

All the pieces of the LaGran pullover have been completed and I have joined them together on the circular needles in order to knit the yoke in the round.  

This was the first time I knit my sleeves simultaneously and it was actually rather nice.  They did seem to go more quickly even though I often lost track of what I was supposed to be doing and knit one sleeve for a few rows before continuing to the second.  This prompted occasional confusion as to where I was and lots of checking and measuring.  Counting was out of the questions given the fuzzy mohair and the dark color.

Once I got the pieces joined together, I made sure the first couple of rows were completed and that my stitches and counts were correct before putting it aside so that I could spend a little time with the Blue Sky Cropped Turtleneck from the new Vogue Knitting.

I an having a great time knitting this sweater.  The pattern is simple. I changed the decreases and increases somewhat on the sleeve to make the sleeves a little bit narrower at the cuff, and then I had to compensate for this as the sleeve gets wider so that it all works out when I get to the body.  

I am hoping this will work out and that the sweater will look good without sleeves that are quite so floppy.

The photo was taken last night; I am a little further along now.  It looks small to me on the needles, but I did check my gauge both before and after washing the swatch and I am consistent with that gauge.  The photo in Vogue looks more loosely knit though.  Perhaps I am not accounting for the stretch of the sweater with wear.

I think the Blue Sky Alpaca Bulky is about the same weight and gauge as the Twinkle Soft Chunky, but it is possible that it is heavier, or somehow tighter and holds its shape better.  Since this is knit from sleeve to sleeve there is no real way to tell until I knit it all and see what happens.  I am trying to account for the post-wash growth when I look at it, but it just isn't registering.  It is not so small looking that it doesn't fit, at least not so far.

Whatever happens, I suppose I can console myself with how much fun I am having knitting this.

Mohair Delight

I finished the back of my next sweater Monday night.

Ribbed Yoke Pullover from CEY Autumn Book 1.

La Gran Mohair in this beautiful deep blue.

The back is actually knit only from the bottom up to about an inch and a half past the beginning of the armhole shaping.  It is on a holder now, waiting for the front and the sleeves.  I don't have the right size circular needles for the combined pieces at the neck so they are on order.  I am fairly confident that they will arrive before I get the next three pieces finished, especially since I got all wrapped up in other things and did no knitting last night.

I plan on casting on for the front tonight.  I am actually looking forward to wearing this, and the more I knit the more eager I am to finish. I love knitting mohair, I love wearing mohair.  Did I ever tell you that my very first sweater was a mohair cardigan?  I still have it.  It was a crazy first project, but I can tell you honestly that knitting wool and even cotton seemed terribly easy after that.