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Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Cassis

I'm so in love with this sweater.

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The Details:
Pattern: Cassis by Thea Coleman
Needles: US7(4.5mm) 32" Knitpicks Harmony interchangables (and US8 for the cast-on only)
Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca in Oceanic Mix
Size: 36
Gauge: 5.5sts/inch (slightly off pattern)
Cast on: March 14, 2011
Bound off: April 23, 2011
Total # of stitches: 55,918 (give or take for adjustments to the sleeves and length)

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After reaching my limit on fiddling with fit with all my sewing projects, I'm glad I picked a knit project that didn't ask a lot in that department. I chose the 36" size going by my high bust measurement, knowing that this sweater doesn't have to close. My gauge was slightly off at 5.5spi, but I figured that there was a fair amount of design ease and that the Ultra Apaca would be fairly forgiving. (Both were true!)

The only real modification I made was to the sleeves. I found them too wide, so I did the decreases on every 4th row instead of every 5th, and did a few extra decrease rows. (I don't have my notes with me, but this wasn't a very scientific process.) I suspect the shoulders are a little too roomy, and a bit long from shoulder to armpit, but it's a loose and comfy sweater and so it doesn't really matter one way or the other! I also added about eight rows to the length of the body.

After blocking, I noticed I made one tiny mistake. One purl stitch in a sea of stockinette. I know that nobody can see it, and so I'm trying to resist the crazy urge to unpick the bind-off and drop the stitch back about 100 rows to fix it. (It's near the lace panel on the centre front.) But honestly, I love the sweater enough to overlook the imperfection!

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Special shout-out to my assistant, who managed to not eat this knit-in-progress despite my leaving it unattended on more than one occasion and blocking it in plain sight on the kitchen table. Well done, little friend. Well done.

10 comments:

  1. OMG so gorgeous! And that's the colour of wool I bought to practice on! I'm so impressed.

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  2. A quilting mother of a friend says you HAVE to have a mistake in every quilt you make, so that you know it's uniquely yours. The same must be true of your one errant stitch. That is a gorgeous make. I do like Thea's patterns.

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  3. You finished - congratulations! (Plus it looks fantastic on you too.)

    Gx

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  4. Thanks guys!

    @K.Line - great minds think alike!

    @didyoumakethat - my Mom always used to tell me that story about Persian carpets - that every carpet is made with a deliberate flaw, because "only God is perfect." We're not a religious family but I think she just appreciated the sort of "we're only human" take on things :D

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  5. That is beautiful! The colour looks great on you. I want one!

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  6. Korena - you could make your own! It's a fun and easy pattern - would make a great first sweater (assuming you haven't made one before)!

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  7. I made that mistake in the ribbing of a pair of handwarmers done in fingering weight once, about three rows above the cast-on. I cut the purl stitch, unraveled the row until I had two decently sized ends to weave in, grafted it back together correctly with a bit of extra yarn, and sewed in all the ends. I involved a lot of ends, but I'm obnoxiously picky about mistakes, so it was worth it!
    The sweater looks so comfy, and is a great color. Plus the kitty coordinates marvelously.

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  8. Sometimes the only thing crazier than laboriously fixing a mistake is allowing yourself to be unsatisfied with a project you invested so much time in! :)

    (I've left the mistake and luckily this yarn is just fuzzy enough that you can't really see it. If it had turned out more obvious I most certainly would have fixed it!)

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  9. this is such a beautiful sweater - you must be so happy with it!

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  10. Thank you! I am, I wear it all the time. So comfy!

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