twylem.

It is overdue but it is finished! I started this test knit back in early February. It was moving along very quickly but we had some weekends of rough teething (we are officially up to 3 teeth!) and my knitting was laid to the side. Do you experience a lull in momentum on a project when you constantly have to put it aside? I know I do.

I have wanted a new black cardigan for a long time – unfortunately this is going to be way to warm for a summer-over-the-shoulders-cardigan but it will be perfect for the rest of this winter and then the fall. It is almost more like a jacket due to the collar.

Pattern: Twylem by Vanessa Smith

Yarn: Patons Classic Wool Worsted in colour black

Needles: 5.5mm for the yoke, collar and body; 5.00mm for the sleeves; 4.00mm for the belt

I really wanted to test this because of the super cool collar. The construction was interesting – I loved working the top-down collar with the yoke, then picking up and working the ribbing. It makes the collar bulky. I think that was very smart that it isn’t double layered all the way to the bottom of the cardigan – it would have been a lot of heavy fabric and warmth.

The seaming on this is minimal – the collar join at the back of the neck is a 3-needle bind-off. But the one seam is the double collar edge to the lower single ribbing. It was challenging to figure out how to seam it to get a clear line all the way across. Vanessa’s tutorials are fantastic and the finished edge looks perfect.

While I was knitting this I lost 10lbs. So by the time I got to the sleeves, it was too big. I did decide to size down the sleeves, though, and knit the 34 1/4” size sleeves instead of the 36” sleeves. I’m glad I did as it actually helped with the rest of the sweater even though it is too big. I should have knit the 34 1/4” instead of the 36”. It’s only 2” but in this case, for me, it made a big difference. And here I was concerned about whether I should knit the 38”! It would have been huge!

That’s the difficult thing about knitting while you are pregnant or just postpartum – everything for me felt too tight and now that I am getting back to my pre-pregnancy size, everything is too big! It is a small problem to have but when knitting sweaters, it is a little frustrating :)

How have you been doing with fit ‘issues’ lately?

weekend work.

“What’s a weekend?”
 

-The Dowager Countess of Grantham, Downton Abbey, Season 1
 

The weekend seems to be the best time for me to work on my various crafting projects as I usually have some quiet time to myself. It is nice for me to have some small breaks from the routine of the week. And it is even nicer for M to have some catch up time with Tiny and enjoy some father-son bonding that he misses with his weekday schedule! What has sort of ended up happening is that I get a chance to work on my knitting. I thought that going forward, I would continue to share some of this ‘weekend work’ with you as I am able since I tend to mostly share finished projects rather that works in progress.

This weekend, I have been working with some Berroco Remix in my favourite colour: Yellow. The colourway is called Buttercup but between you and I, I don’t think it looks at all like the colour of buttercups. Never mind – I love this yarn! I find cotton really hard on my wrists so I don’t work with it. This recycled yarn is lovely because it contains fibre (like cotton) that I don’t normally work with and I am really enjoying the results.

 

I have been thinking about this sweater for a long time and over the past few weekends, I finally had a chance to cast on. I had written out the pattern back in the summer but I never had the chance to actually start. In my head, I am calling it “Irish Heart” since I love the cabled Celtic sweaters. I only have the sleeves left to work … and I have to find one more button. Can you believe that even though I always buy extra buttons for a project (usually 2 extra) that I am short 1 button? Unbelievable.
 

Have a wonderful weekend!