Sunday 15 February 2015

First Finished Sweater of the Year. . .

Hooray - I'm on the board with my first finished sweater of the year (only 11 more to go).  This took exactly one week to complete and I really love the look and fit of it.  Hooray for bulky yarn!


The pattern is the Wendy Sweater by Wendy Barnard and I made a few modifications, shortening the sleeves and omitting the waist decreases.  The yarn is Rowan's Big Wool Colour in the Jamboree colourway with plain black Big Wool for the trim.  I'd definitely use this pattern again for a bulky jumper in one solid colour, lengthening both the sleeves and the body.  I liked the fact that it was top-down and knit in the round so it was easy to try it on as I knit it. 




A few words about the yarn:  I absolutely fell in love with this colourway when I saw it in the shop and I knew I wanted to create a garment with it.  Finding a suitable pattern was a bit tricky though.   I would suggest that you stick to stockinette and knit on slightly smaller needles than are called for, to keep the fabric tight so it looks a bit less bulky.  I had originally started a pattern that involved garter stitch across the neck and shoulder area and it looked awful.  Garter stitch really doesn't show this yarn's colours and textures to their best advantage.  Stockinette definitely does.


The nubs do make it a bit difficult to frog as they get caught up in various other strands.  Similarly you need a bit of muscle to weave in the ends (and a large tapestry needle).

I'm really thrilled with the results though and I think it's a fun top that can work just as well dressed up with a black skirt as over a pair of jeans.  And I really love the plain Rowan Big Wool - would definitely like to knit more chunky jumpers with this yarn.

1 comment:

Sallyann said...

This is lovely Maylin. So glad you found the right pattern for the yarn. I love the finish of the black it seems to bring it all together. Lovely