Breezing through

Another knitting project is officially signed off. Hurrah!

This is my finished version of “Breeze” by Kim Hargreaves from Rowan Magazine Number 31. It’s knitted in Elann’s Peruvian Baby Silk in Peridot, a yarn that is 80% alpaca, 20% silk, and it’s snugliness makes up for the fact that it’s so fine it takes forever to knit up. I’m now a complete alpaca convert, being one of those sensitive sorts who get all itchy and irritable in wool. (The design should be knit in Rowan Kidsilk haze (70% mohair and 30% silk), but I’m not really a fuzzy bear kind of mohair person.) I started this months ago, and ran out of yarn with just a few rows to go. As Elann’s flat shipping to the UK was about $28 it’s been waiting patiently until I placed a large order.

The pattern pic to the right is what it should look like. As you see, my version is… on snug side. Mine should be a bit boxier and, well, I’ll admit it, just bigger. Instead of knitting a waist tie, I’ve used a silk ribbon from Farmhouse Fabrics in moss, which is EXACTLY the same shade as the yarn (amazing for an online purchase!).

The front and back pieces are knitted straight, with no waist shaping. Curiously enough, the pattern tells you to sew the front and back at the side seams, with only the top back edge band finished. Then it instructs you to pick up and finish the front top edge band. But surely that’s harder work that it should be if you’ve already sewn it to the finished back piece? So I knitted the neck edge band onto the front and then sewed it to the back.

I really should spend more time checking my gauge, as I’m such a tight knitter. But I’m also a slow knitter, and the time I’d spend knitting a tension swatch is more time that I can bear to spare. I know, I know. It’s pointless spending time knitting something that’s surely going to be too small. I’ve learned my lesson. Next time…