Yarn: Lorna’s Laces Pearl in “Shenanigans” (for the non-knitters, Pearl is a 51% Silk, 49% Bamboo yarn and it is DIVINE)
Pattern: Gabriella by Ann Weaver
Notes: From my Ravelry page –
OVERALL – I love this yarn with big flowery girly hearty hearts. It was lovely to work with (admittedly I am a yarn snob, and so this hit me in my happy snobby heart) and held up very well to (sigh) repeated ripping out. I was worried after finishing that the twisted stitches didn’t really pop, but after blocking everything was %&#$ing gorgeous!
11/17 – swatchy swatchy!
11/18 – cast on… and rip out. Ball band calls for a 7; pattern calls for a 5; looks like I’ll need a 3 to get gauge. Darn me and my loose ways!
11/25 – new needles in, and casting on!
12/2 – chugging right along, in spite of a few questions about the pattern. My copy of the pattern appears to have a few typos, which should be corrected soon.
12/10 – running out of yarn. May have to rip out and start over. Was trying for the 35” but…
12/12 – ripped out, cast on in next smaller size.
12/13 – just have a gut feeling… as Han would say, ”I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” Ripping out again, starting very smallest size.
12/23 – had just enough yarn to finish smallest size. Mad props to my friend Jenn for putting on a still-damp tank top and prancing about my yard in 40-degree weather letting me take photos of her. JENN, YOU ARE A TROOPER!
PATTERN NOTES:
As written, the first six faux cables (fables? HAH!) are staggered in the columns as follows: Column 1, column 2, 1, 1, 2, 1. HOWEVER, if you are leaving – as the pattern indicates – the two columns on either side of the seam (which, btw, is called in the pattern a K2P2 seam even though it is really a K4 seam) blank (without faux cables), then you have an odd number of columns. I just repeated column #1 an extra time and tried not to let my OCD bother me too much.
Also, as you do the arm decreases, column 2 turns into the first column – this isn’t really mentioned but it becomes pretty obvious as you go on. But keep treating it in the charts as if it’s the second one, even though a new chart starts right at about this time. I kept trying to do the twisted stitches as long as I had enough room to do them, and stopped doing them when it became too awkward.
For the size I was doing, after finishing the neckline decreases you are instructed to knit straight until you are 7.5 inches from the beginning of the armhole; however, I was already at 9 inches at that point so I just went into the garter stitch rows and grafting. My friend who modeled it for me (there’s no way I was going to be able to get into a small, not with this rack!) said it felt fine so I was not worried that it might appear too long in the neck/arms.
Hooray! The sweater is beautiful. Thanks for sharing the final pictures. That yarn is really lovely!
Oh my gosh, that color is just about the prettiest yarn I’ve ever seen! So lovely! 🙂