snugger

Because let’s face it, if it was really quiet, I wouldn’t be writing about it here.

I have successfully managed to turn this…

into this…

Please excuse the dodginess of the second pic. It’s not easy to lie on the sofa in the good light while trying to take a flattering photo of both yourself and the article of interest. Anyway, this way you get a bonus shot of Elizabeth about to get herself into trouble with the aircon remote.

This jumper presented several firsts for me:
1. First adult sized garment that actually fits properly
2. First time knitting with mohair
3. First time knitting lace
4. First time picking up stitches for a neckline

Well, maybe 3 isn’t quite truthful since I had a practice go with a less fluffy and easier to see yarn before starting. Didn’t stop me stuffing it up almost every time though. Hence the bright pink stitch markers which were meant to aid me in keeping the pattern repeats sorted out. But I kept suddenly having 1 less stitch or 1 more than I should have somewhere along the line. I still don’t know how it happened, since I was convinced I had it right until I got to the next row, and then very obviously didn’t. After I’d finished the lace band on the second sleeve I was very very relieved. More than anything because it meant I didn’t have to unravel and start again. Again. If you’ve ever attempted to unravel mohair you probably feel my pain, and understand that I always ended up having to cut off the cast on row, and in the last instance, 3 other rows as well.

But at last I triumphed, after a rather tense time of doing the neckline. I had a 40cm long circular needle, and really should have used a 60cm circular needle. The knitting was all bunched up and it wasn’t until I cast off that I could tell that I hadn’t messed up the picking up stitches bit.

The pattern was ‘Celeste’ from Jo Sharp Book Five – Gathering (They don’t seem to have that particular pattern listed on that page).
I used 4.5mm and 5mm needles, and about 10 and a half balls of Jo Sharp Rare Comfort Kid Mohair in shade 606, the rather aptly named ‘swamp’.
I knit a size L, which claimed it needed 10 balls. Even without all of my cutting off rows I don’t think I could have made it with 10 balls personally. But I do tend to err on the side of caution when leaving tails for weaving in. And if you like to keep your tension squares, you would definitely need the extra ball.

So, am I done with mohair? Not on your life. Even someone who lives in a subtropical climate can do with at least 2 mohair jumpers in their wardrobe. Right?