Whilst I'm taking a break from working on my Zweig due to the structural integrity of my hand being compromised STILL, I'll blabber on about other sweaters I've made!
I had been stalking Jennifer Steingass on Instagram in the Spring 2019, leading to June of the same year, to jump on the Gardengate sweater as soon as it was published. It's so darn pretty. However I only cast it on about a year later due life in general. I had found the yarn for it not long after its publishing, though! I wanted an almost black and an embery-smoldering orangey-red.
I got this in Julie Asselin Leizu Fingering Simple in the colour Midnight Oil, and La Bien Aimée Merino Single in Kitsune. All at my favourite LYS in Jyväskylä, Titityy.
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| Old Norwegian cast on is quickly growing to be my favourite |
Had I done the zero saturation test, I'd have noticed that the contrast between those two isn't extra. But I learned to actually adore the overall darkness of the sweater, it's the first happy little accident, this lack of "pop".
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| Has a black metal look to it, doesn't it? |
Second happy little accident was the fit.
I... kinda swatched? Okay okay FINE I counted the stitches on the neckline and called that a gauge check, ye happy? It looked alright then.
What I didn't take into account, as a green knitter, was the silk content in Leizu Fingering Simple. How that would affect the drape of the garmen, and not just make it softer to the touch. Sooo I got one heckin drapey, loosely fitting sweater when I originally cast on to get a zero ease product.
That's boxy. I cast on for size A. And that's BEFORE blocking!
But I blocked it anyway, no choice, my tension had been uneven through out the whole make and it showed. So blocked I did. And loe and behold, it evened out my stitches and made it grow lenght-wise! The positive ease all of a sudden looked intentional, like I made it a bit oversized on purpose!
Now it's the comfiest sweater I own, it's my go-to when I want to spend a lazy-cozy moment.
Also, it being very loosely knit and it being a single ply, I feared it would pill like a mf. It pills. But for the amount of wear it gets, it's really not as bad as I pictured it. I wonder if it's because of the silk content? As you see, I'm still a green knitter and I don't fully comprehend all the properties of every fibre material.
Conclusion: Sometimes letting go of total control and just going with the flow and see what happens ends up in success stories!
