February in July
This project grabbed me by the needles the beginning of July and didn't let go until it was finished!
Details:
Pattern: February Lady Sweater (Ravelry link) by Pamela Wynne (flintknits)
Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca in Oceanic Mix (4.5 skeins~~about 970 yds)
Needle: Size 6 KnitPicks Option on 60" cable (after both my 40" cables broke~~replacements on the way)
Size: Medium
Start Date: July 3, 2008
Finish Date: July 24, 2008
Mods: Didn't do the eyelet increase row, I used kfb instead (check out this increase calculator to figure how many stitches to knit between increases~~use the balanced option. Tremendous help!). I did the raglan a little further than she called for, but wish I had carried it further into the underarm as I do not like the poochiness that happens at the end of the raglan increases. Same thing happened on my Everyday Tweed. I did 24 lace repeats on the body and 20 (?) on the sleeves. I think that is all the mods. Just remembered another mod~~I went down to a size 3 on the sleeve cuffs to keep them from being too bell-like.
Thoughts: I LOVE this sweater! Great pattern, awesome yarn, cool buttons~~what more could a girl want?!?
Buttons~~gotta tell you about the buttons. I knew I wanted vintage buttons for this sweater, so I raided the butt
on box my m-i-l gave me eons ago. Found some possibilities, but most were too small, or I only had one or two of the same style. I visited a friend (same friend who was the recepient of Leda in 2006) to get some help in choosing the perfect ones. We settled on some black plastic, blah ones rather reluctantly, but right before I left I asked if she had a button box. She dumped her grandmother's button box out on the table, and my eye was immediately caught by these square mother of pearl buttons. In swooped my hand, we placed them on the sweater, looked at each other and said that they were perfect. While they don't photograph well, the buttons are the initial attention grabber with this project, then comes the oohing and aahing over the garter stitch and lace~~lots of stroking of the sweater, too.
Texture~~love the juxtaposition of the garter and lace. I think that's part of the beauty of this sweater, and the genius of the creator of the original sweater upon which this one is based, Elizabeth Zimmermann.
Color~~Usually teal is not one of the colors I gravitate toward, but while surfing the WEBS site, after realizing the Skye Tweed was a bust for this pattern, I came across Ultra Alpaca and just fell in love with the color of oceanic mix. I'm thinking I made a good choice.
Reaction~~I don't think I can overstate how much I am in love with this sweater. Based on the reaction of friends, I think it is one of my more successful projects. I've already had one friend (of the buttons) request the sweater in the same color, and one threaten to steal it at SnB last night (yeah, Christine, I'm talking about you!) I had to make sure I sat across the room from her with the sweater hidden from view, although she did try to enlist the help of a conspirator, but I was too vigilant, and the sweater made it safely home. I hate to pack it away until fall, but rest assured, it will get plenty of wear once the weather cools off.
