One Classy Lady

It's really a darn shame that it's the middle of summer and therefore too warm to wear my new favorite sweater.

Pattern: February Lady Sweater by Pamela Wynne (flintknits; Ravelry link), size XS/37.5" chest
Yarn: Dream in Color Classy (100% superwash merino), colorway GoGo Grassy, approximately 3.4 skeins (850 yards)
Needles: US 7 (4.5 mm) 32" Addi Turbo circs
Started/Completed: June 8/July 9
Mods: none

Working with this yarn was a complete pleasure, and I'm thoroughly glad I decided to splurge on it. The squoosh factor is just amazing -- great hand, great stitch definition, and amazing yardage. I wet blocked the sweater when it was done, and I was not at all surprised that the sweater grew -- a lot! -- in length. But, I had faith in my swatch; I laid the sweater flat on a drying rack to dry, and it mostly shrank back to its original shape. The resulting fabric has great drape but still enough memory to hold its shape.

I did 22 repeats of the lace pattern on both the body and the sleeves. I knew I wanted to my sleeves to be longer than 3/4 length, but not so long that I'd inadvertently drag them through my dinner or the water in the sink while washing my hands. After blocking, they're now about 2-3 inches above my wrist. Just perfect.

The one thing I did that wasn't explicitly written in the pattern was to slip the first stitch of every row purlwise, with the yarn in front, and then took the yarn to the back to work the next stitch. This results in a pretty column of twisted V's along the edge, which, at least in my opinion, is a lot more attractive that the normal edge of garter stitch. I thought it was rather appropriate for use in an Elizabeth Zimmerman-inspired pattern -- after all, she's the one who gave me the idea in the first place.

Although there are those knitters who find incredible buttons and knit the sweaters to show them off, I'm of the sort who knit their sweaters and then find buttons worthy of their handiwork. I was hoping to find simple wood or woodlike buttons that wouldn't detract from the lace of this sweater, and these certainly fit the bill (especially as I only had to find three of them!). I found them at Natural Stitches; I think it was only fitting that I returned to the LYS where I was pulled onto the bandwagon to find the finishing touches.

I am completely and utterly in love with this sweater, and it's making me wish it were already cold outside so I could wear it and be comfortable (trust me when I tell you that I was not as relaxed as I look in these photos -- it was in the high 80s and humid!). I think I very well might make another, perhaps in the fall. I do have some Cascade in the stash that I think might work very well. (What do you think?) The bottom line is that this pattern was a pleasure to knit and was truly a great tribute to the talent of EZ. It may be what everyone is knitting, but with good reason!