Overachieving

Friends, it is done. But unfortunately you'll have to wait a bit for photos that really do it justice because I probably won't be in the same place as my photographer in the middle of the day (when there's sufficient natural light) until the weekend. So until then, a mediocre selfie will have to do:

Warning: Arms are not as long as they appear

Pattern: Goldenfern (Ravelry link) by Jennifer Steingass, size C/40.75 in. bust
Yarn: my ABBA-themed handspun yarn 
Needles: US 4 (3.5 mm), US 5 (3.75 mm), and US 6 (4.0 mm)
Started/Completed: October 9/November 20
Mods: worked at a different gauge than specified; shortened the sleeve colorwork; worked a 1x1 ribbed cuff on sleeves rather than corrugated ribbing

Let's go back to the beginning on this project. You may recall that I spun the yarn with this sweater in mind. The pattern calls for using several colors for the colorwork, so I had done all this elaborate planning and splitting of the fiber so that my contrast yarn would start off all silver and gradually change to all burnt orange. The spinning portion of the project really turned out perfectly, and it would have worked as intended if I'd either knit a much larger size of the sweater or if I'd kept knitting and made it a dress. In the end, I didn't even use up a quarter of each of the three contrast skeins I spun. And the reason for that is because I guess you could say I was an overachiever.

Walking boot cameo

You see, when I spin yarn for a sweater, it's obviously one of a kind and I can't get any more, so I always worry about running out. That fear, combined with the fact that this yarn was spun from a silk blend (silk always wants to be spun finely), resulted in what was, if I'm honest, a light fingering weight yarn. I suspect that's part of the reason I had such trouble with my gauge -- my yarn was just too thin. It ended up working out okay as far as the sizing, but when your yarn is skinnier than it needs to be, it also ends up being longer. I certainly had more than the pattern called for (which is what I wanted, both to allow for gauge differences and so I wouldn't have to panic about playing yarn chicken), but it wasn't until I finished the sweater and weighed the leftovers that I realized just how much more yarn I had than I needed. I started out with just shy of 2,000 yards. I still have about 860 yards left. Yeah. That's a lot. Most of it is the contrast -- about 680 yards. And this is all despite the fact that I knit a size larger than I was originally planning!

I am happy to tell you that the fit is good and everything worked out just fine with my gauge. There's just enough positive ease in the sweater that I can wear it comfortably over a long-sleeved tee (which I always do with my sweaters) but not so much that it looks sloppy. I did figure out where I went wrong with the stitch count on the first sleeve -- suffice it to say that I didn't read the directions carefully enough and had picked up two fewer stitches under the arm -- but I replicated the mistake in the second sleeve so they match. The only real modification I made was shortening the colorwork a bit in the sleeves and finishing the cuffs with 1x1 rib to match the body.

Our first snow of the season is falling!

I think this is now the second Jennifer Steingass sweater I've knit, though I have several others in my library. Her patterns are well written (provided you take the time to read them, ahem), but my one complaint about this pattern is the same one I had with the last one: She has floats that are way too long in her colorwork. That wasn't as big of an issue the last time because the colorwork was all in the yoke, but in this sweater, long floats could be especially problematic in the sleeves and could sang on fingers or rings. I added ladderback jacquard floats in several places on both charts that resolved the issue for me, but I don't know how many knitters would know to do that if they hadn't knit another pattern that explicitly used them (in my case, that was my Threipmuir). I wouldn't let this deter you from knitting one of her patterns, but it's certainly something to keep in mind.

I'll leave you all with a photo of Molly's new and improved smile:

It'll only get better once her gums aren't so swollen and after she gets a professional cleaning, but doesn't she look great? I know I'm biased, but I'm also very impressed with what modern orthodontics can do.

Have a wonderful weekend, all!