Summer Roundup (final part)

Super fluffy sugarplum brioche

Now that summer is officially over, this summer roundup is, I suppose, a bit late. But, here are the FOs! All of them are now finished, although I don't have photos of all of them as FOs. Also, despite these 3 FOs, I think I've just about given up all hope on finishing the TCK12sweater2015 challenge. That being said, I'd like to see how well/terribly I do at the end of the year anyway, so I'm still tagging these posts and projects (on ravelry) as such.

I mentioned the Orne Cardigan (here) and set about casting on more or less right away because I had to have it in my wardrobe, and I'm happy to say that I did not make a mistake! I am extremely satisfied with the result (despite several mistakes - don't look too hard)! The only thing I wish I did differently is to move the pockets up a couple of inches so that I can reach into them more comfortably. I'm not bothered enough by it to rip out those couple of inches and reknit though, so just keep in mind for next time I work with brioche: it grows a ton vertically. Note that this is one of only two (intentional) changes I made to the pattern, the other change being not to change to 1x1 ribbing at the front bottom hems. Keeping it as brioche at the fronts resulted in the fronts being slightly shorter than the back even after blocking, but that's okay. I prefer that to it shrinking in and pulling towards the back.

The finished cardigan is super comfy to live in, and madtosh tosh dk is a dream (as might be deduced by the fact that I purchased more). I still have about 1.5 skeins left, so perhaps a hat is in the future?

I missed one!

I followed the Classic Shirt pattern by Sally Melville for the most part, making it longer in the body and tapering the top collar button placket a bit so it didn't end in such an angular edge. I just want to say, though, now that I have the buttons (see below; they're beautiful!) in: my gauge lied. I knit a large enough swatch and soaked and blocked it as I did the sweater and the sweater is still a couple inches smaller than I expected it to be! It fits like a glove, with about -1" ease or so, which would otherwise be fine were the buttons at the bust not straining a bit. It was supposed to fit with about 2-4" positive ease. The only reasons I can think of are that I knit my gauge months ago, so perhaps my own knitting just changed, combined with the unevenly spun yarn: some skeins were much more tightly spun than others.

Lovely thrift store buttons - shell?

The pattern itself was a little confusing for me personally, though I could follow along just fine and make my own adjustments here and there (namely body length). I love the little details, such as the ones at the cuffs and the collar, though, and would contemplate making this again in the size that I had originally wanted this to be, or just following the instructions for a size or two larger.

I would definitely, definitely, use another yarn though: this stuff is a pain to work with! It's alright during knitting - not the best: it sheds like nothing else, with the exception of maybe the cotton I used for my Beatnik - but it's a horror for seaming! I think I had 5 or more broken ends per sleeve, not counting the sides, when I seamed up the sides and sleeves in what was supposed to be one go. This resulted, of course, in a very long day of weaving in ends: one of my least favourite activities, and one that I put off for a couple of days, if not a week or more. I even missed one (see above photo). It's ridiculous! Pull a little too hard and it breaks. Kitchener stitch more than 3 or 4 sts and tighten it? It breaks. Look at it wrong and it trembles, shedding everywhere before breaking right in half! Definitely returning the one unused skein I have to Romni's for store credit (unless anyone wants to buy it off me, even after this horrid review of it, in which case, send me an email or PM on ravelry!).

Another linen cardigan, now finished.

And here's the last one, finished not too long ago. It's missing a sleeve; no, that wasn't the style I was going for - I'm not quite that avant garde. I tried it on right after finishing the body and thought it was a complete and utter failure, but carried on anyway because I really needed to have this done for my show, in addition to some other textile pieces I've been plugging away at in the meantime. Now that both sleeves are done, I think it actually looks fine. There's a bit too much swing at the back for my comfort, especially considering the waterfall front, but otherwise, it fits pretty well and I think it could grow on me (not literally, though that's also a possibility, considering it's 100% linen...).

Now, the slightly disappointing news. A picture is worth a thousand words:

Mirasol Nuna & Diamond Luxury Collection Pima Lino Lace

I got them prior to the Lettuce Knit splurge. Also, everything still fits into the bins I have. so it's OK, right? Right?

So in sum: I used up yarn I purchased for the purpose I got it for (madtosh tosh dk for Orne Cardigan), used up stash yarn (Elsebeth Lavold LinSilk & LitYarn 100% Linen) for two pieces I had to have for an upcoming show, in addition to using up a bunch of buttons from my stash (because I have a stash of buttons too). Not too bad, all in all!