Cornsilk Pullover by Amy Herzog
5ply yarn from the Bendigo Woollen Mills bargain room, avocado
3.75mm needles
Modifications: Combined two sizes, lengthened the arms

Start: July 2011
Finish: November 2011
Ravelled: here

Besides blocking, it’s finished and I’m very happy with it! Look at the back, it fits like a glove!

I actually finished it on Monday night. The seaming took a lot less time than expected, which I can only put down to my cheer squad (thanks DrK!). The sleeves are a bit bumpy in places but I think it’ll be fine once I’ve given it a wash.

This is the first Amy Herzog pattern I’ve knit, and I’m impressed. The pattern was pretty clear, and the result is pretty pleasing. To fit with my body shape, I combined the bottom half of the 38 inch size and the top half of the 36 inch size. To make them fit together I rejigged the waist decreases a little bit, and seemed to work quite well.

This jumper was more or less knit in tandem with my sister’s Manu. Working with this yarn was like working with jute in comparison to the Pear Tree I made Manu from. However, it didn’t seem too bad once I’d finished with the Pear Tree and was working almost solely on this jumper. There seem to be a lot of guard hairs in this yarn which are probably the source of its jute-like texture. While I’m happy enough with the fabric, I’m not sure I’d buy this yarn again if the opportunity arose (unlikely, as it was purchased a long time ago from the Bendigo Woollen Mills bargain room). It just happened to be in my stash, it was the right gauge and there was a jumper’s worth.

Using slightly dodgy yarn for the sake of using it up probably isn’t the best approach to knitting with stash. However, I tend to be a bit of a bad weather friend to my yarn, sticking with it until I’ve found a use for it. That’s not to say I don’t destash, but the process of letting my yarn go can be a bit more difficult than it should be.

The yarn was originally purchased to be used for my colour work vest. I evidently wasn’t very good at judging how much yarn I needed, because there was enough left over from the vest to make this jumper and there is still a fair bit left. It was also purchased during a brown and green phase, which has now morphed into a brown, grey, blue and red phase. I contemplated overdyeing it after finishing, but I’ve thought of two skirts and one dress I can wear it with, so light green it shall stay for the time being.

Almost as exciting as actually finishing something is the fact that it was cool enough today for me to wear it to work. To be honest, it could have been in the high 30s like it has been in other parts of the country of late and I would have still worn it. I wasn’t going to let a little thing like heatstroke get me down.

My Cornsilk Pullover is now being seamed up. The back and front pieces are now as one, the collar has been knit, the sleeve caps set and one sleeve seamed. The Bureau of Meteorology predicts that the temperature will reach a maximum of 19 degrees in Melbourne on Wednesday, which could be my last opportunity to wear a jumper this year. The question is, will I, or can I, finish it in time?

There are a couple of things working against me; having to go to work, and knitted pieces pinned together with sewing pins not being particularly conducive to taking onto public transport. Probably the biggest threat to getting this jumper finished in time is my almost compulsive tendency to try the jumper on after every stage of seaming. One shoulder cap set, try it on. Another couple of rows of sleeve seamed, try it on again. A lot could happen, fit-wise, in a few rows.

On the other hand, it’s only two side seams, a sleeve seam and the collar seams to go. I blocked the pieces before seaming so if I was really pushing it, I could wear it in public before giving it all a wash/wet block. Maybe.

See you on Wednesday with either a tale of triumph (featuring a finished object), or a tale about the one that got away.

Manu by Kate Davies
Around 700g Pear Tree 8 ply, grey
3.5mm, 3.75mm and 4.5mm needles
Modifications: Lengthened the sleeves and the body, mirrored the pleats

Start: July 2011
Finish (sort of): September 2011
Ravelled: here

It’s been over a month since finishing it, but I gave it to my little sister only recently. When she unwrapped her cardi she cheekily exclaimed ‘about time!’, as she’s been asking (in the form of whinging) for a jumper or cardigan from me for a while. As soon as it was unwrapped, she put it straight on and seemed pretty happy with it. Lucky for her.

The best part of this pattern is the little details; the icord cast on and bind off, the pleats and the sweet icord buttonholes give the cardigan polish. It’s those details that made the acres of stockinette stitch worth it.

There were only three minor modifications that I made to the pattern. The first two were to lengthen the body and sleeves, based on the measurements on a cardigan my sister often wears. The other modification was to mirror half of the pleats, which I did after seeing a few versions on Ravelry with that modification. The cardigan just seems to look more balanced in comparison with the having all the pleats facing the same way. It was lucky that the size I made had an even number of pleats, because I’m not sure how I would have dealt with mirroring an odd number of pleats.

After the little yarn hiccup at the start of the project, it was a joy to work with. Lovely and soft, a few lighter nubs for variation and the fabric had a lovely halo. It looks like I might be able to make something small for myself with the leftovers, but that does little to deal with the nagging feeling that I’ll never be able to get that yarn for such a good deal again.

Even though I’m calling it finished it’s not really. When I gave it to my sister, I mentioned that she could have pockets on it if she wanted. Her response was ‘I like pockets’ which more or less translates to ‘I would really like it if you added pockets to this cardigan, dear sister’. Pockets she will have, but only after I manage to get the cardigan from her. I predict it will be officially finished in July 2023.