The Secret

I debated titling this post 'The Continuing Story of the Fauxrdigan' but I am not so sure that word should be invented.  It's what I have been calling it in my head.  It sounded better in my head.

But I am tickled with how nicely this is turning out.  I love the way the bright yarn shapes the yoke, and I love the heathered deep tones of this grey.

Short waisted as I am, this sweater is pretty much where I start thinking I need to increase for a nice easy fit over my hips.  If you look closely, you can see a successful repair to the button placket, which is now sitting nicely under the buttonhole placket. I did end up just dropping down to do the repair.  

Now I am going to tell you all a secret.  

I didn't wash the swatch.  OK.  Full honestly.  I didn't swatch.   I have never used this yarn, Paton's Classic Wool before. If I did, it was for a small project and it would have been a long time ago. I know many people who have used this yarn before, but that is a very different thing than actually knitting with a yarn yourself.  I have worked with many yarns of a very similar construction and weight before and that is what I am going with.  I did check my as knit gauge for sizing as I worked but as we all know, for some yarns, that can be a very different thing than the a washed gauge.  Basically I am winging it, with complete confidence that the yarn is going to perform like I expect it to perform. Foolish optimism?  We shall see.

I had access to so many other yarns while working at the yarn store, that, for years, I did not need to go somewhere else to find good basic wool.  It's different now without regular access and I am pretty sure that there will be a lot more of this yarn in my future.  Paton's Classic Wool is a good basic wool.  With my large stash, I could have made this sweater with many other yarns, but what I have, wasn't the colour that the strongly coloured, rich, fiery Felicity demanded.  It demanded an equally strong colour to stand with it.  This rich charcoal does that.  Plus it is heathered and we all know how much I like that. 

When you knit sweaters for a person of size, as I am, you get to know a yarn really well.  You get to know every quirk in it's book and you come to understand it's heart.  A lot of straight knitting goes into making a sweater and it always goes faster if you really like a yarn.  I've knit 6 inches since Sunday so make of that, what you will, but for me, that says I like this yarn.

It was the only thing I knit on the last two days, and I am pretty eager to get back to it.  Let's see how far we can take it on this snowy winter day.