Verso Cowl and Narni Sweater Test Knits

I've recently had the chance to test knit for two Finnish designers, Anna Johanna and Leeni Hoi. The Verso cowl based on Anna Johanna's pattern is a pleasant knit that keeps you interested with varying stitch patterns and two colors. The pattern is primarily written for gradient-dyed yarns, but based on what I had in my stash I decided to go with speckled and semisolid, and fingering instead of sport, and I think it works well with those, as well. The single-ply yarn makes the cowl very drapey and nice to wear against the skin. For some reason I haven't knit that many cowls, even though I'm constantly thinking I should knit more. They are just so appealing, small or medium sized projects that can be knit in the round utilizing various stitch patterns and colors.

The Narni sweater based on Leeni Hoi's pattern is actually the first colorwork yoke sweater I've knit, unless you count the bit of colorwork in Majestic Mountain. I decided to try out the new West Wool Bicycle yarn, a non-superwash yarn I was very curious about, and I really like how it worked out. Due to the rapid rate of increases early on in the yoke, the sweater requires some fairly aggressive blocking to smooth out the fabric. Being knit with fingering-weight yarn makes it a very light garment, and I think it'll get a lot of wear. I really enjoyed the stranded knitting, and I find that I actually enjoy colorwork the most in a larger project compared to something like mittens. The will definitely be more colorwork yokes in my future!

Moonlit Path Test

I had the pleasure of testing another Lisa Hannes pattern, Moonlit Path. The pattern was originally written for worsted weight yarn, but since the size can be easily adjusted, so can be the yarn weight. I went with a strand of sport weight yarn knit together with a strand of lace weight mohair. I used a 5 mm needle thoughout, but the mosaic section in my shawl turned out pretty dense; I think madelinetosh Tosh Sport is closer to DK! The Wollmeise Blend I used on the blue border, also a sport weight yarn, is signifigantly lighter. Blocking helped make the fabric a bit drapier, but it's still pretty thick.

I've knit a few shawls with some mosaic stitch, and I would say this pattern was probably the easiest! I only needed to glance at the pattern at the beginning of each right side row, and was good to go. So, if you're new to mosaic knitting, I'd say this would be a good beginner project! In addition, Lisa's patterns are always easy to follow, very well written, so I can give my warm recommendation!

Majestic Mountain Test

Back in January, when the opportunity arose to test knit a Stephen West sweater with welts, I was like, heck yeah. The deadline also seemed like a very forgiving distance away, not that it ever means I will finish a project ahead of time, be it a test knit or a lecture.

Fast forward to the day before the pattern launch, and I still have the second sleeve to knit. Blocked the sweater overnight and through a day of work, but the welts still aren't completely dry as I'm writing this blog entry. That doesn't stop me from wearing it, though. I have to say the welts were not my favorite part of this project to knit, and I had to use some markers to be able to pick up the correct row of stitches since I knitted all the welts in the same color. However, it was worth it! The rest of the yoke was easier, and then the broken rib (and garter stitch) for the rest of the body and sleeves was pretty relaxing.

I held together two strands of superwash fingering weight yarn for most of the time, apart from the black bits where the other strand of fingering was replaced by two strands of lace-weight yarn. I'm quite happy about the subtle fade! The broken rib goes well with the speckled yarns. The sweater grew quite a bit when wet, which was a plus, since before blocking it was smaller than I'd expected. I knit the size M, but I think my gauge was off, and there were also some issues with the stitch counts with the test version, which may have had some effect.

Despite the excentric construction, it's extremely comfortable to wear!

Zipf Test

I also had the pleasure of testing La Maison Rililie's latest hat pattern, Zipf. Her patterns often have a slightly unusual construction, and in this case it's short rows that shape the hat! The pattern is written for worsted weight yarn, but my hat is knit with three yarns ranging from DK to bulky! I used the leftovers of Martin's Lab Tibetan DK for the contrast stripes, and actually ran out; the last stripe in this color is missing because of that. The grey yarn is some Berroco Ultra Alpaca from the bottom of my stash, and the fluffy Sandnes Garn Børstet Alpakka is something I haven't used before. I really love the contrast of the fluffy brushed alpaca to the smoother yarns! I knit the size M, and the fit is great! I like my hats to have a snug brim and then a looser body, so my hair doesn't get flattened.

Mycroft Test

Apparently, besides yarn, I've also started to hoard test knitting projects! Here's the Mycroft sweater, knit from a pattern by Isabell Kraemer. It's actually my first time knitting a pattern by Isabell. The pattern will be released for the Edinburgh Yarn Festival, and I can definitely recommend it! It's a very relaxing knit; apart from the beginning with the neck shaping and such, you barely have to refer to the pattern.

It's written for worsted weight yarn, and I decided to try out Cumbria by The Fibre Co. for the first time. I like the slightly fuzzy surface it creates, although I do have some issues with itching; I think I'll have to wear this with a long-sleeved shirt underneath. It is very warm, and I think it'll be great for wearing under my winter coat.

I'm also very happy with the fit! I knit size M1, although I think my sweater turned out with a slightly smaller bust measurement than intended. There is probably a couple of centimeters/ about one inch of positive ease.

I was slightly worried about having to knit full-length sleeves, considering I've had a pretty strong aversion to sleeve knitting in the past. However, it didn't turn out to be a problem at all, and I churned them out in no time! This makes me quite optimistic about knitting more sweaters with proper sleeves, instead of just trying to find patterns with minimal sleeve knitting involved!

Meet Me At Midnight

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The Meet Me At Midnight shawl pattern by Cheryl Faust was my first time test knitting for her, and actually my first time knitting any of her patterns! It's interesting to patterns from different designers back to back, because they all have their unique way of writing a pattern! While the finished product might be of similar construction than some other designer's shawl, for example, the way the pattern is constructed may be quite different.

The pattern is written for DK weight yarn, but because at the time of casting on in particular I was low on options in that weight range, I used a mixture of DK and sport weight yarns. The yellow-green is Tibetan DK by Martin's Lab, and it's absolutely heavenly! It's soft, shiny and drapy, my first time working with this yarn that I bought from their booth at a Finnish craft fair (Martin is the husband of the Polish designer Justyna Lorkowska). The speckled beige is La Bien Aimée Merino Sport and the dark brown is Wollmeise Blend. I think it worked out quite well that the mosaic sections are knit with slightly thinner yarns!

Almina

It's been a while since I've knit a shawl with yarn of heavier weight than sport. Eleven years, in fact. I was somewhat surprised to even find suitable yarn in my stash when sign-ups for the Almina shawl test knit opened! I was drawn to the distinctive look of the cables in this pattern, and was delighted to find out they were easier to knit than they look! The pattern is intuitive enough that you only need to glance at the instructions every once in a while, and it's a fairly relaxing knit. Adjusting the size is also very easy; instructions for that are included in the pattern. It's written for worsted or aran weight yarn, but considering the nature of the pattern, you could work this in any weight you want and get any size. I used madelinetosh Tosh Vintage in the colorway Charcoal for my shawl.

Sukka-Finlandia 2019: Elämän virta

I only finished the warm-up socks for Sukka-Finlandia after two actual competition patterns, so the warming up part may have been completely lost on me, but they did offer a nice amount of challenge, nevertheless! The Elämän virta socks based on a pattern by Tiina Kuu were written for sport weight yarn, but I decided to go with the largest size and fingering weight yarn since I don't own a lot of heavier weight sock yarn. I was a little worried the cables would pull in the fabric so much the usually OK stitch count of 60 would be too little, but they do fit, especially after some blocking! My sock knitting gauge is needle-bendingly tight, and with 2.5 mm needles and fingering weight yarn I tend to get 32 stitches per 10 cm/ 4 inches. I suppose I could go up in needle size, but 2.75 mm feels signifigantly bigger than 2.5 mm, and also the ChiaoGoo Twist Minis only go up to 2.5 mm, I think. After I've gotten used to that supple cable and pointy needle tips, I'm hesitant to go back to other sock needles.

Sukka-Finlandia 2019: Aave

The second pattern in the Sukka-Finlandia sock knitting competetion is Aave by Heidi Alander. While the pattern has both lace and cables, the back of the leg is plain stockinette, and the heel a bit more straight-forward than in Jean Next Door. It still took me longer to finish, but only because I was working on other things simultaneously. Due to my tight gauge, the socks turned out slightly more snug than I expected, but this will probably help keep them from turning sloppy. One thing I can't stand is loose socks!

Sukka-Finlandia 2019: Jean Next Door

It's my first time taking part in a knitting competition, and Jean Next Door is the first leg (heh heh) of the Finnish sock knitting competition Sukka-Finlandia, where the fastest wins it all. The first pattern is designed by Anna Johanna, and it's the most demanding sock pattern I've knit in a while, having been more drawn to vanilla socks or otherwise simpler patterns lately. With the cables in the leg I decided to go with the medium size, but decreased down to size small for the foot. Since I have no hope of winning a competition that's about speed, I didn't rush. Instead, I knit one extra pattern repeat on the leg, and I'm quite happy with the finished socks.

After submitting the socks to the competion I found out that after the first pair I'm in 117th place in a competition that probably has fewer than 200 participants. Reminds me of how every winter in elementary school I had to compete at cross-country skiing against the other girls in my class, and I barely made it to the top ten in a class of around ten girls. I think my personal best was 4th place on 1st class, and then it was all downhill (or uphill?) from there, never making it to the top three. You can probably tell physical education was not my favorite subject! Also, speed is not my thing, either, when it comes to motor skills any more complicated than walking. Even using a fork falls into the complicated category.

Saudade

Last week I finished my Saudade, a fair-isle hat pattern by Ysolda. I struggled a bit at finding the right color combination, and only the third try was something I was happy with. I used a combination of Brooklyn Tweed Loft and Jamieson's of Shetland Shetland Spindrift, including stash bought back in 2008 on a trip to the US! Thankfully yarn doesn't have an expiration date! Since my head is on the large size while my stranded knitting gauge tends to be a bit tight, I went with the largest size, and I'm glad I did. The ribbing is slightly loose, but the stranded section is just the right size. I've now been wearing the hat for a few days, and it's surprisingly warm despite the fingering weight yarn. I tend to prefer hats knit with heavier yarn, but the woolen spun yarn and colorwork probably help.

Afternoon in Lisbon

Yet another fantastic pattern from Lisa Hannes, Afternoon in Lisbon is a mosaic and garter stitch shawl I had the priviledge of test knitting. As is usual for her patterns, even the test versions are highly polished and well-written, and rarely have any remarkable errors. The pattern includes both charted and written instructions. I worked from the charts as is usually my preference, since it's a lot easier to visualize the pattern and figure out where you are in it.

I knit the original large size, but there are small and medium variations available for a more scarf like project. The length of the garter sections is customizeable, and after you've knit the first mosaic section you can calculate how long you can make the garter sections without running out of yarn. The shawl is knit from one end to the other, reversing the colors for the middle mosaic section.

I ended up using The Uncommon Thread Uncommon Everyday, which produced a shawl with excellent drape! I've never used this yarn before, and made a mental note that it's also one of the least splitty yarns I've worked with, and was very pleasant to knit.