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Rogue
Pattern: Rogue by Girl From Auntie
Yarn: Bartlett Yarns Rangely in Blueberry from KPixie (and Kristen. Thanks! )
Needles: Addi’s (oh how I love thee) size 7 and a variety of lengths, but we’ll get to that later.
For: Me! Er….and the 2006 Knitting Olympics.
Notes:
1. I do love this yarn. I love it’s rustic feel, it’s rustic look, it’s damned-near bullet-proof nature. I would NOT, however, recommend this yarn for this pattern. Yes, even though it really shows off the cables beautifully. Why? Mainly because it just seems a tad too stiff and too heavy for this pattern. It was tough to get gauge without creating a fabric truly too dense for normal wear. My wrists really felt this knit, and not in a good way. The one caveat I’ll make here is that this stuff changes quite dramatically when washed, so it’s possible that the key to successfully/happily using it in this application might be to wash the hanks first and THEN knit with it. Maybe.
2. I love this pattern, without any hesitation. It’s beautiful. It’s clever. It’s practical. It’s extraordinarily detailed, meaning that anyone can make it. In a different yarn, I believe I would have made this almost exactly as written, complete with hood. Notice how I say almost?
3. Armholes/Armscythes, whatever they’re called…did anyone ELSE end up with gargantuan armholes when knitting the pattern exactly as written? I certainly did. It’s not enough to bug me, but it does definitely affect the fit of the finished sweater. So be forewarned. Of course, a bazillion other people have knit this thing and I didn’t see anything about the armholes in my brief searches, so it’s more than possible that it was just my knitting. Note to self, pay attention to the armhole measurements in the diagrams. Er….and what exactly ARE my measurements in this area? Knitter, measure thyself.
4. Kangaroo pouch. Um…no thank you. I don’t think it requires much imagination to understand why a girl might not want EXTRA fabric around her midsection. Not everyone has these concerns, I know, but that’s just the last damned thing I’ll ever need. Except maybe horizontal stripes….actually, I’m pretty certain THAT’S the absolute last thing I’ll ever need. The tummy pouch is just a close second.
5. The hem flare issue. There was no way that I was going to be able to do the smaller-needle-twisted-stitch-facing that Jenna calls for (see #1 re: very stiff yarn), so I knew going in that there was a high risk of hem flare. As you can no doubt see in the first shot, there is definitely flaring. I’m going to give it a little time to see if it continues to BUG THE EVER LIVING SHIT out of me, and if it does, I’m just going to have to cut off the facing, pick up the stitches (with washed yarn, maybe? For softness?) and try again.