Finishing Kerrera (by Gudrun Johnston) was a bit of a marathon but well worth it! I heart this sweater although I was sweating through the photo shoot because it is so warm.
I started this on 5.5mm circs in size 36.5” bust but frogged and started over on 5.00mm circs in size 34.5” bust. I realized after washing and drying my swatch that the fabric would stretch quite a bit if I continued on the 5.5mm. I have to admit, it did stretch quite a bit as it is but in some ways, it’s appropriate since it’s more of a coat than a sweater.
In the end, my row gauge was still larger than the pattern, which led to significant changes in the yoke and armhole shaping. I had to re-calculate the armholes based on the pattern – which worked well because if I hadn’t changed anything, the sweater would have been enormous.
My row gauge was 4.5 rows per inch – the pattern is 6 rows per inch (just to give you an idea). That row and a half starts to really add up as you work the pattern which I learned making Audrey in Unst. The end result was 49 picked up stitches for each sleeve, so I didn’t do any decreases.
I also ran out of yarn for the long sleeves! The yarn I used is Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Snickerdoodle. I love the colour – natural but not boring and no need to dye it. Since Knit Picks doesn’t seem to carry this particular colour anymore, I settled for the shorter sleeves but I actually like the shorter sleeves, especially since it doesn’t get that cold here in the winter and often we don’t need the heaviest sweaters – I think it worked out well.
The hood is slightly oversized since I didn’t make any changes based on the different gauge. I often wear toques in the winter and wanted to be able to fit the hood over top – I think it worked out well :)
Lastly, I added a fourth toggle button while I was weaving in the ends – I think it closes a little more nicely for me. I found them at Dressew in downtown Vancouver (I was also quite naughty and picked up some yarn but more about that later) and at 25 cents each, I am not complaining!
Overall, I am really happy with this sweater – it turned out very well. I am not completely happy with how the pockets sewed up – I really need to practice seaming. For my first pockets, though, I am pretty okay with them (washing and blocking helps a lot).
I am currently working on Manu – I am hoping to have it finished sometime this month. I have been working on it since March … I think it’s time it got some quality time and was finished! I hope you are finishing up projects that you are equally happy with!
-r.