Mist.

Amelia (designed by Laura Chau) has been in the back of my mind since a trunk show by Sweet Georgia Yarns at Lettuce Knits in Toronto back in November. Also in the back of my mind was the idea that I would use some Cascade 220 from my stash to continue the stash-busting I have been able to accomplish lately …

Instead, I bought 5 skeins of Galway Heather in 1021 Mist. I actually only needed 4 – I have a full untouched 5th ball left.

Since we were in Toronto and I had not the following:

• Eucalan wash
• Scissors
• Gauge ruler

I decided I would just cast on. What is the worst that could happen? I have knit lots of sweaters, I know that my gauge is generally the same as the ball band unless it is a novelty yarn, and this is a straightforward worsted weight sweater.

The stress that this caused of not swatching (while yes, the sweater did work out) has resulted in me resolving never to not swatch again!

There were some happy accidents with this sweater:

• My gauge was too big on the 4.5mm needles that I bought (I had to buy needles since I didn’t have all my interchangeables with me and I didn’t want to buy more than one set).
• I cast on the wrong number of stitches (161 stitches instead of the 181 called for in the size 34” bust).
• I didn’t realise this until I reached the set-up row, 2 inches into the sweater.
• I really didn’t want to rip back.
• I measured the width of what I had and it measured more than 19” – much too wide for the 30” or 34” bust but perfect for the intended size of 38”. A little smaller than the 38” and a little bigger than the 34”.

It was all an accident. Thank goodness it worked out!

I used buttons from my stash of Fabricana buttons that I bought on sale years ago.

I made only three modifications – I followed the pattern and I love the results. The twisted rib acts beautifully as a shaping tool which meant the lack of increases and decreases resulted in super fast knitting. I cast this on Friday and cast off 9 days later. Garter is my favourite stitch – I love the simplicity of it – and paired with the twisted rib is perfect. I added 2 extra inches after the waist “shaping” and am glad I did. I also added 4 short rows prior to casting off as the back of the neck was too low. And lastly, I omitted the bell sleeves and cast of for an 8.5” cuff.

One last photo with a hint of something else I have been working on …

Can you guess? I have been inspired by msmodiste’s latest work …