Paperdolls

This was a little knitting adventure that was love at first sight when I saw it in a book, Ten years in the Making by Kate Davies. I rarely knit with 4 ply for I am more of a speed merchant - you may have noticed - but the preamble at the front of my Kate Davies book was all about time; the joy of crafting a beautiful item that takes all your mindful time. 

I digested the sentiment of the prologue and started to look for a yarn to knit the short sleeved pullover Paperdolls. My favourite yarn is Drops. I had a ball of Drops flora in my basket left over from this Loki project so while mulling over the time/cost/want conundrum I knit up a gauge square in it. I am a loose knitter so the Flora 3ply yarn was spot on for the 4ply measurements. I then had to decide how badly I wanted the top to allow myself to knit an adult garment in 3 ply yarn...very badly it turns out.

I ordered a beige, coral and turquoise to start the pullover. The patterned rib is sluggish to knit but indulgent to look at when it is finished. The colour of the coral yarn was brighter than I expected so I used the turquoise for the dolls as the main focus and later added in some cream to lift and also limit the coral colour.

Because I am a loose knitter, I have quite loose floats at the back of my kitting which are ideal for the yoke which needs to be stretchy. It is sometimes hard to maintain consistent gauge knitting over your plain and stranded work but I get better every time.

I found the crucial round of joining the sleeves to the body extremely difficult. This is where I drafted in my bloke to read through the pattern with me. He can't read a pattern so he asks lots of annoying questions like, "Why do you do that?; What does this mean?; Surely you have the wrong amount on there and What are you actually aiming for?" In the end they are not annoying at all because they help me to see where I have gone wrong by exposing and scrutinising my every interpretation. He's good like that.

I wish I trusted my sizing more. I added rows to the body because Kate Davies knits are always short in the pictures but I am short in the body so why do I always add rows? I wish I had left it a bit more cropped, it is a little oversized for my perfect fit. You live and learn.

I wanted to wash it to let the stitches fall into place but with 65% wool and 35% alpaca yarn content, I felt dubious. Washing the gauge square on a 30 degree machine wash (with some tea towels)was a good experiment. The gentle machine handwash finished the feel of jumper really well and made the natural fibres bloom a little and fill the colourwork spaces. Washing also granted me time to block the hems for the best finish. Maybe I should try washing the gauge square on 40 degrees and see if I can get some gentle shrinkage to help with the overall sizing. Mmmmm....

I love my new pullover and the beginnings of some spring weather in which to wear it.

Thanks for dropping by. Jo xxxx