So honored to be doing my first test for the talented Jennifer Steingass. Her stranded, circular yoke designs are unsurpassed. My pullover turned out gorgeous. I matched gauge exactly, and the fit is perfect. I could not be happier with it.

I use Tatyana’s (Heavenlyclassy on Ravelry) technique for knitting with two colors as shown in this video. Note that this method only works when knitting in the round.

Even though I bought all the same dye lot of the Knit Picks yarn, one skein of the speckle varied greatly from the rest. Therefore, I saved it for part of the sleeves (colorwork part) because it was much lighter. The dark green tonal yarn (CC) tends to show through the very light color, making it look less light than it actually is. I didn’t alternate skeins on the body, but I did alternate on the sleeves, using the lightest color on every 3rd round. The Stroll Fingering is slightly heavier than the Hawthorne. The latter has a very high twist, so it barely needs any blocking. The knitted fabric has a very nice drape using the size 4 US needle. Although it’s 80% wool, it’s not a “sticky” yarn due to the high twist.

Measurements:

Pullover length - 13.25” from underarm (12” + 1.375” ribbing = 13.25” total length)

The width of the sweater was per the pattern measurements for my size because I matched gauge exactly.

Needles:

Size 1 US - Bottom Ribbing
Size 3 US - Neckline and sleeve cuff i-cord bind-off
Size 5 US - All colorwork
Size 4 US - Everything else

What I did differently:

• I did Japanese short rows rather than German. I think Japanese method is more invisible.

• I tried doing the lower ribbing per the pattern instructions using 1 size smaller needle. It looked sloppy - perhaps due to the high twist in this yarn. Therefore, I frogged it and used a little trick that usually works great for me:

Using size 1 US needle, I did a “set-up round”, increasing 1 stitch (LLR - Lifted right leaning inc) every 6th stitch. This resulted in an increase of 42 sts in total (210 + 42 = 252 sts for the bottom ribbing). I then did the 1 x 1 ribbing per the pattern instructions using the much smaller needle. I bound off using size 0 US needle and Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-off. I made the ribbing a little wider (1.375”) to prevent it from rolling which is often a problem with narrower ribbing. My adjustments to the ribbing resulted in a very neat looking finish to the bottom edge without too much “pulling in.” I like my sweaters to hang fairly straight rather than blouse at the bottom.

• I did the sleeve cuff i-cord bind-off like this, except that I did 2-stitch rather than the 3-stitch which is shown in the video.

When doing stranded colorwork, I hold the contrast (dominant) color in my left hand.(to make sure it’s on top).

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