02Oct09: This sweater is uber-delicate, a real joy to wear, and surprisingly warm. Except I found out very soon that any kind of friction on kidsilk haze can really work up pills and dangerous wearing out… Saw this after only one wear out (around the fanny area!, oops). It’s not something you would necessarily realize, seeing as most kidsilk haze is used for wraps and shawls, a.k.a. no fanny/sitting action. So ladies, be careful where you wear this!

You can see that I opted to stop before the turtleneck. I found that it looks floppy on the model in the pattern and has a way-too-ruffled edge that seems like it flips up constantly. I loved the refined look of the crew-neck collar. I didn’t even have to pick up stitches to clean up the cast-off. Where there were gaps in the cast-off from shaping the neckline, I simply took the loose ends and weaved them in a braided fashion around the neck, going in, out and through what I had weaved in. I’m very pleased with the results, and it is a quite strong edge.

Funny thing I don’t understand, my second sleeve was much shorter than the first, as if I had knitted it on drastically different needles… did I? I simply extended it with more repeats, but not even the most eagle-eyed knitter would notice. In fact, this fluke worked out for me, as I was unhappy with the first sleeve being too poofy at the shoulder, while the second was perfect. The fix? To re-knit only the sleeve cap of the first sleeve with the needles I had used for the smaller sleeve (which were size 6 for sure, but for all I know I used size 8 for the rest). Perfect. So, use this tip for the future if your sleeve caps turn out to big: go down in needle size for a slimmer fit!

The pictures are taken at 2400m (in grassy plains above the tree line) and 2855m (i.e. eerie, not unlike the surface of the moon!!) in Arolla, Switzerland. The arrow is the Matterhorn, for those of you interested in mountain trivia. And yes, that was a serious hike, and no, I didn’t wear the sweater on the way up… =)

15Apr09: I fell in love with this sweater, and guxxw gave me as a WONDERFUL GIFT this unreleased color of kidsilk haze that she won from Jeanette’s Rare Yarns. Did you read that right? SHE GAVE ME THIS YARN. Isn’t she fantastic? The color and texture is like a fuzzy wuzzy chick, just hatched! I plan to look like one when I wear it. Peep peep.