Pattern: Jean by Nadia Crétin-Léchenne
Yarn: Foxhill Farm Cormo DK
Needles: US 3 (3.25mm) and US 5 (3.75mm)
Ravelry Link: here!
Last year at Rhinebeck I fulfilled a dream of mine and bought a sweater quantity of Foxhill Farms Cormo DK in Moorit. Their booth caught my eye at my very first visit to the festival - they natural colored, breed-specific yarn from a small farm. The yarn is soft and beautiful and it makes you feel good to buy it. I went into the booth with a list of patterns I loved and was thrilled to find a great match.
Even though I knew that the yarn would make a cuddly, amazing version of this sweater, I thought it might have kind of mushy cables. It is closer to woolen than worsted and has 2 plies - neither of which are optimal features for crisp, clear cables. But this magical yarn made lovely cables and a super wearable sweater. This was not a festival show-stopper where strangers came up to me to comment on it, but I would bet it will be the sweater I wear the most this winter. It's easy to throw on with anything while being flattering.
The one change I would make is the bottom hem. On my garter stitch swatch, my row gauge was off, so I recalculated how long to make that strip. You can see it flares a little, I made it a bit too long. For the sleeves and the collar I had forgotten my gauge was off and knit them as written in the pattern and I am pleased with how they fit. I should go back and measure my gauge on the finished sweater to see if my swatch was off or if it was my math.
The other alteration I made from the pattern I love - the split neck at the collar. The suggested yarn is a wool/silk blend, while my yarn is 100% wool. I found that my collar stood straight up like a turtleneck when seamed, unlike the drapier cowl-like neck in the sample. I decided to undo all that kitchener and bind off instead and I really love the results.
Have you knit any understated beauties lately? Knit up a yarn you have long dreamed of working with? Tell me about it in the comments!