As I feared, I’m not 100% sold on my colors. Surprisingly, it isn’t the green that I now want to reevaluate, though, it is the black. The black is a very gorgeous “true” black, with no heathered tones, and against the other shades it looks just so….dark. I’m now considering switching out the black for light brown, and using the green either as the main color (body), or one of the secondary main colors. This means more swatching (and actually paying closer attention to gauge!), which I’m happy to do in the coming days.
Courtney’s swatch was quite successful. Knit on the recommended needle, the US 9 (5.5 mm), her unblocked gauge (shown here) is a little loose, but she has plans to wash the sweater in the machine (on the wool cycle) for a final gauge check, as that is how she plans on treating her finished sweater. She’s feeling good about her colors, and once she confirms her gauge, she’ll be well on her way!
Meghan’s Swatch:
Meghan’s swatch, on US 8 (5 mm) needles, is a little small, so she needs to go up a size to the recommended 9 (5.5 mm) and try again. Other than that, she’s happy with her (unique to her) color choices!
Garment Size and Modification Plans:
We spent some time this morning in the office trying on the sample Troyggja Við Mynstur from Kris at Navia in order to pick our size. The pattern (now expanded) comes in 35.25 (38.5, 41.5, 46.5, 49.5, 52.75, 56)”, and the sample we have is the second size, the 38.5”. In addition to having the Navia sample, Courtney also recently finished her Sweater With Stars. She knit the 41.5”, so it was incredibly helpful to try that one on as well!
The three of us are shaped quite differently, and even though the 38.5” technically fits, we’ve all decided to knit the third size, the 41.5”. Meghan, the most busty of the three of us, found the 38.5” to be too tight in the yoke and needed more balance in the proportions of the sweater. Courtney isn’t as busty, but she and Meghan often wear the same size, so she, too, needed a little more ease. I am the least busty of the three, but also found the 38.5” to not have enough ease for the fit I am going for. I do worry, though, that the arms will be too baggy, so I am going to knit the 35.5” or 38.5” arms and the 41.5” bust. All three of us plan to shorten both the body and sleeves by at least 3”, and I am definitely going to add short row shaping to raise the back neck.
Its worth noting, too, that while it was fortuitous that we had both samples at our fingertips, we still could have made an informed decision about sizing by looking in our closets and finding sweaters with similar construction and sizing to give us an idea of what the fit would be - so don’t think this is a special option that only we have!
Next week, we’ll talk a little bit more in depth about working with Navia Tradition, and some of the unique properties of the yarn that make it both so warm and light. And, we’ll see what the washing machine did to Courtney’s swatch!
We’d love to see your progress in the knitalong if you choose to participate, so don’t forget to follow us on Instagram at KelbourneWoolens, Navia at NaviaFaroeIslands, and use the hashtags #KWNaviaKAL and #kelbournewoolens.