Sweet Love Note success

I finished knitting my Love Note sweater the other night. I would have finished sooner, but I couldn’t decide how long I wanted my sleeves. I finished them several times.

I didn’t enjoy knitting the sleeves using magic loop; I’m not sure why not. Maybe because I had a 40” cable, and it might have been more comfortable with a longer cable or 2 circulars? With coronavirus lockdowns, it would have taken longer than I wanted to get more needles, so I just slogged on.

The pattern has the sleeves ending just below the elbow, but that made everything congregate visually around my waist. No thank you! I tried 3/4 length (mid-forearm) but DH said it just looked like my sleeves were too short. I eventually settled on bracelet length, ending above my wristbone, not quite full length. Short sleeves might have worked, too, but I wasn’t going to rip them all the way back; those sleeves were hard earned.

I finished at 1 a.m. Then I put it on, and ended up reading ‘til 2 a.m. because I didn’t want to take it off to go to bed. I think that’s a win!

Calvin and I took careful measurements because I wanted to wet block it and still have it be exactly the same size when it was done. Superwash yarn is notoriously stretchy when wet, but in my experience it generally bounces back to the same size when dry. You just have to not freak out when you see how big it grows when wet!

I didn’t make a real swatch for this sweater, but I started it 3 times, which means I really made two huge swatches before knitting this sweater. I didn’t wash and block a swatch though, so I didn’t really know how it would turn out, although I could make an educated guess. Do as I say, not as I do! As long as you’re willing to live with the consequences, it’s knitter’s choice.

I definitely got familiar with the fabric on different sized needles! I used a US 9 for the upper body and lace, a US 10 for the stockinette body and sleeves, a US 8 for the bottom ribbing and sleeve ribbing, and a US 7 for the neck because it was above the US 9 lace. A US 8 probably would have been fine for the neck; I just didn’t think of it.

It was nice enough to block outdoors, so I took full advantage. And it did stretch when wet. I patted it carefully into approximately the right size. It was about an inch longer than I wanted, but it did bounce back perfectly when dry. Whew!

Finished sweater is 40” around for 3” of ease; I was knitting the 41.5” size. No hi-low hem, just cropped. I love the way it fits; the recommended 7” of ease would have been ridiculous on me. I take patterns as a general suggestion, a starting point for negotiation. This is a great pattern by Tin Can Knits.

The mohair makes the lace a bit fuzzy, but it’s pretty anyway. Now I have to find something to wear it with. I’m glad I found a project for these two retreat souvenir yarns!

I’m almost finished with Minerva; soon I’ll have nothing on the needles again. But I have a couple ideas…

Are you feeling more productive with social/physical distancing, or less? I was feeling pretty scattered for a few weeks. I could manage tasks that were already planned out, like knitting something designed by someone else, or even designed by me that was already on the needles, or making videos for Minerva, or sewing face masks, or baking from recipes. But I couldn’t wrap my head around something that requires a big burst of creativity, like designing something new.

I hope that finishing these projects will give me enough head space to spark creativity. If not, I could always knit…another Love Note. In DK. Yes, I love it that much.