ranunculus sweater | PDXKnitterati

I finished Ranunculus. It was such a quick knit, I decided to just forge on and see what would happen once it was off the needles. I knit the underarm to 8” including the twisted rib, using less than 3 50g/164 yard skeins of Quince & Co. Sparrow, less than 400 yards total. (This means you really could knit this with one skein of sock yarn!)

Here it is unblocked, fresh off the needles. It’s linen, so it’s pretty crunchy. 50” wide (matched the gauge, but it hasn’t been blocked).

And here it is blocked. The sleeves are no longer curly, and the fabric is somewhat smoother. But now the sweater is 46” wide, and the underarms are 10” long. Gravity always wins! It wanted to grow longer, and that length is stolen from the width.

You can see that it’s quite a bit longer, and longer than I want. I left a long tail so I’d be able to frog back and adjust. And look! Bisquee’s tail is in the picture, too.

I showed it to my friends, asking for advice on how long it should be. And then I decided to have Bev try it on; she’s much taller than I am.

It looks like it was meant for her, so I gave it to her! I have more of the same yarn, and it doesn’t take long to knit. I have a better idea of how long to knit it under the arms.

This is the project that I’ve lost interest in; I started it in 2022? maybe? I’m frogging it for the yarn. I don’t have enough to go further, since I used the last 3 skeins for the sweater above!

This has been a really fun knit, so I don’t mind doing it again. Part of what made it so much fun was an accidental mini-KAL with Annie, my test knitter extraordinaire. We were texting back and forth with progress updates. She knit hers with DK weight yarn.

She didn’t swatch either. It looks great on her! And she’s knitting another one in blue.

I was working on my second one in the car wash the other day. Totally fun!

Do you knit repeats? I’m also starting a second Luminos Tee, after I finish my second Ranunculus.

The pink is MadelineTosh Twist Light, Coquette Deux. I bought this color a while ago to go with something else but it didn’t work out. I went to my LYS to get a second skein, as well as this contrast color, but they’re out of the pink so I’m ordering online. I’m not worried about dye lots; I’ll start the second skein above the striping so it won’t matter if it’s not an exact match. The variegated is from Dream in Color.

Do you knit repeats? Why or why not? I like working off the knowledge I got from the first one, and tweaking things to perfection!

I finished my Luminos Tee. It looked great right off the needles, and even better after wet blocking. The size stayed the same, but the stitches and edges are smoother. I knew the size would be consistent, because I knit, washed, and blocked a swatch. That’s always good for a sweater that you want to fit!

A quick mirror selfie. Yarn is a kit from Knits All Done/Yarn Snob, merino/silk/cashmere. Luxurious!

Do I always knit, wash, and block swatches? Usually yes, for sweaters. But I’ve been eyeing the Ranunculus sweater, and I’m not sure it matters. The instructions are the same for all sizes through the yoke; the actual size is determined after knitting the yoke, when beginning the raglan shaping. You can use any weight yarn, and a size 10 needle is recommended. That’s all pretty loosey-goosey!

I wanted to play with some fingering weight linen that’s in my stash. Most of it is in an abandoned design project. There are 3 untouched skeins (50g/168 yards each), so I can play with what’s there without ripping the old project yet. This sweater takes 370 to 400 yards for the short sleeve version, so I’m covered!

It would make a very open and airy Ranunculus, to go over a tank top or sundress. I decided to jump in and start knitting; it’s just as easy as making a circular gauge swatch. I’ll have enough done when the yoke is finished to really figure out my gauge, and adjust accordingly. Because blocking is transformative for linen, I could put it on waste yarn and wash and block. Or not. The smallest size in this pattern gives me 10 inches of ease, so I’m not worried that it would be too small.