I’ve finally done it, I have picked a project (and a main color) for the Spincycle yarn I got in December! Our knitting guild is doing a knit along this year where we all make a sweater, but we are all choosing our own pattern, so I thought it would be appropriate to choose a pattern that utilized the yarn I was given at our December guild gift exchange. After scouring Ravelry for patterns that I liked I decided on one, The Secret Garden by Spring Stitch Knits. It isn’t available for purchase on Ravelry, but I was able to find it on Etsy after a bit of searching. The pattern is a top down circular yoke that is steeked down the center. I’ve gone through the pattern and will be making a few changes which I will talk about here.
So, let’s talk color. The Pattern calls for the main color as well as 3 contrast colors. I am not very fond of there being 4 colors in total. The darkest contrast color in the pattern image (it looks black to me, but I could be wrong) doesn’t feel like it fits for the colors I want to use, so I will either turn that into more main color, or use both of the contrast colors for that section.
My main color is the one pictured in the lower right of the photo. It is 100% superwash merino in the colorway espresso and is the K+C brand. This one is labeled as a weight 2 yarn, but it looks a bit more of a DK. We’ll see how it swatches, but I don’t think there will be any issue with me meeting gauge. The contrast color I will use in the leafy vine sections of the cardigan will be the light lavender pictured to the left in the photo. It’s a hand dyed 2-ply sport weight yarn by Bella Yarn in Humboldt, Ca. The colorway is Lavender Fields and it is made up of 70% Organic Merino and 30% hemp fiber. It has a wonderful feel and the color is a perfect whisper of purple. The final contrast color will be the Spincycle yarn pictured in the photo. I have two skeins of their Dyed in the Wool base, which is 100% superwash sport weight wool and the colorway is The Saddest Place. The Spincycle will go where the cream colored yarn is in the pattern photo. I am really excited to see how it knits up, this is my first time using anything by Spincycle.
As far as other changes to the pattern, there are a few things I want to do differently. First, there is some waist shaping done that I’m not sure I want to include. I tend to prefer more of a boxy sweater, unless it’s long, in which case I would add hip shaping, but not anything in the waist. Another change is that I am not very find of the contrast stitching visible on the sleeves, hem and the button bands. I don’t want anything drawing attention to those areas with how much detail there is in the yoke of the sweater, so I’m omitting them. The only other change I might make is to the hem. I think I might want to make it an inch or so longer, but I’ll revisit that idea as I get closer to finishing.
I plan to start this sweater in late February, so let me know if you have any thoughts to what I have planned out!