At long, long last Vivian is finished!
Details, for those who have (understandably) forgotten since I cast on for this in, oh, January?
Pattern: Vivan by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: New Lanark Pure Wool Aran, colourway Bramble
Mods: My mods were the reason it took me so long to finish! I decided that the sleeves for the size 34 were way too tight, so I knit the sleeves for the size 40. I then couldn’t figure out how to join the sleeves and body, so put it away for several months. When I came back to it the solution seemed obvious – I worked the pattern for the size 34 when I was on “body” stitches, and followed the instructions for the size 40 when I was on the “sleeve” stitches. I made the yoke longer (as per the size 40 instructions) until I’d decreased down to the right number of stitches for the size 34 shoulders.
Oh, and I also couldn’t figure out how to kitchener in seed stitch, so I just grafted the hood together using normal kitchener – it left a bit of a line down the middle, but not as obvious as a seam would look on a “normal” hoodie. I was going to make the hood bigger, as many on Ravelry have done, but I ran out of yarn (to the extent where I had to unravel both my swatches).
I like the result – yes, the sleeves are a little baggy and not how the pattern was supposed to look, but I can roll them up to do the washing up!
The colour in the above photo is most accurate, but I think this photo of the back shows off the beautiful shaping:
Not so long ago I bought my first Posh Yarn – a merino/silk 4-ply in a colourway that looked very pink onscreen, but turned out to be more of a pinky purple. But I’m not complaining about the addition of more purple to my wardrobe! After frogging my Laminaria shawl due to the ladder on one side of the central stitch on the star chart, I cast on again and managed to eliminate the problem simply by pulling the middle three stitches tight. I made the small “shoulderette” size, and it’s just perfect to wear as a scarf:
It also works rather well slung over one shoulder:
And it even works as a shawl (in fact, I wore it last night over my black and purple polka dot dress for a wedding reception).
I’ve really got the lace bug now. After my Print O’ the Wave, which took me 2 months, I wanted a break. But I whipped up the second “draft” of this shawl in a fortnight (ok, so it is a lot smaller than Print O’ the Wave, but it’s also more wearable). I also want to make a pair of Veyla mitts to out of the leftover Posh Yarn to go with the Laminaria.
Yesterday I bought a yellow felt handbag (it’s an Emily bag from Earth Squared). Yellow is a whole new colour for me (to wear, anyway) and I stumbled onto it accidentally when I bought a yellow top thinking it was green (the shop lights were deceiving). I decided that I needed a scarf to go with the handbag (as you do) and spotted some yellow laceweight on the Posh Yarn website. I forgot about the Posh Yarn sale, and didn’t log on till nearly 7.30. But the yellow was one of the few colourways that were left, so I nabbed a skein of that.
However, before I can cast on anything else for myself I promised my sister a sweater! Which I have already swatched for, but then I had a tidying spree and put the needles away. So I’ll have to take an educated guess as to what size I used…
Oh, those are both lovely! Vivian is gorgeous, and really suits you, and I think I might have to add Laminaria to my list of shawls and scarves to knit (they’re the perfect way to use a skein of sock yarn that’s too pretty to be hidden in shoes, and I like wearing them for warmth anyway!).
It’s beautiful, Helen, and fits you really well – I am sure it was worth the pain!
The purple is fab and I love the shaping on Vivian. You’ve also helped convince me that my current blanket-knitting phase needs to be followed by some lace.
[...] have also just ordered Whimsical Little Knits 2, because I have been living in my Laminaria shawl and I desperately want a pair of Veyla mitts to go with it! But they will have to wait while [...]
They both look amazing. I’ve been eyeing up Vivian for ages, but I’m not sure I’m the right shape for it – it looks great on you. The purples on both these are really lovely. On my Laminaria, I got rid of the huge centre holes by picking up yarn from the previous row, rather than doing a yarn over.
This is beautiful work.