Wray

The Wray is complete, and, miracle of miracles, it's cool enough to wear it today!

Wray (mine ravelled here),

knit in Knitpicks Alpaca Cloud, Smoke Heather colorway

Knitting a sweater in laceweight is hardcore and slightly badass... well, as badass as something can be with tiny flower buttons. I wouldn't want to do it for every sweater, but it certainly makes for a lovely drape.

There is so. much. ribbing. Breathe through it. It will make the fit very forgiving if, like me, you didn't get anywhere close to gauge on your swatch. I blocked the swatch, measured, calculated, measured again, looked at it with my head cocked at different angles, and finally took a deep breath, chose the size that corresponds to the pants I wear, and hoped for the best. Clearly, this should have bitten me on the ass. It did not. I assume this has something to do with karma, and I'm not going to look at it closely at all. (I'm also going to try to not make a habit of it.)

Twee buttons! I love 'em.

I only made two changes. First, I added a fifth button on the front after a friend warned me about button placement and saggy boobs. I'm not sure I have big enough boobs where this could be a problem, but it doesn't hurt to put another button on there to be sure.

Second, I added 10 rounds to each sleeve. I love the pleat, but I think the sleeve needed a bit more length for me.

A note: The bind off is a pain. I'm not convinced at all that it shows as a picot bind off. However, I decided that the hem was going to need as much weight as it could get to hang correctly, and the fussy bind off provided enough yarn to do just that. For that reason, I'd probably do it again even though it made me die a little inside.

Today is the first day I've worn this, but I'm falling in love with it. I think it's really flattering (although a bit shed-y), and the fabric is soft enough I've been petting myself periodically. I'm really glad I sucked it up and powered through.*

(By the way? Socks feel really fast after this.)

*I feel I need to say this: I know I knit this in less than a month, and that in no way qualifies as a long knit. I get it. But I knit on this A LOT. A lot a lot. Really, a startling amount when you consider I have a job and a partner and am unable to sit in a rocking chair on the porch of a mountain cabin with my knitting all day. I'm glad I did it, but now I've been reading fluffy mysteries in my free time and enjoying not knitting laceweight.