Lea the First

I finally finished up the Lea sweater (pattern by Marzena Kolaczek), which I started in mid-November. This one's actually not for me; it's the largest gifted knit I've done so far, which was a bit nerve-wracking. The recipient picked the pattern out of several that I recommended -- but I'd fallen in love with it, too, and ended up buying a different yarn to make one for myself! So I'll be knitting this pattern again, though I think I'll take a bit of a break first; the idea of knitting two of the same sweater in quick succession doesn't really appeal to me.

The shoulders don't look quite right on a dress form, but you get the idea!

The yarn is a beautiful baby alpaca and silk blend, Bremont "Carmen" in Olive. I signed up for a one-month membership to Bluprint through Swagbucks (referral link), because I ended up making money off the deal. They happened to run a super clearance sale on their Bremont yarns, and I stocked up -- the six skeins I bought for this sweater would have been $75 at regular price, and they ended up costing less than $15 with the sale/coupon. So I suppose I ended up spending money rather than making it... but I'm quite pleased with the yarns and the projects they'll become (I was at least wise enough to make sure I had a specific project for each yarn).

My Bremont "haul"

I had to restart the yoke once or twice, due to sizing issues -- for some reason, it seemed too small when knit with the recommended needle size. Did I swatch, you ask? Of course not! That would be far too sensible. Anyway, once I figured out the yoke sizing, everything moved along pretty smoothly. I do love the leafy lace pattern. . 

Overall, this was a lovely sweater to knit, and fingers crossed that it suits its new owner both in size and style!


Raveled here.