Pattern: Vaila from Twist Collective Winter 08
Yarn: Malabrigo Merino in buscando azul, 5 skeins
Needles: US 8
Notes: Ah winter… the enemy of the knitblogger. I apologize for the lack of quality pictures here, but it gets dark at 5pm lately, long before my photographer makes it home!
Knitting Vaila nearly broke my spirit to knit, I have to tell you. I picked a pattern that had lots of purling, knitting in the round, knitting bottom up, lace… you name the thing I don’t like, it had it. I made a bunch of mistakes in the lace, but I don’t think you can tell – by the time I got to the yoke I just wanted to be finished, so I probably wasn’t careful enough.
The sleeves were tough. I tried knitting them inside out (loose gauge) and then tried purling them (enormous ladders.) Finally I knit them on the Bond knitting machine, which seems to have worked out fine. In the picture above you can see comparisons between the machine and hand knitting after blocking. The machine knitting is still alittle tighter looking and has a few vertical lines in it. It also feels a little stiffer than the body. You can’t tell a difference at all from the knit side though, so I would consider the experience a success.
I knit the sleeves shorter than the pattern called for, and they are still plenty long. I also knit the turtleneck far shorter than the pattern – I knit 35 rows instead of 78. I was concerned about looking like I didn’t have a neck. I’m happy with it the way it is.
After I finished, I realized I had forgotten to hold the body stitches to graft, so there was some fudging going on, as well as some unintended ease in the bust. I also did not do the special cast on, and I knit the ribbing on the same size needles as the body to avoid any flare at the widest part of the body. I also added shaping to the body, making it hourglass shaped rather than A shaped, again because I was concerned about it being flattering around the hips.
Overall I am pleased with the result, if not totally certain it was worth the aggravation. It fits well, and it is warm and soft. I’m not so much a pullover person, but occasionally it’s nice to knit one up. And I am very thankful for my new machine, without which I am quite certain this would have become an eternal UFO.
Green apples - Stitchywitch Creates 
It’s so lovely! That blue! I’m adding this to my Ravelry queue!
How beautiful! I love the color, and the shaping you added is very flattering. I do think I’ll stay away from knitting it myself, though — all that purling and no Bond knitting machine in sight at my house.
What a beautiful job you did on the sweater. Love the color. It looks really good on you. Sometimes, I guess, the most trying projects become our favorites. You’ll appreciate your patience every time you wear it.
This is gorgeous!! I love the way it looks and the hourglass shaping is perfect. Someday I hope to be as skilled! 🙂
Beautiful! It looks great on you, and even if it gave you some trouble, it was a learning experience 🙂
This sweater looks really lovely on you. The colour is gorgeous.
The sweater looks beautiful on you.
Beautiful! That’s a great color on you!
I love it! I love it! I love it! Makes me wanna make it myself!
The color is amazing on you, and it’s a worthy FO. Even with all the trouble you had, you zipped this thing out fast (although I know the machine is partly to thank for that)! It really looks amazing.
It’s beautiful! The color is great on you!
it looks beautiful. all that rev st makes me want to die inside, though.
just a tip: for winter photoshoots, i bought a few compact fluorescent “daylight” bulbs and it approximates natural light fairly well. i use a floor lamp in addition to the overhead lights, so at least two.
Wow! it is gorgeous! I’m so glad that you finished it, it is so flattering on you!
The sweater looks great! Despite the challenges, you prevailed in the end. The color is gorgeous on you.
Love that vibrant blue!
Love it!
I have to say I’m not a big fan of the seams that resulted on this sweater, but you did an amazing job on the machine and the sweater is fabulous! The colour looks gorgeous on you and the fit is so flattering!
It looks heavenly, and i really like the shaping you did for the waist. I’m about to start the Vaila myself and would like to avoid some of the pouchy middles I’ve seen on Ravelry. Any hints on how you did the shaping?