FO: Dawn

Pattern: Dawn by Kim Hargreaves from Breeze

Yarn: Rowan Handknit cotton in ecru, 5 balls

Needles: US 2 and 3

Notes: I bought the yarn to knit Dawn when I first got the book Breeze.  I swatched the stitch pattern, but I wasn’t feeling up to that many P2tog’s so I put it aside.  I found the yarn during a clean out, and decided it was time to give the pattern a try!

I have mixed feelings about this sweater.  There are a few things I would definitely do differently if I knit it again.   The stitch pattern is very hard to swatch accurately – it stretches, and it also opens up on blocking.  By the time I made it to the back, I felt that it was turning out a little big, so I switched to smaller needles to tighten it up.  That worked pretty well, though it would have been better to start smaller.  The other thing I would do differently involved the neck edging.  I would knit the whole thing separately, slipping the first stitch on the garter stitch to make a neater edge.  It’s partially knit separately and sewed on, but it needs smaller needles than the body the whole way.  Same with the sleeve cuffs – they are looser than I would like, but I do have skinny arms.  Dolman sleeves are not the best for  me, but since they are short they work pretty well.

This is a very useful sweater – can you believe I’ve never made a white sweater before?  I’m sure I will wear it often!  It was super overcast this weekend – I apologize for the lack of great photos!