This is the first of a few posts I have on garments I’ve completed in the last six months. Weather and busy-ness were my two greatest conspirators, unfortunately, so in the end we shot everything you’ll see in the next few days all at once. In hindsight this, too, was unfortunate, as how and where it is styled have a subtle but strong impact in the finished photo. Anyway, let’s start with Amelia
Pattern: Amelia from last Winter’s Knitty.
Size: 34″ knitted on larger needles to come somewhere between 34″ and 38″.
Yarn: Brown Sheep Nature Spun Worsted, 4 balls and a bit from This is Knit. I bought six and so am delighted I will have plenty for a hat and mittens or perhaps even a vest. Actually, that gives me a great idea..
Needles: 5mm Knitpicks circular for the whole garment. I used slightly larger needles because I knit the 34″ size and wanted it to come out between the 34″ and 38″. I know that different needle sizes are suggested for different parts of the pattern. Going by the fact that I got gauge (for what I wanted) with 5mm, I knitted the basque with a 5.5mm needle. This was a mistake, even though it turned out fine. Garter stitch spreads a lot and I think the finished basque would have been that little bit firmer had I gone with the 5mm. I knit the cuffs on the sleeves as well as the rest of the sleeves and body on 5mm.
Buttons were cheap-o ones from Trimmings on the quays but do the job and to me, are the perfect colour. They are slightly blue and so bring more blue tones out of the purple yarn. The only modifications I made were to start the button holes immediately after the garter stitch basque instead of waiting until halfway up the body. On my shape, this made a vast improvement.
All in all, it was a straight forward pattern and with the aran weight yarn, a very quick knit. The ribbing across the fronts and back mean that it’s flattering to different shapes (especially if you extend button holes, I think). I suppose the only thing I would warn against is to make an educated decision on using a bigger needle for the garter stitch sections. Mine tends to be quite loose, but everyone is different and you should probably choose your needle size accordingly.