Bye-Bye Tegna

Posted on July 10, 2024 by Deborah Cooke

Tegna is a pullover designed by Caitlin Hunter – that’s the pattern picture on the right, which is linked to the Ravelry page.

I cast this on with Koigu KPPPM in colourway is 534 a long, long time ago, but this week, this story had its resolution.

The pattern is unusual in ways I didn’t anticipate.

First off, every size sets up with an odd number of repeats in the lace pattern at the hem. My size requires a cast-on of 340 stitches which means (20 sts per repeat) 17 repeats of the pattern at the hem. So, the front and the back will be different and the side seams – there technically aren’t any, but there is a midpoint on the side to divide for the armhole – will be in the midst of a pattern repeat. I knew this would drive me nuts, so I cast on 320 stitches, putting me between sizes. This way there are 16 repeats, which is 8 for the front and 8 for the back, a change that gives me joy.

You might remember this pic of my Tegna on the needles after I completed the lace hem. I really wasn’t loving this colourway or its inclination to pool, so I began to switch between three skeins for the plain stockinette body.

Caitlin Hunter's Tegna knit by Deborah Cooke in Koigu KPPPM

The biggest issue is that I thought the t-shirt had an a-line shape, but it doesn’t. There are decreases over the lace – I decreased from 340 stitches to 224 – but then the body of the sweater is knit straight to the underarms. So, it’s actually more like a straight shirt with a frill on the bottom.

Here’s the schematic from the pattern:

It’s also intended to be a cropped sweater, but that’s not for me. I knit three inches more before dividing for the underarms. This is when I began to really doubt my pattern choice.

When you split the work for the underarms, the instructions are to add stitches at each side, front and back, for several rows after the split is made. I’m not sure why this would be, as it’s already got a dropped shoulder. I knit this and frogged it back. (On Ravelry, some knitters say this made a little bulge at the underarm. Hmm.)

I don’t love sweaters with dropped shoulders as I feel they look frumpy on me. Instead, I had a look at my gauge and stitch counts, and dug out my Hebrides cardigan pattern. The needle and gauge is the same. I’ve used those decreases to convert this sweater to having a fitted shoulder.

I would need to use the sleeve pattern from Hebrides to figure out a sleeve for this modified Tegna, so that the sleeve cap fits into the shoulder. I could start just below the cast-off for the underarm in the Hebrides pattern. I could go with a plain sleeve that is more-or-less fitted, or put the lace on the hem so it flutters a bit more. I was thinking this would result in a swingy top with a fluttery hem.

At this point, I’d made enough changes that I began to doubt the outcome. Plus, the sweater looked small. Here it is, fresh off the needles with the back done.

What’s interesting is that switching skeins didn’t seem to avoid the pooling of the colours – each skein more or less lined up, light and dark, with the others, creating the swirl. That’s either a strange coincidence or some kind of magic.

I gave it a soak at this point and blocked it out to check the sizing after all my mods. It did stretch, as Koigu does, and you can see the lace pattern better even though I didn’t block it hard.

And here it is with a t-shirt that fits me well, for comparison.

It is a straight t-shirt with a frilly hem. I decided to chalk this up to experience and frog it.

I also have the pattern for Latitude, which is a swingy sweater with stripes. This Koigu might end up there, maybe alternating with a solid-ish dark blue that I have in my stash.

I’ve thought for a while that I might like Latitude, but without the long sleeves. Just with fronts and backs, it ends up with a kind of short sleeve. I’ll wind up this Koigu, have a look for that blue and think about casting on.

Tegna Pullover

Posted on July 21, 2023 by Deborah Cooke

Tegna is a pullover designed by Caitlin Hunter. here’s the pattern picture – it looks like a lovely summer top, doesn’t it? I’ve linked the picture to the Ravelry page.

I cast this on with Koigu KPPPM bought at the tent sale last summer. The colourway is 534.

My “hmmm” comes from the colour of the yarn not the pattern. I’m just not sure I love it.

I’ve finished the lacy hem bit and am alternating between three skeins as I knit in the round.

Here it is, all bunched up on the needles:

Here’s the yarn in the skein – the top row are all the same colourway, but you can see the variation between them. I started with the lighter ones – this top is knit bottom-up – and will shift into the darker ones near the shoulders. I think that will be more flattering, but we’ll see.

I suspect I had a fear of pooling, which was why I stopped. I’m going to carry on with this one and hope for the best. If it pools into a spiral, it’s going to be frogged!

And this year at the tent sale, I’m going to look for colourways that are closer to solid like those navy ones at the bottom left.

That’s the end of my on-the-needles review. Now I need to get knitting!

The Koigu Tent Sale 2022

Posted on August 24, 2022 by Deborah Cooke

We took a little road trip last week and went to the tent sale at the Koigu farm. This annual event has been on hiatus thanks to the pandemic, and I was really excited that it happened this year again. Here’s an old picture of the Koigu barn, taken the first year we went to the tent sale:

Of course, I bought some (more) KPPPM home. 🙂 I have such a hard time choosing from the array of colours at this sale, but here’s this year’s selection:

The top seven are all the same colour and dye lot. They’re a little less blue than they look here, more pinky-lavender. I’ve already balled one up and cast on a Tegna. I’ll show you that when I’ve made more progress than just casting on.

The blue at the bottom left is insurance yarn for my Halo jacket. (That’s the Ravelry link for the pattern. Here’s my previous post about mine.) I think I’m going to run out of the KPPPM blue before I get to the cuffs. (Yes, I’m knitting faster, just in case.) That’s not a huge surprise as I’m a bit short on the yarn requirements.

This jacket has an interesting construction – it’s knit sideways, starting at one side. You knit across the back and around to the centre front, then go back to the cast-on edge and knit to the other front. Then you pick up the stitches from the shoulder to knit down each sleeve to the cuff. I love the feel of the KPPPM knit with Rowan Kidsilk Haze – it’s a wonderfully squishy soft sweater. When I started the sleeves, I had two skeins of KPPPM left, so one for each sleeve, then (maybe) some of this other blue at the cuff.

Here’s my progress on Halo so far:

Halo knit in Koigu KPPPM and Rowan Kidsilk Hazze by Deborah Cooke

The other four skeins that I bought at the tent sale are just pretty. They’re more earth-toned than they look here, russet and brown with some green. Three are the same colourway and I chose the dark one because it coordinated. I think they’ll be a shawl, probably another Charlotte’s Web. The one I made for Nikoo used four skeins and it was a nice size, even without the fringe.

I hope they have the tent sale again next year. By then, I might have more of my Koigu stash knit up.

Another Navelli

Posted on August 26, 2020 by Deborah Cooke

I liked the Navelli pattern so well that I decided to knit a second one. This one is in MadTosh Merino Light.

The plan was to use up some of my stash. (Don’t laugh.) I chose both Spicewood and Red Phoenix, and put them with some leftover Malabrigo Sock in black. (I’d used it for my Gates of Moria mitts.) I like the Spicewood with the black for the fair isle, but I was less happy with the Red Phoenix. It looked a bit pink with the Spicewood. I visited a LYS (a new one for me) that stocks MadTosh Merino Light and it was obvious that the Cardinal was a much better choice.

This was also when the Simmer Pot jumped into my hands, insisting that I take it home. It goes with the Red Phoenix, and both of them have ended up in my Spector. I don’t mind the Spicewood and the Red Phoenix together in that one because they’re not right up against each other. The first blog post on that sweater was last week, and it’s right here. So, the skein of Spicewood came out of the stash, and the two skeins of Cardinal were added. One skein of Red Phoenix and the other of Spicewood came out of the stash for Spector, along with the skein of Saffron, but the Simmer Pot was added. That’s four skeins out of the stash and three added. Not exactly a win, is it?!

I think my teal Navelli is a bit too wide and too short, too, so I cast on a smaller size this time and I’m knitting an extra two inches before splitting for the arms. It’s possible that I’ll frog the first one and reknit it if I like the fit of this one better.

Here’s my progress so far: Navelli knit in MadTosh Merino Light by Deborah Cooke

Navelli – Finished!

Posted on March 18, 2020 by Deborah Cooke

It’s done! Here’s my finished Navelli:

Navelli knit in Koigu KPPPM and Shibui Sock by Deborah Cooke There are some previous posts about this sweater – Navelli is the main post, which talks about the challenges (and shortcomings) of my first choice of yarn colour; Update on Navelli is about my progress in the new main colour.

I didn’t knit the sleeves as specified. They’re supposed to have essentially a contrast facing – mine would have been purple – but instead I did five rows of 1/1 ribbing in purple and cast them off.

I made the fifth size, which gives me 11″ of positive ease. (The pattern suggests 4 – 15″ of positive ease.) It is a fun boxy fit, but I’m narrow in the shoulders. After blocking, I felt that I was losing the sweater, so I frogged back and changed the neck to be the smallest size. That made the shoulder seam a little bigger, but it’s a more comfortable fit.

This is a better shot of the colours.

Koigu KPPM I had been a little concerned that the fair isle section was narrower than the body of the sweater, even though I knit it on larger needles. That was all fixed in the blocking. My gauge is dead-on with this one – it’s EXACTLY the measurements of the schematic. Ha.

I love this sweater so much that I want to cast on another one. I dipped into the stash over the weekend and discovered some Madeline Tosh Merino Light, in Red Phoenix and Spicewood, plus Malabrigo Sock in black. I think I’ll go down a size and cast on the fourth size, but I’ll keep the neck in the smallest size. I have a plan, but I want to finish another project that’s already on the needls before I cast on a new sweater…we’ll see how that plan goes!

Update on Navelli

Posted on February 19, 2020 by Deborah Cooke

I feel as if I’ve knit this sweater three or four times, all due to knitter error, but it’s finally coming off the needles. Navelli is a short sleeved boxy pullover. I started knitting it last summer. There are two blog posts about it already: Navelli, Nightshift and Audrey, and Navelli in Koigu. I had initially started with a handpaint for the body of the sweater, which pooled in a way I didn’t like. I switched out to a more tonal handpaint, which I liked better. Then I messed up my row counts a couple of times, did a lot of frogging and reknitting, and now, the body is off the needles. Here it is! Navelli in Koigu KPPPM and Shibui Knits Sock knit by Deborah Cooke It’s very boxy and short. I’m surprised by how much I like the look of it on, since I’m a bit boxy and short! In a way, I want it longer, but I think it’s most flattering if that fair isle band is at the waist. The neckline is softer than I’d feared it would be – boat necks sometimes can be too tight, but this one is perfect. I’m not in love with the blue in the fair isle band, but I’ve made my peace with it.

It still needs sleeves – the pattern has short cuffed ones with ribbed edging. I think I’ll make mine shorter, since there’s already a lot of drape there, and will do the ribbing in the same purple as the hem. That’s the Shibui Knits Sock.

I do love the colours of the Koigu in the body. Here’s a close-up that shows the colours well if a bit darker than IRL: Koigu KPPM I’m starting to feel as if this one will be done in time for spring!

Navelli in Koigu

Posted on October 4, 2019 by Deborah Cooke

I’ve been knitting a sweater, too, and even though it’s not done, I wanted to show it to you. The pattern is called Navelli (that’s a Ravelry link) and it’s designed by Caitlin Hunter. I’ve never knit a cropped wide sweater before (or worn one) but I really like this design. I’ve also been admiring sweaters lately that use a variegated or gradient dyed yarn along with solids in fair isle work. When I found several skeins of a really pretty colourway at the Koigu tent sale, I wanted to work with that.

The colourway that started me off is P528, a mix of teal and pink and blues, even with a bit of purple.

I found one contrast colour at Koigu: a teal in KPM, 5513. It looks kettle dyed, in that there’s variation in the tone, but not additional colours. There was only one skein so it had to take the place of the light pink in the original pattern.

When I got home and checked the stash, I discovered that I had three skeins of Shibui Knits Sock in purple. It was a perfect match, so that became my “brown”. The variegated colourway is my main colour for the body of the sweater. (This yarn is discontinued. I’d bought it originally to knit these opera gloves from Vogue Knitting Winter 2008/2009. Since then, I’ve realized that I’m unlikely to ever wear long knitted gloves, so the yarn has aged in the stash. It’s good to see it being put to work.)

Here is my Navelli before I split for the underarms:

The variegated yarn is a bit more emphatic than I’d expected. The tips of the fair isle in the purple kind of disappear into the pattern of the yarn, but what really surprised me was the pooling—and the big swirl. It looks a bit like the way hard candy swirls – like this image to the right. (That’s a stock image with its watermark intact.) The left lollipop really looks like this sweater to me!

The strange thing is that I am knitting from alternate skeins (two rows from one, then two rows from the other) which should (theoretically) break up any pooling. This yarn, though, is determined to pool. I wondered what would happen when I split the sweater for the underarms – with half as many stitches being worked, I thought maybe the swirl would break up. It did, but it’s worse:

It’s actually making vertical blobs now. Ugh. That decided it. The patterning in the yarn is distracting from the fair isle – and I think it’s ugly. I’m going to frog back to the fair isle and reknit the stockinette with the colour that’s in the skeins at the top. It’s closer to a semi-solid than a variegated yarn, so should pattern like my Koigu Lunenberg. There’s purple in this colourway, too, but the blue in the fair isle might end up looking a bit off. I think it’s in there, but it’s not the dominant blue. This gives me a chance to make another measure of my gauge – it looks like I might need to stay on the smaller needles for the plain stockinette as well as the fair isle.

R-r-r-r-r-r-r-rip it! I’m sad to do this, especially as I bought this variegated colourway specifically for this sweater, but that’s the way it goes.

Here’s my project page on Ravelry.

Navelli, Nightshift and Audrey

Posted on September 25, 2019 by Deborah Cooke

I didn’t post about my knitting last week, because I didn’t have anything finished to show you. I’m knitting along on some projects that are taking a while. So, let’s have a progress report today.

You might remember that I was going to frog the stockinette of my Navelli because I didn’t like the way the variegated colourway was pooling. Well, I have a sweater-quantity of a semi-solid Koigu in my stash, and since it’s a generous sweater quantity, I borrowed four skeins from that to use for my Navelli. This colour is working out much better – here it is:

The trick is that now I don’t love the blue in the fair isle section. It matched perfectly with the variegated colourway and is okay with this one. I’m not frogging back again. Que sera sera.

I’ve also been knitting away on my Nightshift shawl in Koigu KPPPM. I showed you the beginning of it here. My plan is to include the red – leftover from my Lunenberg cardigan – as one colour in each stripe. Here’s where I am now:

At this point, I’ve started the sixth repeat of the 20-row pattern sequence. (I’m calling a 20-row repeat a stripe.) The first one has a red background and the lightest purple as contrast. The second repeat has the lightest purple as the background and the red as the contrast colour. The third repeat has the darkest purple as the background and the red as the contrast. The fourth repeat has the middle purple as background with the red as the contrast. The fifth repeat has the red in the background again, and the first purple as the contrast. The sixth repeat (which I’ve just started) has the red in the background and the darkest purple as contrast. It is interesting how the purples, which look so different from each other, are difficult to distinguish from each other once they’re knitted up with the red.

I like this pattern a lot. It’s clever (it has i-cord binding on both edges that is knitted as you go_ and the pattern is easy to memorize. It’s a great way to use up different colourways in the same yarn, which means I’ll probably knit another one (or two).

I’ve also started to spend some time on my Audrey cardigan, which has been waiting on its sleeves for a while. Not only is it a cable pattern, but the dark purple means I need to knit it in daylight to see what the heck I’m doing. I have to have an hour in the afternoon of a sunny day, which doesn’t happen that often. The yarn is fuzzy and sheds – I keep it wrapped in a teatowel, which I spread on my lap when I’m working on it – and it makes my nose tickle a little. (It’s an angora blend, called Rowan Angora Haze. It’s also discontinued.) Here are the sleeves so far:

This yarn is so fuzzy that the camera didn’t know where to focus! The stitch pattern was reasonably easy to memorize but it’s not TV knitting. I put it aside because I thought the sleeves were too wide. I still think they are, even though I’m knitting a smaller size of sleeve. I’ll make them bracelet length and hope that does the trick.

I never showed you the body finished and assembled. Here it is, although I’m not convinced about the buttons yet. They’re a bit sparkly for me – that one is still on the button card.

I think my next project needs to be with thicker yarn!

I also went to the Woodstock Fleece Festival last weekend with a friend, which was a nice yarny fix. It was a beautiful fall day and there were so many vendors with wonderful yarn and fleece. Temptation was everywhere! In the end, I only bought two skeins of yarn – some sock yarn from an indie dyer and a skein of Spin Cycle Yarns Dream State, which I’ve been wanting to squish for a while. It’s actually the specified yarn for Nightshift. I’ll use this skein as the contrast colour on the yoke of a sweater I’m planning – the pattern is Fern & Feather (that’s a Ravelry link) and that ball of purple on the right will be the background colour.

Phew! Lots of purple on my needles. What have you been knitting lately?

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