Tag Archives: navelli

The Final Navelli

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I finally finished my teal Navelli, and it’s actually the season I could wear it!

You might remember that this top (which has been a cursed project) was a bit too short for my liking. Here it is alongside the red version of Navelli that I knit (and love):

Two Navelli knit by Deborah Cooke

I had knit the teal one first, in a larger size. I thought it was done and blogged about it here. For the red one, I went down a size, then discovered that I’d measured incorrectly while knitting the teal one. Here’s the post on the red one. I wasn’t really looking forward to ripping out the sleeves, neck and top of the sweater to fix it. It sat for a while, then I had an idea.

I picked out a row below the split for the sleeves at the underarm, putting the live stitches from the lower part of the sweater on one needle and the bottom loops from the live stitches on the top of the sweater on another. I knit two more inches onto the bottom of the sweater, then grafted the two pieces back together. The grafting took ages because of the number of stitches, but I kept reminding myself that I hadn’t had to reknit the top of the sweater.

Here’s the result:

Finished Navelli by Deborah Cooke

In this picture, you can see the newly knitted band. I wasn’t sure whether there was a difference in colour between skeins (it’s all the same dye lot, but Koigu sometimes varies anyway) or whether it would vanish when the sweater is washed. Those stitches look crisper and more tightly twisted than the rest. It turned out to be a bit of both – the stitches relaxed so they look like the ones that had already been washed, but there is a teensy bit of colour difference due to variation within the dye lot. There are a couple of lighter zones on the back and the front, but overall, I’m happy.

This one is FINALLY done!

Another Finished Navelli

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I finally finished my second Navelli. Even though it’s not blocked yet and the ends need to be sewn in, I wanted to show it to you. I love it so much!

Navelli knit by Deborah Cooke in MadTosh Merino Light

The yarn is MadTosh Merino Light in Cardinal and Spicewood. The black is some Malabrigo Sock I had in my stash. This one fits more closely than my first Navelli, which is very boxy.

For contrast, I put them side by side – here they are:

Two Navelli knit by Deborah Cooke

The neck is a little higher on the red one so I must have done something differently. (?)

I don’t wear the teal Navelli, even though I love the colours. I thought it was too wide, but actually, it’s too short. I kind of like how loose and boxy it is. So, my current plan is to pick up the stitches all the way around just below the underarms, on two needles, take out a row to split the garment, knit two inches of teal, then graft it to the top of the sweater. I think I’ll wear the teal one then, and I won’t have to frog the sleeves and top.

If I make a third one of these (!!) I think I’d knit it between the two sizes. That would make for an odd number of repeats on the border pattern, which might be weird. I have to think about that.

In the meantime, I’ll make the teal one longer.

In other sad knitting news, I had to frog a top-down pullover. I’d knit eight inches of body, took it off the needles to check the fit (for the third time) and discovered it was way too big. Just a teeny bit off guage, but it added up. Off to frog pond.

What do you think of my new Navelli?

Another Navelli

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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!

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

Navelli knit in Koigu KPPPM and Shibui Sock by Deborah CookeThere 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 KPPMI 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

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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 CookeIt’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 KPPMI’m starting to feel as if this one will be done in time for spring!