pepperknit

I’d been very, very afraid that the Tivoli was going to be too small again. And I knew that it was time to try it on, sort of a now-or-never moment. And yay! Fits perfectly. Comfortably. It’s the bestest.

As I mentioned, I’m in love with the structure of the USMP from the current Inteweave Knits. I was doing some blog-trolling this afternoon (what else have I been doing today) and I came across the knitalong.

Ai yuh, the gauge issues people are having! And here I blithely ordered myself some KnitPicks alpaca this afternoon (Sunset for the main color, Woods for the accent), noting that the suggested gauge of the yarn was a little off, but figuring I’m a tight enough knitter that it won’t be a huge problem. Only time will tell, I suppose. The shipment of yarn will likely arrive this week. Unlike many of those in the kal, though, I am not afraid of knitting on tiny needles (2s or 3s). In fact, I almost prefer it. Admittedly, it will mean that the sweater will take ages to complete, but it’s nice to have an ongoing project, right?

The few finished sweaters that appear on the kal don’t have the same crispness that the piece in the magazine has–I wonder how that could be accomplished? I didn’t want to compromise on the material (100% alpaca) because I figured it would be really nice to knit something that was soft enough to easily wear against my skin.

I also am considering not doing the foldover bit and instead making two backs and joining them. Or, maybe, working the front slightly lower in the neck so that it doesn’t choke me, but keep the feel the same. My other hope is that if my gauge is off–producing a too-large piece–that instead of making drastic adjustments to the pattern, I can simply make it in the smallest size the pattern calls for.

I’m making great strides on the Tivoli. I’ve just finished the shaping decreases:
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And am about to start in on my 2.5 inches of knitting straight. As I said yesterday, I decided to do a hybrid of the two patterns, casting on 144 stitches instead of 136 but proceeding until I had 240 sts, just as in the pattern. So I have a slightly larger neckline and slightly narrower straps.

I’m using size 5 Addi Turbos and Knit Picks Shine–my gauge is approximately 24st/4 in. The size 4s gave me 25st/4in, and size 6s would have made the knit too open. I am liking the way this looks, and think it’ll be fine. (Fingers crossed.)

It is SO bright outside, the cream color is washed out and shadows are heightened.