Meet the Opulent Raglan.
She's from the new Fall Knitscene, and I have fallen head over heels. Seriously, if I could take this sweater to Vegas and marry her, I would. I looked her up on Ravelry and cross-checked the yarn requirements with my stash, based on the listed yarn weights, and lo! A perfect match!
Lana Grossa Royal Tweed. Unfortunately, Ravelry lies. The suggested yarn, GGH Cumba, is an "aran/10-ply", at 150 yards per 50 grams. Royal tweed is also listed as an "aran/10-ply", but is only 110 yards per 50 grams, and has a suggested needle size a full two US sizes larger. Since the Raglan's suggested needle size is 6, and I was last swatching the Royal Tweed on 9s... I'm sorry, my pile of red loveliness, your time has not yet come. I will find a sweater for you someday, my dear, yes I will....
With the Royal Tweed a bust, I glanced at my stash again... and what's that?
This lovely Henry's Attic Peruvian Tweed crossed my path at Stitches West '08, and I couldn't leave it in that bin, soft, squishy, and oh-so-forlorn. After doing a little math, this yarn is only sliiiightly thicker than the Cumba (if grams per yard is any indication), so all that's left is to swatch and see if I can match gauge while creating a fabric I like. Note to self: WASH THE SWATCH. The alpaca will do funny things, and you know it, so just wash the damn thing. (On a related note: My birthday's in a couple weeks. Who wants to buy me a swift so I can turn these behemoths masquerading as skeins into neat little cakes?)
I'm terribly excited to start on this, as I think it's high time I knit a sweater for myself (and while I love Drops Alpaca, the gauge is so tiny that I'm hesitant to start a full sweater's worth of knitting before my size stabilizes). Thus, a deal with myself: I can swatch now, but I'm not allowed to cast on until I finish both the Stag Bag (half done, just need to knit the back, then sew a lining and strap) and the second Swirl Sock (had to rip back to below the heel to add an extra inch of length). Since the sock is maybe two hour's worth of work, if that, and the bag should be easy, if time-consuming, I think that's a more than reasonable goal... especially since I have something else on the needles that is keeping me distracted...
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