Menokreatikkul; Saturday Stitches

In the last week of April, I was working away at the yarn Mac1 wanted made up into a sleeveless sweater/tanktop/vest... (what do you call it?)

The variegated yarn is 80% Merino and 20% Polyamide. It was part of the Temu haul I made a couple of years back, and came in hanks. Winding it took some effort, but it was worth it. There is still some to go...

The trunk of the item I worked on circular needles, before switching to straight pins for the split of the armholes and upper part. I did find a pattern of the sort of shaping that she fancied, but being me, I didn't follow it! I did use it as a guide for stitch count and dimension, but beyond that, I did my thaaang of 'let's find out'. Remember, I'm an adventuress, and I'm not afraid to retrace my steps if a wrong turn is taken.

Thankfully, I only had to frog two separate rows, and they were when I switched to the straight pins, and, therefore, having to do purl rows after 28 cm of just knit stitches. A couple of times I forgot, so had to retrace. No biggie. Blame the riveting snooker matches of the World Championship!

The smaller, single-colour contrast yarn is slightly metallic in sheen and is made of 80% Polyamide, 10% Acrylic, and 10% Merino. It not only adds a break in the busyness of the variegated, but also adds a slight textural variation, which is rather pleasing. Getting started and the first dozen rows were the most challenging part. I worked on it roughly four hours per day for six days... so about 28-30 hours.

By some miracle, I had it pretty much finished on Friday night, so when The Macs turned up last Saturday, the recipient could give us a poser shot! (All that's left to do is finish off the neckline and block it to straighten out the seams, but it will be ready for the next time Mac1 and I get together.) Anyway, here it is, my first ever use of circular needles, in knitting, which I am only just re-finding, and making up the pattern as I go along.