The Return of the Experimental Sweater

Once upon a time, there was a scarf.

It was a soft gray, handspun Shetland scarf with a cable panel that repeated over its length, and it was a lovely accessory (“Tilly”, from A Fine Fleece).

But somehow when I finished it, the scarf didn’t seem to be done. It struck me as a big shawl collar with no sweater attached. So I set about building the sweater onto it. The cabled shawl collar needed a  generous, swingy sweater that would enfold its wearer in wool.

I picked up stitches along its edge and knit raglan shaping that curved the scarf around into a shawl collar. I started with a silvery blue Cotswold-Ramboullet X wool as an accent, and then turned to a dark and silvery LincolnX for the bulk of the project.

The LincolnX ran out about the time that I finished the fronts and the back down to the shoulderblades.

It was at this point that I made the tragic miscalculation. I chose a yarn that was too heavy, and knit on. I was so anxious to finish and wear the garment that I knit on blindly and with great enthusiasm, disregarding my gut feeling that the garment was architecturally unsound.

I actually finished all of the (considerable amount of) knitting before I realized the magnitude of the mistake. It was too heavy on the bottom. No amount of fudging after the fact was gonna fix that. It hung like a wet towel.

I put it away for a while. I could not quite face the sweater for some months.

But I am not one to leave projects unfinished, so finally I summoned the strength to do the necessary ripping out.

Then I set about spinning a new batch of Border Leicester (2 ply this time). And I took another run at it.

Now, at long last, I am very pleased to introduce the Experimental Sweater. (please disregard the background clutter)

Many thanks to the gray Shetland scarf who made this adventure possible.