Regular readers may recognise this wool. I have knitted it up 3 times now. It seems to becoming a habit with me to knit something and then not like it and unravel it all and start again. Even the number 3 seems to be recurring as it is not the first time that I have had 3 attempts at knitting something. But this time I’m happy, so I think it will be another case of third time lucky.
This is the first time that I’ve knitted anything with short rows. The sleeves are shaped with short rows by knitting out from the armhole. The internet is a wonderful thing though. I found good instructions with lots of photos for how to knit them.
I thought I would have enough wool but I ran out before I had done the sleeves. Another wonderful aspect of the internet. I was able to find someone on eBay selling off remaining stock, which was pretty amazing as I first bought the wool in January 2007. I liked the shrug I knitted the second time round but it was a little too flouncy for my taste and got even flouncier with wear. The pattern I was using was really for chunkier wool with fewer stitches and the increased number of stitches led to the increase in flounce.
The wool is Lana Grossa Soffice which is 62% Extrafine Merino/28% Acrylic/10% Cashmere. It is beautifully light and wonderfully warm. The nice thing with the new pattern is that it keeps the shoulders and the top of the arms warm. I tend to feel the cold there these days