Last week I showed you some tape (or chainette) yarn I was working with. Today, the finished object.
I made a second Obsidian (Ravelry link) by Lisa Mutch (designer’s site) – size four this time. The tape yarn was sold as 4 ply and I got exact gauge with it for this fingering weight pattern on 3.75mm needles. Absolute result.
The pattern starts by knitting a certain length with 6mm needles, much bigger than the yarn needs, for a drapy cowl. This is the part where I found that I needed to stretch the knitting before measuring – it stretched out beautifully and did not spring back at all. So for a loose gauge project this might be a hindrance. On this occasion it just meant I had enough cowl to use as a hood if I ever want to look a bit like a mediaeval knight.
The yarn is black, though does have a blue look in some of the photos. Off the needles, the back seam was very hilly – a brief steam sorted that out once it was washed. I didn’t find much growth in the body after washing and light steaming, but the cowl grew another three inches – good to know if I ever want a project that’ll grow significantly.
Just like last time I made the sweater, I lost my place with the seam so there’s a jog in it near the hem. I only lost it once, though, and it won’t be noticable in the black yarn. I can barely tell the front from the back, never mind notice something wrong with it.
I described the yarn as crisp, which I stand by. It’s not snuggly soft but it is comfy to wear and drapes nicely. It’s fitted, but not tight. I made up my own sleeves (the pattern is for a 1/2 sleeve) and they’re completely fitted to the wrist, but they’ll also stretch to go over a long sleeved tee. So even though the yarn wasn’t bouncy, it doesn’t make a stiff fabric.
I think the above shows the nice stitch definition as well as the drape of the cowl. As shown in my last post, it does split if you catch it with the tip of your needle, but I didn’t find it as challenging as I find 100% cotton. I actually look forward to using it again and luckily, I have plenty of it…
After I finished making this jumper, I weighed it so I could update my stash spreadsheet. It weighs 425g. I thought, ‘Something doesn’t add up here. That cone was supposed to be 500g and there’s tons left.’ And I was right – the cone must have been a whole kilo to start with – it was sold as 500g so this was an extreme bargain. This also means I have more yarn in stash than I thought (boo) but does not detract from my excellent work in using up 2.5kg so far this year (yay!).
And that is how I justified buying 500g of new yarn this week.
I saw a pattern I was excited about and the next thing you know, I’d ordered up enough to make it. It will also use up a few hundred yards of stash so it’s a win/win. More about it in the coming weeks!
The Crafty Yarnster 