I get what Tin Can Knits is trying to evoke with the name they gave this design. It is soft mohair, delicate lace, and a quick jot of a project. When I wanted something special to bring to the Knitting in the Hills Retreat in March, I set aside my gift knitting for a week and chose to make a Love Note for myself.
Like the really good love note, there's a little risk involved in the composition. If you only repeat the same old things and play it safe with your thoughts, it's not likely it will make it into the rumpled box of letters in the back of the closet. So I took a chance on my own behalf and used mohair held with fingering weight for the first time on a sweater. I know, it's like a warm hug and you've all done it, but I live in a warmer climate and have never wanted to gamble on it before. Risks for love, my friends.
And like the best of letters, I let the inspiration hit me on the spur of the moment, beginning it with only ten days until the retreat and sacrificing a little sleep while making it for someone I love.
The result was one of my favorite makes to date. It is the perfect combination of color, fiber, and style to be a gift to myself. One of the big gifts being that I didn't have to knit full sleeves or body in stockinette. That's fortunate because I only had two skeins of the fingering weight Fern base. And it was dry at exactly the time I would need to be wearing it to head to the retreat.
Are you bored with my letter writing analogy yet? Okay, here are the details:
I knit a size medium, at a slightly tighter gauge ( 4.5 stitches, 7 rows per inch) using sizes US 5 and 8 needles. It only required 2 skeins of the Fern base from Chasing Rabbits Fiber, but I did use every but of it. I did have quite a bit left over from my 2 skeins of Gossamer silk/mohair lace weight. Both yarns were in the Wildwood colorway.
I did knit the body to the longer size indicated in the pattern, but it is still very cropped due to my gauge difference. I made my sleeves a longer 3/4 length, also.
What I loved about this knit: The yarn!!! I also loved the lace yoke and how clear the motif is even with the mohair yarn. It's just the right amount of intricate. I also like the cropped high/lo hem.
So do I feel special because I made something luxe for myself? Um, yeah! I needed a little boost. It is laying folded in the cherished sweater wardrobe waiting for next Fall. This isn't like some crumpled napkin note...and I'm back to making something special for someone else :)
More on Love Note can be found on My So-Called HandMade Life Podcast episode 46, which talks about the retreat, and Episode 47.
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