I've been wanting to move my blog away from Blogspot for a while but could never be bothered to actually do it. This week was the tipping point though, and I've now fully migrated over to https://patsypoomakes.wordpress.com/ . The blogspot address will remain here but all new posts will only appear at https://patsypoomakes.wordpress.com/ . There are lots of reasons for the move but my biggest one is how hard Blogger has made it for people to subscribe to receive new posts via email. It's such a basic requirement but apparently, they think it's too much to offer. I'm basing this purely on how I myself prefer to consume this stuff. I can't be arsed with feed readers anymore and emails are easy and convenient. When I receive one, if I fancy reading it, I will click through to it and, if not, I'll just delete it. Another reason is the spat between Google (owners of Blogger) and Instagram/Facebook/Meta. I don't even know if this is still the case anymore ...
Now that the whirlwind of hosting visitors has ended, I can share my newest jumper: the Whitmoor sweater by Ami Lowden.
Holy moly did I get obsessed with this jumper! It started in early January when I logged in to Ravelry to update The Weekender jumper I had finally finished and I found the Whitmoor in my cart. I had no recollection of ever adding it or even seeing it before, but there are a couple of people in my Instagram feed who have made it or talked about it at some point, so I guess that's where it stemmed from.
Once I had a proper look at it, it was love at first sight. I think the bishop sleeves did it for me and the lace yoke just sealed the deal. I immediately bought the pattern and ordered some yarn to knit it. I couldn't wait to get started. It's not a secret I'm a huge fan of King Cole Merino blend 4-ply. I've used all weights in their merino blend collection: they're great quality, there's a good range of colours and they're super affordable. So I ordered some of that in white (001) and also some Drops Kid Silk in off-white (01).
I started knitting as soon as my delivery arrived on the 11th of January. In no time at all I was done with the yoke and then it was just mindless knitting all the way down. I have nothing but great things to say about the pattern. The size range is inclusive and the instructions are great. I made the XS size, which fits a 33" bust with about 5" of ease. I knitted it exactly as instructed since my tension was spot on. I considered adding a bit of length but thankfully I didn't have enough yarn. It gained a little length after blocking and I should've thought of that because my swatch was blocked as well and also grew, obviously. Here is my Ravelry page for it with all quantities and needles I used.
One thing to note, however, is that there is no mention of how to slip the 2 stitches when working the central double decrease, which forms the "spine" of the leaf pattern. The abbreviation list only says "slip 2 stitches, knit 1, pass both slipped stitches over". It should specify that you need to slip them TOGETHER, AS IF TO KNIT. It doesn't look right otherwise.
I had never held yarn double before but I'm a convert. The combination of the mohair with the merino is so incredibly luxurious. This is probably the fanciest, snuggliest thing I've ever made. The mohair is so fine it's almost like knitting with cobwebs - in a nice way though, not a gross-eeewww-spiders-everywhere way. 🕷🕸 Wearing the jumper is like wearing a cloud! Absurd as that may sound, I will admit that the mohair felt a little bit itchy around my neck when I tried it on before finishing it. But I soaked the jumper in some vinegar and a bit of hair conditioner when it was ready for blocking and that helped a lot.
Can we talk about those bishop sleeves for a moment? Aren't they amazing? I can't get enough of them! And obviously, they're much less trouble to knit than regular sleeves as you don't have to keep worrying about decreases every so often. You only do it once. The fullness is concentrated at the top of your wrist as well, which is a lovely bit of attention to detail by the pattern designer.
This was my first knit from Ami Lowden but it's definitely not the last. There's another jumper I've got my eye on and she's about to release another one, inspired by something Selena Gomez wore in Only Murders in the Building. I really want to make that one, too!
I'm so pleased with my Whitmoor jumper. I can't believe how fast it came to life. Once I started it, I gave myself the challenge of having it ready before my best friend and her husband came to stay with us from Brasil so I could wear it on my birthday. These photos were taken on that day. It's the fastest garment I've ever knitted (13 days from start to finish) and it rekindled my knitting motivation, for which I'm very grateful. I've already finished a quick hat for my friend and have 2 hats and a pair of bed socks planned out for me.