And it is a.................

Shalom!

So KnittingNix, Julie and Sarah, you win the Ravelry Geek award, and Dawn and Karisma, well, you had a guess..... ;)

This has been a lovely, speedy knit, despite the poor picture doing it a great injustice. I'm certain Emma will like it, a feeling backed by both her big little sisters. I still need to block it and find a button I like, but I just wanted to share with you after keeping it a very shortlived secret.

I used exactly 2.5 skeins of the Sirdar Denim Chunky so I had plenty left despite the initial worries. No idea why I thought it would use a lot more, maybe because it's a chunky and I didn't counter in that no sleeves meant a good two skein saving? The yarn suggests 6.5mm needles whereas the pattern asks for 7mm so as I knit slightly under tension much of the time I decided to go with the 7mm. Having finished I think I should have gone with the 6.5mm as the knit is fairly loose, although not loose enough to be a problem. Also I think I would have preferred it with buttons down the ribbed yoke rather than just one at the neck but then Emma will probably prefer it this way. When I was working down the main body I began to think that sleeves would be kind of nice too but I had already cast off the arm openings so I didn't want to go back and start messing about, although I guess it would have been simple enough..... Again I know Emma likes layering short sleeves over long so she should be happy with sleeveless.

So it's blocking now and waiting for it's nice big button to be stitched in place, rather than that knitpro that's currently holding it together.

Would I knit another? Definitely yes. But if for me then with the mods already mentioned.

Technical details:

Pattern - Shalom, found on Ravelry

Yarn - Sirdar Denim Chunky 2.5 skeins

Needles - one 7mm circular

Size - pattern states 34" bust I think, I would say this came out around a large 10/12.

Difficulty - simple. Top down, worked in one piece, some mid-row cast ons, a few simple psso decreases and make one increases,  but basically stocking stitch, garter stitch and twisted rib.

Adjustments - I shortened the body by stopping at the penultimate increase row and then starting the garter stitch border. The pattern states this was designed for a 6' tall woman and Emma is only 5'2" and she likes her cardi's to be on the shorter side anyway. Having said that even if I had worked exactly to the pattern it wouldn't have been much longer, maybe only just on the hips anyway?

So there we have it - mystery knit revealed, now back to the scarf......or the socks......or maybe something using that lovely KnitPicks yarn I received last week?

-x-