FO on Saturday

Still damp but done!

I finished my July Camp Loopy project just in the nick of time! It was a battle right to the end and just to make it extra exciting I tried a new to me bind off that I really ended up liking a lot.

The pattern is Derecho by Alison Green. It’s a top down short sleeve pullover with patterned yoke. The pattern is available on the Berroco Yarn website linked above. The yarn is Universal Yarn Bamboo Pop in brambles. The yarn is 50% cotton and 50% rayon from bamboo. It is machine washable but they recommend drying it flat not in a dryer.

The pattern was easy to follow and didn’t leave me questioning anything. It includes waist shaping and short rows at both the neck and in the bottom tails. I used German short rows which are now my favorite. There are many videos on YouTube to get you acquainted with this method. I used this one by Purl Soho. I did end up going with the waist shaping. As you can see by the photo it is fairly minimal and just flattering enough.

The yarn is soft to the touch and has a bit of weight to it like silk. When I soaked the sweater for blocking (which I didn’t pin because it didn’t seem to need it) it let go of a good bit of dye. The water had a heavy tinge of pink. I rinsed it three or four times and there was still a hint of dye in the water. I wasn’t sure what to use to set the dye where this is cotton/bamboo so I’ll just hand wash it after wearing until it no longer let’s go of dye.

I tried it on before soaking it and it fit pretty well. I suspect it stretched when I soaked it and only came back a bit to size. The yarn is very heavy when wet and pulls out of shape easily. I suspect the sweater will stretch with wear but I’ll let you know on that.

I’m a little disappointed at how large the yarn overs turned out. I pulled them tightly but they still seem big. In the photos on the pattern they are barely visible so I suspect the issue may be with the weight of the yarn. The yarn overs are method of increase in the size of the yoke so they really are a necessity.

So overall I rate the pattern very highly and will knit it again. I’d like to try the yarn the designer used to see how that would work. I’m a little disappointed in the Bamboo Pop yarn. While it is considered a DK weight yarn because of the sheer weight of it I’d recommend knitting it at a tighter gauge to compensate for the stretch. I used a size 5 needle for the body of the sweater and a size 3 for the edge. I think the fabric on a size 3 or 4 needle would be best.

As for wearing it. I suspect I’ll be wearing it more like a vest in colder weather than the warmer weather sweater I was expecting. It’s quite heavy and I don’t think it would feel comfortable on a hot, humid day.

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