Mo-cha Latte BullsEye
What I am about to talk about today is a perfect example of why it is important to have store model sweaters. If this sweater had not been hanging in the window of Knit A Round, I probably never would have noticed it. Or I would have said "neat" and moved on.
Right on Target
It wasn't really the striping that got me (I love Noro, but a girl can only have so many striped sweaters) -- it was the big circle in the middle and the airy gossamer quality the yarn had. How perfect, I thought, for a sweater to wear over a turtleneck. This is when I realized why people like mohair.
Up to this point in my knitting career, I have avoided mohair like the plague. It seemed pretty obvious to me that any ripping adventures would be met with frustration and that it wasn't stuff I could wear against my skin unless I wanted to take up itching as professional sport. But this sweater is all stockinette and it was meant to be worn over something. It seemed like the right time to try something new.
Reynolds Fusion comes in a number of colors. For once I acted like a real midwesterner contemplating a long winter and picked something subdued -- browns and greys with blue undertones. I figured it was bold enough to have a bulls eye on my chest, I could probably keep the color more simple. Fusion is 64% mohair, 27% acrylic and 9% wool. There's a dark center cord with a lot of fuzzy mohair blossoming out of it. Almost like eyelash but somewhat more diffuse.
In spite of there being 136 yards in 50 grams, the stuff knits up on US #10 (6 mm) needles. So it knits up fast.
The Back of the Mo-cha Latte BullsEye
I started the sweater late Saturday afternoon and finished the back on Sunday morning. It took a skein and a half. Yes, it's all sockinette and there's no shaping except at the shoulders. But it knits up so fast, and I had so much fun watching the stripes that I never really got bored. I just love the chocolately brown stripes... I can almost smell the coffee.
Here's a close-up of the back that shows off the texture a bit better:
Up Close and Personal with Fusion
Soft and fuzzy and light as a cloud. And the mohair hasn't given me one iota of grief so far. Probably the only drawback is that I have picked yet another pattern where one of the pieces is worked with two balls at once -- and I am going to have to pick up a bunch of stitches. Otherwise, its perfect to work on while I am waiting for my Cascade 220 from ThreadBear -- they had a skein of the color I needed in the dye lot I needed. How could a girl get more lucky than that? A big thanks to Rob for helping me get my project back on track! I have access to a lot of local yarn stores, but I don't know a single one that I can get personal service from at 11 at night.
That is NEAT. Mohair isn't *that* much of a pain to rip out. I once ripped out a whole sweater in mohair! I think the trick is to not knit too tightly, and if ripping is necessary do it gently.
That looks delicious.
Mohair is a joy to wear.Very light and very warm.Lovely.
I saw this sweater hanging in my LYS too and loved it! Yeah, the photo on the cover of the pattern isn't nearly as exciting as seeing it in person, I agree. My next sweater will be a Sarah Dallas pattern from her book Vintage Knitting using Rowan's now discontinued yarn, KidSoft, a mohair blend. I have swatched for it and it's so light and fuzzy! I love mohair!
Nice work. I'll watch but won't touch--I really really don't like to knit/wear/touch mohair--it creeps me out for some reason. I'll be interesting to see how you do the bull's eye.
Can't wait to see how the Bulls-Eye part works! I really like the subtle switch from one color to another -- definitely more subtle than Kureyon.
I think some of the subtlety in the color switching has to do with the fact that it is so fuzzy and all the fuzz blends together nicely. I like that aspect of it a lot too. I also like that the striping in the skeins seems to be more or less random... so I don't feel like I have to be troubled with doing a lot of color matching. I just let it go where it wants to.
My problem with ripping out mohair came from working with some Artful Yarns Portrait in the lace pattern on the skein. I tried to rip back after making a mistake and ended up with a lot of small pieces of yarn and increased blood pressure. This is more or less simple stockinette, so I hope that if I have to rip the process won't be too painful as long as I am not in too much of a hurry.
Mocha Latte Bullseye looks fabulous! I *love* the insulating properties of mohair, especially in the dead of winter. The ripping can be a bit of a pain, so I keep a pair of small-bladed manicuring scissors handy if I need to "nip" a teeny bit of stubborn fiber.
You have good taste! ;) I started an on-the-diagonal scarf in that same yarn and same colorway yesterday. You're right - it's astoundingly fast and the color and construction of the yarn is fabulous.
I liked the bullseye sweater as well (I just saw it the other day), but it wouldn't be good for a voluptuous chick like myself. There's another pattern for a cardigan knit in several directions a la Knitty's Rosedale that I'm tempted to do.