Highland Slipover

1/3/23 – This is the first of my SSOY MAL projects for the year. I’ve had the yarn set aside for it for several months now. I am not 100% sure of the details of this handspun, though I am 99.5% sure it was some Briar Rose Fibers BFL. I meant to calculate yardage before I wound the three skeins into balls, but I forgot. Going on a hope that I will have enough yardage to finish!

So far it’s a pretty enjoyable knit. The yarn is nice to work with and is working well with the Lykke interchangeables I’m using.

I’m through with the upper back and I’ve joined the two front sections. Yarn quantity looks pretty good at this point. The fact that this doesn’t have sleeves is helpful. LOL Fingers crossed!

(I have since confirmed that this is the BRF handspun that I thought it might be, and I also found four additional albeit smaller skeins of the yarn, so I definitely should be good for yardage!)

1/21 – I tried this on today and it fits really well, I’m pleased! I have a few more inches needed in length I think, but I’m going to hold off on finishing that and do the neckline and armhole cuffs before I decide how much more to add to the body, as I am sure the neckline is going to pull the whole thing up a bit. But I’m very close to finishing, which is exciting!

5/5 – After much kerfluffing with this project, it is finally finished. This was a problematic knit. And while the ends are not woven in nor is it blocked, I’ve thought on it for the week since finishing it and I do not love it. I keep trying to convince myself that maybe blocking will change that, but honestly, no. It is too roomy. It fits weird at the neck. Blocking will not fix any of that. Meanwhile, I loved knitting with this handspun, and I don’t want to see it live in a garment that I’m likely not going to end up wearing. I am 99% sure I’m going to frog it now and recover the yarn to use in a garment that I’ll hopefully love.

Sucks to feel like I wasted four months on something with nothing to show for it, but I did enjoy the knitting, and I guess I’ve learned some things along the way, most especially the lesson AGAIN that this is not the style of garment that I really enjoy wearing. Sigh.

5/6 – Ok, now that I’ve taken pictures of it and also worn it around the yard helping Bill while it was chilly out, I’m again torn about this. It was definitely comfy and warm and functional. I feel like I’m overthinking this way too much.

As much as I was convinced that I was going to frog it, I’m now back to thinking I’m going to block it and see how I feel about it. This is really rather ridiculous.

9/4 – After four months in hibernation/purgatory, I finally decided to weave in the ends on this bad boy, soak and block it and see where we landed.

Once blocked (and it took forever to dry out on the deck in the sun because this fabric is dense!), and I got the arm edgings and the back of neck edging to lay flat, and I was able to get more length out of it (though it is still VERY wide and boxy), I am pretty happy with it! It’s not what I set out to make, but overall it is going to be wearable and WARM.

It’s too hot right now to put it on to take a pretty picture, but I’ve included the blocking picture.

I am really happy with how the neckline ended up in the front with the short rows, and despite my error that has the front and back different lengths and the shoulder seams wanting to float toward the back, it really doesn’t fit that badly. And the handspun is pretty. 🙂

I may revisit this in the future if it ends up that I don’t get much wear out of it, but for now, we’re done.