mustard, grey - what else is new?

i honestly did try to get fo pics in warsaw (which was great, btw), but they all turned out blurry and so this morning i finally found myself at home, in the sunshine, with my camera. a rare combination.

specs
pattern: bloom by carol meldrum in rowan 36
yarn: rowan felted tweed in 141 whisper, 3 balls
needles: 4mm
mods: yes

as i've mentioned before i only had three balls of felted tweed. while this is the exact amount called for in the pattern, every bloom fo report i've ever seen mentioned that this is not enough. thus, i took every measure to make sure i didn't run out of yarn.

first, i did fewer shortrows in the shoulder section.


this worked out very well. i have rather narrow shoulders, and so a wider "flap" would have looked, well, flappy and silly. i only shortrowed to 21 st, not 33 as the pattern says.


then, when i finished the first half (both front and back are identical), i weighed it. 76 grams. remaining yarn: 74 grams. oops.

i ripped out the cast off edge, spliced the yarn and continued knitting. this means i only have one side seam. less seaming, more happiness, i say.

finally, i made the neck opening on the second half (ie the front) a bit lower by decreasing an additional 3 stitches as compared to the pattern. would it be enough? i honestly couldn't tell until i had only a couple of rows or to knit. very nerve-wrecking. but it worked!

i even had a few meters left over, which turned out to be a good thing.


the armholes turned out a bit loose, you see. i took the remaining yarn and did a row of single crochet (or whatever, stupid differing brit/us crochet terms) along the front of the armholes. there wasn't enough to go around the whole opening, but at least it helped a little.

so, that's bloom for you. i'm very happy with it, i must say. the shape and size is rather perfect for me. also, this was my first time knitting with felted tweed and i know now what the fuss is all about. lovely, lovely stuff, and i particularly love the look of the knitted fabric when it's used sideways as here.

in conclusion, they all lived happily ever after. the end.