Neyah, a Kim Hargreaves design from the Ravish Collection
Hi there knitters!
While in some aspects this has been a slow moving year what with all the pandemic restrictions; from a knitting aspect, it seems to me that it has flown by! It’s mid August and I’ve just finished another summer yarn project.
It’s Neyah, from Kim Hargreaves’ latest collection Ravish.
Featuring....CREATIVE LINEN by Rowan Yarns(Formerly Creative Focus Linen by Nashua Yarns)
Creative Linen is a 50/50 Linen/Cotton plied DK weight yarn. Creative Linen is offered in 100 gram hanks, 210 metres (219 yards). It is odd that the Creative Focus Linen, with exactly the same yardage is listed as a worsted weight yarn.....hmmmm.......
Recommended gauge is 21 stitches and 28 rows to 10 cm (recommended needle size is 4.5mm, US 7)
I’ve been wanting to try Creative Linen for years! Seriously! About half way through finishing Rhianwen, I decided that this was the year to try Creative Linen (wth my new found appreciation for summer knits). Since Rhianwen was a #stashappy2020 project, I didn’t feel any guilt at all in ordering up some Creative Linen from my favourite yarn store, Needle Emporium in Ancaster! I immediately fell for the Teal 625 shade..this yarn is available in some rather beautiful shades.
I love Natural 621 and Apple 629 - maybe next time :)
But before ordering the yarn, I had to decide on which design I was going to knit (or crochet)!
The contenders....
Neyah by Kim Hargreaves, the Ravish Collection
I love the simplicity of this design - the schematic shows that the sleeves are rather deep and the sweater rather oversized...I love the strong ribbing....look at those cuffs! hmmmm, could I pull this off?
Neri by Kim Hargreaves, the Ravish Collection
There are those large cuffs again....this must be the style this summer! I decided Neri had too many bobbles, but it reminded me of this gorgeous design....
Morston by Martin Storey Rowan Magazine 57
I love this design. Martin is the King of cabled designs at Rowan (in my opinion :) ) and this is a spectacular example.
Decisions, decisions.....and the winner is......Neyah!
Kim has a fixed size range...and usually I can knit her largest size (as long as it isn’t one of her body skimming tops that she is known for)....so the pattern calls for 8 skeins of Creative Linen....I ordered 9 just in case I needed to add length.
When the yarn arrived.....I loved the shade (I knew I would) and started winding one of the hanks immediately. I didn’t even swatch! A “sleeve swatch” was my first piece of knitting. Starting with the sleeve has advantages (and disadvantages). As long as you understand the potential consequences, a sleeve is a great swatch!
Knit a sleeve, check your gauge....looking good? Continue and finish the sleeve. WASH your completed sleeve.....check your gauge again....still good? You are now pretty darn sure that your garment will work out to be the dimensions on the schematic.
Sounds good eh? Now, if your gauge isn’t good...or it changes with washing/drying....you might have to frog that sleeve and start again with fresh yarn. The results of your original attempt will give you the information you need for your next sleeve to be perfect.
So, if you are prepared to frog, a sleeve makes a great swatch!
Confident in my sleeve swatch, I cast on for the back and front, and that second sleeve! Miles and miles (it seems) of stocking stitch with a non stretchy yarn. Using a 4.5mm needle made the knitting relatively fast. The increases were easy to remember....the garment pieces knit up quickly. I washed them in Soak and lay flat to dry. The drying took forever! Cotton/Linen blend...why can’t this be machine washed and dried? Looking at the notes for this yarn (and the Creative Focus Linen) it seems that a lot of knitters are ignoring the hand wash lay flat to dry instructions on the Rowan label, and singing the praises of this yarn after repeated machine wash and dry cycles! I may be brave, but I wasn’t about to try this with my sleeve swatch, so I did indeed knit a swatch for the purpose of testing the machine wash/dry theory out. My swatch survived! I actually felt rather nice....softer....the stitch definition seemed crisper.
As the sewing up of my Neyah progressed....I struggled internally with the big question.....Should I wash and dry my Neyah in the machine? The swatch survived......so come on Anne, be brave!
Lessons from Neyah
Maybe knit a real swatch and wash/dry it before knitting the sleeves! (These sleeves were huge and a lot of knitting!)
Read lots of Ravelry project notes. Ravelry project notes assured me that this yarn was good for machine washing and drying....and it is! You shouldn’t believe me....do your own swatch test!
My finished Neyah was washed and dried in my machines. Turn your sweater inside out and place it in a laundry bag big enough to allow the water to flow through the garment, but not too big as to let it move around and stretch. I washed my Creative Linen Neyah in the machine, on gentle, with a cold wash and rinse. Then it was into the dryer on a medium setting (still in the laundry bag). Remove promptly when the cycle is finished!
Neyah came out of the machine....beautifully dry and lay perfectly. I did have to tug on one of the sleeve seams...it looks a bit puckers but straightened out with my tug. I left it overnight....to decide if a steam press was required.
I really love this Creative Linen. It is a substantial yarn - a twist of 5 plies - and definitely a heavier dk or light worsted, so a very flexible yarn. Creative Focus would be a 4 season yarn for me. It drapes beautifully and feels wonderful to wear.
No decision yet on my next big project....it will be a #stashappy2020 project...I’m betting something in Felted Tweed :) I’m feeling rather excited!!!
Happy Knitting!
Anne x
(With Lackie by her side)
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