Quill

Even though I’m not going to Rhinebeck this year I didn’t want to miss out on all the fun, so I knit myself a (not-going-to) Rhinebeck Sweater.

This is Quill by Evie Scott. I fell in love with this pattern when it first came out in February. Can you blame me? Look at those feathers!

The takeaway: It took more effort than anything I’ve knit before, but taking the time to get everything right was worth it. This is a beautifully fitting, cozy sweater that I’ll wear all winter long.

This sweater was knit with Cascade 220 in Silver Gray, which I picked up from Craftsy on sale. I had never worked with 220 before, and for the most part I enjoyed it. I love the color, gray is my go-to, and I wanted this sweater to be something I could wear every day this winter. I do find it to be quite itchy, but it’s fine for garments like this cardigan that aren’t meant to be worn next to skin.

I made a swatch and got the recommended gauge with size 6 and 4 needles. Using size 4 needles to knit 5 inches of garter stitch was a struggle. This was the first time I wasn’t 100% in love with my Addi Click interchangeable needles, the tightness of the knit caused the yarn to catch on the join between the needle and the cord. Also, because I was pushing and twisting so much, the needles popped out from the cord a couple times. I managed to make it work, but if I had to do it over again I would knit the garter hem with size 5, which is what I ended up doing with the collar and I had a much easier time.

Happy #wipwednesday friends! I'm working on this Quill cardigan by Evie Scott. What's on your needles?

A post shared by Justine 🌧 (@ranneyknits) on Sep 20, 2017 at 10:46am PDT

The cabled feathers look like the most complicated part of this pattern, however I actually found it to be the fastest section to knit. The cables are surprisingly simple and fairly intuitive. The pattern includes written instructions, which is always a plus for me because I’m not a fan of following charts.

At this point, I thought I was home free. Just the sleeves and the collar, that’s easy enough, right? Ha.

I’ve only knit two sweaters before this and they both had raglan sleeves. The set in shoulders were more complicated to knit, but they fit better than the shoulders on my previous sweaters. I’m fairly happy with the way the shoulders turned out, but I do have to fuss a little to get them to lay flat. There’s some bunching in the armpits that only bothers me when I’m trying to get perfect photos.

The first obstacle I faced with the sleeves is my inability to pick up stitches neatly. In fact, it wasn’t until just recently when I was knitting my Campside Pullover that I learned how to properly pick up stitches. After studying a Purl Soho tutorial I realized I wasn’t supposed pick up on the selvedge. Whoops. So, lesson learned, I don’t know how to do everything (surprise surprise). Even with basic techniques it is always always always good to do a quick google search and watch a video or two. I have to keep reminding myself that not only should I be never not knitting, but also never not learning.

 

It turns out, I got to try my hand at picking up stitches a couple times because it took some tries before I mastered the short rows. Just like with most knitting, short rows might be intimidating at first, but the technique itself isn’t really that difficult. It just takes a little bit of practice. And practice I did! I think I pulled out the first shoulder twice and the second once (I was a little over confident in my ability at that point).

Sometimes I’m too focused on finishing a project, and I forget that the joy is in the process. After finishing the short rows on the collar (a lovely detail btw), I was ready to be done. The first two rows of garter stitch felt painfully slow. It was heavy and tight and had me wishing I had a 60” cable! I took a day off from this project in order to refocus on the love of knitting and not knitting for a finished product. A little break helped so much, I was so much happier knitting afterward.

Now that I think about it, I could have taken a break and made the pockets at any point in knitting the collar. They were so much fun to knit! They were a perfect little detail to finish off this incredible sweater.

As of right now, I am perfectly happy to cuddle up in this sweater just as it is. However, I’m considering adding some extra inches to the collar in order to give it a larger fold. I’m also playing with the idea of adding elbow patches. Thoughts?

Will you be knitting a Quill? Or have you knit one before? Or, if you know me in person, will you be stealing this one? (Looking at you, Mom.) Let me know in the comments!