Feisty Tavern

It is a blustery 62 degrees today!

I also have a new sweater to enjoy!

Pattern:  Beekman Tavern by Thea Coleman

Yarn:  This is something of a question.  The undyed yarn was labeled Kona Superwash Fingering, but feels and knits up like a heavy sport or dk.  I dyed it red to suit me. (Red is so hard to photograph, the actual color is more raspberry than it appears here.)

This was a lovely and enjoyable pattern.  I knit this sweater in 12 days.  Does that mean this was a fast knit?  No, this sweater required a tremendous amount of knitting, I just happened to be able to do it quickly, that is how much I liked it.

Modifications:  For the last ten rows, I added short rows beginning on either side of the center front panel, every other row.  This slightly lowered the front opening in a graceful curve, as I was concerned the neck line would be way too high on me.

Also, after the sweater was completely knitted and before the neck edging was done, I tried it on.  Wow. The neckline was voluminous.  So, I moved down 2 needle sizes to a US 5 to pick up stitches and picked up every 2 of 3 bound off stitches, instead of the every 5 of 6, as called for in the pattern.  The result was to pick up 66% of the bound of stitches, instead of the 83% called for in the pattern.  It worked out great!

If I were to do one thing again, it would be to knit the neck edging continuously, omitting the notched collar. It does not sit well on me when worn.  However, as this was a ton of knitting in 12 short days, I will wear it for a while before deciding whether I will redo the neck collar.

Overall, this was a lovely pattern and an enjoyable knit.

Note:  in the photos above, the sweater has not been soaked or blocked, this is exactly how it came off the needles.  I am probably going to wear it a time or two before I get around to blocking it properly. We have so few days cold enough to wear wool...

Errata:  There was only one minor mistake that I found:

On the bottom of the right hand side of page 140, the designer talked about the faux seam consisting of "p1, k2, p1." In the second to last paragraph on that page, the instructions state:  "Next rnd:  K1, p1, pm, work in patt to 2 sts before join, pm, k1, p1..."  The last part should not be k1, p1, but p1, k1 to create the p1, k2, p1 of the faux seam.

Final thoughts:  This is probably not the most attractive sweater shape for me as it is basically a dressed up sweatshirt, but I know it is one of the few that will be worn a great deal because it is comfortable like a sweatshirt.  It is a beautiful sweatshirt, in fact!  I could not be more pleased!!