I was on holiday in Yorkshire this summer when I came across this cute yarn shop. They had a huge bin filled to the brim with hanks of mohair. All that fluff and bloom and softness was over-flowing the shop floor. I didn’t know whether to jump in Geronimo-style, or just calmly admire it like a ‘normal’ customer!
I must admit, it was tempting…!
Anyway, I bought 4 hanks with the intention of knitting a shrug for myself. When I got home I realised that shrugs don’t ‘dig’ me for some reason, so the only course of action was to keep it simple. A jumper, squared off, no frills, no turns or shaping, but I needed more of this yarn. I ordered a few more hanks directly from Colinette.
Casting on
My plan of action was to make a simple oversized drop-shoulder jumper using this amazingly soft mohair yarn. Never knitted with mohair before… it was either going to be an amazing knitting experience, or it was going to drive me mad!
Verdict: It drove me mad!
Only kidding! Actually it was a surprisingly satisfying knit. The yarn itself is so full of fluff, I thought my needles would be constantly entangled with it. Not the case. I did, however have to switch from Addi turbo circulars to bamboo straight needles because the yarn was contracting whenever it sat on the wire. It then became a strenuous task of trying to push the sts forward towards the needle tips. Very time consuming, so I transferred them onto straight needles and solved that problem altogether.
It’s not easy to undo mohair once it’s knitted. I made a mistake on the lace and tried to frog it back a few rows, but it was having none of it. Bloody thing got in an almighty tangle, I had to abandon it and start again. Thankfully I didn’t lose too much.
Seaming up… ha ha!! You gotta be kidding, right? I gave up trying to do the ‘right’ thing and whipped out my sewing machine, found a suitable colour sewing thread and machine-stitched all the components together! And it looks fab! My hand sewing would have never done it justice.
The Design
The idea for this sweater was to be an over-sized, clumsy, lived-in, favourite sweater to kick around the house in. And I think I achieved that with it’s dropped stitches, its misshapen sleeve and its uneven knitting! 🙂
About the yarn
For mohair, it is amazingly sturdy. It doesn’t shed too much and feels a lot softer than most mohair blend yarns that I have come across. Not saying that it is itch-free, just a lot less so. The only drawback is that you don’t get a lot of yarn for your money. It took 6 hanks of this yarn on 5.5mm needles.
I’ve got 2 hanks left. Not sure what I will do with it. My mum said she’ll take it off my hands, but she only crochets… That’ll be interesting to see! 😉
JimiKnits... and other bits. 