Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Noro kureyon top down cardigan



Wanting a new cardigan, I bought seven balls of Noro Kureyon (color 148) on Ravelry, the black hole for knitters.

Noro Kureyon has a bad rap. It's accused of being scratchy, knotty, and brimming with vegetable matter. Maybe I found a great batch, but I loved knitting with it. The gradual color changes makes the endless stockinette go faster. It's not super soft like it's rich cousin, merino, but more like Cascade 220. But then I've made fulled book bags out of rag wool, which is similar to a Brillo pad.



It's a top down raglan with yarn overs for the increases. Somehow my casting on gauge was smaller than the swatch so the neck opening was tighter. The moss stitch collar was replaced with a single crochet stitch (I tried to stretch it out a bit). I belong to the anti-frogging club so ripping back is never (almost never) an option.




For the sleeves, I set aside twins, the two skeins that had the same striping pattern.




I love this colorway. The burgundy, brown, and plum compliment and energize my very drab and neutral wardrobe.

After blocking and a bit of hair conditioner, the yarn softened and relaxed into a drapey fabric (my guage increased!) I probably could have went down a needle size since I had a ball left. There's a bit of fluffing (it's not up to pilling yet) on my sleeves after a week of daily wear.

I originally planned for a two way zipper, it might be too drapey to support it. Maybe a grosgrain ribbon will be added to stiffen the front facings. For now it will remain Chanel-like.

Specifics:
Yarn: Noro Kureyon (#148)
Balls: 6 skeins
Pattern: original
Needle: #7 circulars
Guage: 4.25 stitches per inch (6 stitches per row) prewash, but changed to 4 - 3.5 after washing!!
Size: 34 inch

4 comments:

Unknown said...

lovely m'dear! the colours are so lush in the noro yarns and these seem to suit you so well! i am going to look for you on ravelry now.... didnt know you were there!

blissful said...

Thank you! Please excuse my Ravelry page, it is woefully neglected :(

Unknown said...

I'd love to know how you used the hair conditioner to soften your sweater. I'm making one now and would love it to be a little less scratchy. Also -- I need one more ball of #148. Do you still have your leftover one? Want to sell it? Thanks - Denise (sabearski on ravelry)

blissful said...

Hi Denise - for the hair conditioner -- I squirted a quarter sized clump in the final rinse (swish it around until it dissolves), squeeze through the sweater (like for handwashing), and air dry (I usually do this in my washing machine, using the spin cycle - much easier than blotting with hand towels).