You can always tell when Life overtakes Discretionary Time here. Blog entries dry up. Lack of time means less knitting. Less knitting means that I’ve got no interesting things to write about. The past couple of weeks have been dense-pack. The next few bode to be that, plus havoc. Apologies for the silence.
In the mean time, while I haven’t had time to be very productive, I have been able to dip into the stash of to-be-finished projects, polishing off a couple of pairs of socks, and blocking and seaming up my ribbed leaves sweater.
To recap since I started the project about a year ago, this one was done from a commercial pattern by Sarah James. I used Jaeger Matchmaker yarn, with excellent effect. The yarn was soft and lofty, especially for a machine washable wool. I suspect that given the structure and twist of the yarn it will resist pilling a bit better than other more softly spun Merino wools. Matchmaker was a perfect choice both for this project, and for any highly textured project requiring a DK or heavy sport yarn with good stitch definition. I’d use this stuff again in a heartbeat.
I found no flaws in the pattern at all, and my finished sweater ended up being 51 inches across – just a smidge wider I believe than the suggested final measurement, but close enough not to matter for fit. I elaborated on the pattern in a couple of very minor ways – adding both tubular cast-ons, and matching tubular cast offs. I enjoyed this one immensely, although I have to caution that if you’re not a fan of left and right twist (1×1 cables) you’ll hate this with a passion, because the entire texture design is formed by twists over the whole surface.
And proof positive that I’m done – the traditional String or Nothing blurry and indistinct photo, showing very little beyond a finished object in silhouette:
And a slightly better detail shot showing the stitch texture pattern:
And one showing a nice mattress stitch seam in the texture pattern, done on the increase area of the arm, where the sleeve widens from cuff to shoulder:
If you want a full blow-by-blow recap of this one, it’s indexed at the right as “Project – Ribbed Leaf Pullover.”
String-Or-Nothing 
Oh such a shame – you have discovered the delights of Jaeger Matchmaker – yes it has always been wonderful for stitch patterns, so crisp. But it is finished. Discontinued, over and done with – the Jaeger brand has decided to finish with knitting yarn altogether, and what is available now is the last there will be. (I shall be taing the deepest pocket I can manage to the January sales over here in the UK)
[…] by Sarah James. This is the second pattern I’ve done by that designer, the first being her Autumn Leaf pullover. I’m using Noro Taiyo yarn, an Aran weight variegated made in Japan, that has a very […]