Technically my Diaphanous Raglan is the last project I finished in 2020, though I didn’t finish weaving in the ends until early January. But that’s progress, because half the time I just …don’t weave in the ends. (And then this post sat in drafts for six months.)
Anyway.
I finished my Diaphanous Ralgan! I loved this pattern when I saw it on designer Jessie Mae’s Instagram and thought about it and thought about it. Finally, I bought the yarn (some luscious Julie Asselin beauties) and knit it up. After I changed the pattern.
Switching It Up
While I was working on my Arachne Sweater, I was reminded of how annoying I find knitting top-down sweaters. Not that they aren’t beautiful, but the whole body flopping around while knitting the sleeves thing. Given that the sleeves of the Diaphanous Raglan are knit in mohair lace, I didn’t think knitting the sleeves separately was an option.
So I reworked the whole thing to be bottom up. The pattern is just fine as it is and plenty of people have worked it as written, so I am in no way dismissing the pattern itself. I chose to do this to make the knitting a more enjoyable process for me. I began with the body, casting on the number of stitches the body is supposed to end with. Then I worked lifted increases instead of decreases. I increased until I had the stitch count for the body after separating for sleeves. I did work a few extra rounds of plain stockinette just to give the body a little extra length.
Then I cast on for the sleeves using the number of stitches listed before working the ribbing. Instead of using a strand of fingering held with the lace, I held two strands of the lace weight. I didn’t want dark cuffs, but did want them to have a bit of heft, and this worked.
In the end I’m really glad I did this, because I hated knitting the yoke and sleeve caps. Juggling the wispy lace yarn and having to constantly untwine it from the other yarn balls was such a pain. It’s the nature of the beast and the only reason I finished this sweater was because it was at the end. I would have given up completely if I’d done this at the beginning. But that’s me. You do you.
Speaking of the Yarn
The yarn is so so so beautiful. I used two of Julie Asselin‘s lovely yarns, Leizu Fingering and Anatolia. The mohair in the Anatolia is so incredibly soft and quite warm. The blend of silk and merino in the Leizu Fingering is just so nice. I’m in love with these yarns.
The Diaphanous Raglan, though…
I’m not sure I love this sweater. When I wear it, I feel like it’s just not meant for my body shape. There’s nothing wrong with the sweater or my body shape. But I can’t decide if I wish it were more fitted through the bust or more relaxed all around the bust. It would be tricky to change in either direction, given that it’s a seamless raglan. Not impossible, but tricky, and definitely not something that I’m going to do because ripping out mohair, no matter how beautiful it is, is never easy. And I don’t hate myself that much.
One of the things I’m working on this year is not holding on to things that don’t work for me. And right now this isn’t working for me, so it may go on to find another home in the near future.
Details
Cast on: October 1, 2020
Bind off: December 28, 2020
Yarn: Julie Asselin Leizu Fingering (90% superwash merino, 10% silk; 420 yards/115 g) in Alcott, Julie Asselin Anatolia (60% kid mohair, 40% silk; 330 yards/25 g) in Rosé
Modifications:
– Changed the whole pattern to be bottom up instead of top down
