I mentioned previously that I started working on a Margot for my Mom for Christmas, as per her request after the pattern came out. We went to the yarn store together and she picked out Rowan Lima (score!), a new nylon/merino/alpaca braided yarn in two colors (Chile and Pampas) to make a two tone version of the pullover. After ordering the discounted yarn from Webs, I was ready to settle in for a relaxing, almost entirely stockinette knit.
Mom’s Margot did not disappoint in the relaxing knit department, and the Lima was wonderful to work with. This is some of the softest stuff I’ve used, and I like the way it fills in once it’s knit up. The braided nature of the yarn leads to sort of blended stitches, so the fabric looks very cohesive and the little details that alter it show up all the more (like the small holes at the yoke increases).
I think that my Mom really loves Margot, and that the two tone version turned out to be quite flattering. The two greens that my Mom chose are gorgeous, with so many subtle colors (there’s even purple somewhere in that dark green!). I’ve made her promise that she will actually wear it and not just wrap it up and “put it in a safe place”.
When working with alpaca, I’ve found (as have many others, I’m afraid), that the yarn has a tendency to stretch. Margot already has such a stretchy garter stitch neckline, that the neck was loosing a lot of it’s shape (i.e. making Mom look like an extra from Flashdance). We decided that the cast on edge needed a little bit of reinforcement, so I took a double strand of the lighter color yarn and ran it all the way around the neck, going into each stitch on the cast on edge. It didn’t take as long as it sounds like it would! This created sort of a drawstring, only I didn’t cinch the neckline in, we just adjusted the neck to the width Mom wanted and then I wove in both ends of the “drawstring” so that it would stay in place. The fix seems to work well – we’ll have to see if it gets stretched out with time, but I can always readjust it if it does.
Aww, Mama, you look so pretty!
