honey & ollie

The Thneed is finished, has had a gentle swish in SOAK and is now laid out to dry, with Ollie standing guard. I am not blocking it, per se, as it doesn’t really seem to need or want it. I like this O-Wool Balance yarn, fifty/fifty organic cotton and merino wool. It feels crisp but not overly stiff in the hand while knitting. It will be very interesting to see how it softens and drapes after being washed. My only complaint about the yarn is that the skeins seem to be universally tangled, so much so that one cannot use a ball winder/swift to wind the balls 100% of the time. Of the 10 skeins I had, 4 were so tangled that I had to wind them by hand and one of those was so far beyond tangled that I eventually threw the Gordian mess away in frustration.

The buttons remind me of Truffula Trees, which seems appropriate given the whole Lorax theme of the garment.

I have a feeling I am going to spend a lot of time in this whimsical little sweater!

Pattern mods:
1. ribbed bottom – much as I loved the elegant turned under picot hem, it added bulk where I prefer not to have added bulk.
2. sleeve length – full length sleeves with ribbed cuffs, rather than 3/4 sleeves with seed stitch cuffs.
3. button band – did in seed stitch, as pattern specified, however final row and bind off are done in contrasting color, to nice effect.

One nice thing about Mercury Retrograde? Finishing has a little extra momentum.