2020, The First Year of Coronavirus, contains distinct seasons for me, so far The Eternal Spring of Isolation, and the Summer of Sweaters. This is the summer I finished not one, not two, but three sweaters (and I have a fourth on the needles - can I do it by the end of September? September is "summer" in the UK which is obviously wrong, but it's what I have to work with). The second of my jumpers is Silver Blossom by Amy Gunderson knit in KnitPicks CotLin Dk a 70/30 cotton/linen blend in the colour "Harbour". Silver Blossom is knit top-down with a deep lace yoke and a-line shaping. I knit the largest size, 53" bust, which is larger than my full bust, without doing a gauge swatch but I really should have because I got 16sts/4" which is miles away from the 22sts/4" that the pattern is written for. Instead of being slightly larger than my measurements, my top is mahoosive. This is not something I'm upset about? If I knew how far off I was gauge I probably would have gone down a size or two? Or more likely knit a completely different top, one closer to the gauge I was getting.
Again, I'm not upset to have a tee with lots of positive ease. It is the current fashion for oversized knitwear and having lots of room means that on hot - and we do get a few, you'd be surprised how hot 20C feels in Northern Scotland - humid days there is lots of cooling air swirling around me.
Would I knit it again? Yes, in a smaller size. I like the lace yoke, the instructions are clear, I like the idea of knitting summer tees. Would I use the yarn again? Maybe? I don't love it, but it's mostly cotton and cotton is not a lot of fun to knit with. OTOH, it comes in better colours than most "summer yarns" and, while it's not the first thing I look for when deciding to buy a yarn, if there's not a colour I like I won't buy it.
