Finished Ravello Sweater

I’ve finished my Ravello sweater and am really happy with the results.

Here are all the details…

Pattern: Ravello by Isabell Kraemer

Yarn:
Pale pink – 340 yds of a handspun CVM/angora blend (Not that I spun, but that I bought from the spinner.)
Dark Grey – 922 yds/2 skeins of Juniper Moon Farm Herriot Fine (Alpaca/Nylon) in Black River Stone (Love this yarn!)

This was all I had left! I had to be careful that I had enough pink, so I did the i-cord neck before starting the sleeves. Then I divided the remainder into two equal balls, to make sure I could do the same number of stripes on both sides.

The yarns blocked beautifully and I wore the sweater all day Saturday and it held its shape wonderfully.

Gauge/Needles/Size: I knit this on size 4 needles at a gauge of 6 stitches and 9 rows per inch. The gauge for the pattern was 5.6 stitches and 7.5 rows per inch. To compensate for the difference, I knit a size bigger than my normal size. I did the match and figured out that would work for the width. I had to make some changes in length by adding an inch for the armhole depth after the last increase.

Finishing: The pattern gives options for the neckline finishing, though the original leaves it just as it was cast on. I didn’t like the shape that gave, so I picked up the stitches and did an i-cord bind off. Other than that, the only finishing was weaving in ends.

Changes: The original sweater used three colors. I decided to just stick to two after looking at all the different versions on Ravelry.

The pattern had k2,p1 ribbing on the body and k1,p1 ribbing on the sleeves. I worked the k2,p1 on both. I also did the cuffs on the sleeves longer, so they were the same length as the cuff on the body.

Thoughts: This was a great, well-written pattern. I like that it is top-down, so you can try it on for length as you go. I’m really happy with the fact that the fabric isn’t really bulky, yet it is a warm, cozy sweater. I already have plans to knit another one. Next time, I think I’ll increase the rows between some of the increases at the raglan to get that longer armhole depth.