Before we really get into this. I'd like to mention that if you hang around long or follow me on instagram, you'll notice I do not have a museum quality house. I have a lived in house with people and dogs and lots of life happening. So, as you glance around at piles of throw pillows in the corner or things tossed on the foot of the bed, realize its a balancing act and I'm going to choose to go ahead and take pictures in my not perfect bedroom and just let it be what it is.
You may remember that in the fall of 2019 I was introduced to yarn pond and really fell down that rabbit hole in January of 2020 while I was on bedrest after hip surgery. Last spring I happened upon a test knit call for a sweater so beautiful I just had to put my name in to test knit. I had the privilege to be selected and was able to test knit the
Casagrande Sweater by
Sharon Hartley. Its a beautiful sweater with a keyhole back, a ribbon bow, and lacey sleeves closed with a box pleat. It was a nice long test knit and I should have had plenty of time but I actually got it finished and posted ON release day (sorry, Sharon). The problem was not with the pattern, it was with my own fickleness. I really should have had plenty of time. First, I knit one whole sleeve in a light purple that I originally intended to use for the upper 1/3 of the sweater and the sleeves but then later after doing the body I realized I wanted the sleeves to line up more with the body rather than flow down from the top in a solid color. Not only did that mean starting the sleeves over, but it also meant asking the wonderful lady behind
The Violet Valentine to dye me up some more yarn really quickly! Luckily, she is the best and happily did so. What originally was going to be multiple different yarns I had on hand from indie dyers ended up entirely yarn from The Violet Valentine because I was just so set on using that Iris yarn in the middle. I LOVE irises. We have quite a few in our yard. In fact, most of them are blooming right now and I love to see them all happy in the sun. The yellow being a semi-solid would have been the hardest thing to create a match to so she dyed me up an extra skein of Iris and a skein of a coordinating semi-solid purple.
I probably could have/should have started the fade into the semi-solid purple a bit sooner but it was easier for the sleeves to keep the variegated in play up to where the yoke is in the round and you are above the lace panels on the sleeves. You can see here how the box pleat at the shoulder meets up with the yoke. You can also see here how my collar ended up a little bit wider than the pattern called for. I really should have ripped it back, I don't know how I mis-measured but instead of a 1 inch collar I ended up with more like a 1.25" collar or possibly even slightly wider and I can definitely tell. It feels a bit wide on me.
I knit the 40" size which gives me four inches of positive ease in the pattern and its possible my knitting loosened up when I knit the sweater as opposed to the gauge swatch. I actually preferred the preblocking length when I compare the photos after the fact. Same for the sleeve length. I am often afraid of things ending up short but once I block them they end up a bit big. This photo here is before blocking and also before adding ribbon to the collar so it is just laying open in the back which is why it looks a bit more boatneck here.
Blocking is a must with lace though and the lace sleeves really are beautiful. I love that the sweater is lightweight and easy to wear. I also love its bright happy colors and the feature that originally drew me to the pattern, the sweet keyhole back with the bow. I do know from looking at other people's tests of this same sweater that the lace pattern will stand out more in a solid or a lightly speckled yarn. I know the lace pattern was much easier to see in my original sleeve but I don't think I would have liked the finished product as much. Another thing you might notice here is how much the yoke grew after blocking. I have a very short torso and short shoulders. If I were to knit this sweater again I would take some length out of the yoke to get the box pleats to sit higher on my shoulders like they do on the original sweater model.
I wore my Casagrande Sweater to the office last week and I actually think that because the sweater itself is a bit loose and drapey I prefer it with more fitted pants. (I know one photo makes it look fitted, but that it just the camera angle). I did change the ribbon out from a shorter dark purple ribbon to a long and lovely yellow. A vintage brooch on the collar seemed just the thing to complement the sweet sweater design. I think it is good dressed up or down and I think it would be great with a pencil skirt.
The moral of this test knit story is, be decisive about your yarn, don't change your mind halfway through and never say, "Oh I have plenty of time." Time has this funny way of disappearing when we are lollygagging because we think we have plenty of it. And maybe save the experimental fades for another project. For exact yardages I used for my fade, progress photos and my notes, you can find my Ravelry project of the test knit here. If Ravelry is inaccessible to you and you have any questions, feel free to ask questions in the comments or shoot me an email.
As much as I enjoy knitting thicker cozy sweaters, it just doesn't get cold enough here for long enough to wear big bulky sweater all the time, especially in heated buildings. Sock weight sweaters like this one are perfect because I can wear them much more often and I definitely have a number of them in my queue. I haven't taken on any test knits recently because I am trying to avoid deadlines at the moment but you never know when something irresistible might come along and I'll throw myself in headlong again. In fact, I barely talked myself out of applying for the test knit for the
Blooming Dream Tee by
CamilleKnitDesign and now I am anxiously awaiting the pattern release because I really think I have to make it. I just wasn't able to commit to the deadline when the test knit call came out. It is such a beautiful design and I think it will be really wearable as a dressy summer and transitional season piece. Wearability and realistic choices in knitting are something to address in another post though and it's time to tuck the kids into bed.
Until next time,
Somer
I wore my Casagrande Sweater to the office last week and I actually think that because the sweater itself is a bit loose and drapey I prefer it with more fitted pants. (I know one photo makes it look fitted, but that it just the camera angle). I did change the ribbon out from a shorter dark purple ribbon to a long and lovely yellow. A vintage brooch on the collar seemed just the thing to complement the sweet sweater design. I think it is good dressed up or down and I think it would be great with a pencil skirt. 
The moral of this test knit story is, be decisive about your yarn, don't change your mind halfway through and never say, "Oh I have plenty of time." Time has this funny way of disappearing when we are lollygagging because we think we have plenty of it. And maybe save the experimental fades for another project. For exact yardages I used for my fade, progress photos and my notes, you can find my Ravelry project of the test knit here. If Ravelry is inaccessible to you and you have any questions, feel free to ask questions in the comments or shoot me an email.
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