Next Knitfluenced project is my first finished sweater ever (for me) and also my first KAL: Azucena by EweKnit Toronto. After buying a small quantity of merino for gloves, I felt comfortable enough to get a sweater quantity of it. Surprisingly I didn’t get black, as I noticed while knitting another sweater that the texture wasn’t popping out on black yarn. I then realized that it would have worked well in this case with the white/cream as it needed high contrast colors. But hey, next time!

Quick info

• Cost of material: €41.59
• Yarn: Friends Extra Fine Merino (colorways 4 Cream and 122 Anthracite) and Diablo Mohair (colorways 10 Oyster and 7 Dark Grey)both from Hobbii.
• Started: 8 March 2024
• Finished: 27 April 2024
• Link to Raverly project

How I made it

I followed the pattern to the letter for my size and it fits (almost) perfect: I probably should have added a bit more length, but it’s not a deal breaker and I was tired of stockinette 😅 I tend to get bored and distracted easily, so finishing the body took a long time because of the repetition of knit knit knit. But I learned a bunch of new techniques: German short row and colorwork, and I did enjoy making it. And it was a very interesting construction: top down in the round, so no pieces to sew together afterwards.

I really enjoyed knitting the collar, it almost felt like magic seeing it grow from a circle.

It was also the first time working with mohair and merino, and it was smoother than I expected: I tend to be messy, so my fear was of sizeable knotting, but while I can’t deny there was some disentangling required, it was minimal.

How I wear it

I am unfortunately a very slow knitter, and while spring/summer took a while to arrive, the temperatures have risen now and it would be too warm to wear it.

I did manage to wear it once to go for a late Saturday lunch with a friend. I obviously forgot to have a picture taken… but it was very comfortable and soft.

Will I do it again?

Absolutely! But with a twist… while I was stitching the little flower motif, it reminded me of Space Invaders… you see where I’m going?

However, one small change I might do next one is more flexible cast off like the Italian bind off – which I learned only after finishing my Azucena pullover.