FO: Mohair Minisweater Monstrosity
I might still mess around with the button placement, but the mohair monster is pretty much done.
Pattern: Buttony Sweater (very, very modified)
Size: Hell if I know. Small?
Yarn: Fleece Artist Country Mohair, 1 skein (EVIL YARN OF EVIL!!!), colour unknown, since they’re not marked. I would guess Indian Summer or Mahogany or maybe Origin.
Needles: Size 10
(A rare picture in which I have a head…)
(… and in which I look like I want to violently murder the camera. Now you know why I cut my head out of FO pics.)
I clearly modified the living crap out of this pattern, so let’s talk about that, shall we?
I did some gauge math, since the Cursed Mohair of Evil was bulkier than the suggested yarn. Since it’s a top-down raglan, I only had to do math to figure out how many stitches to cast on.
I also moved the button band a bit closer to the center. So the original pattern has section divides of 5, 13, 32, 13, 33. Mine were 10, 10, 25, 10, 20. I only know this because I happened to write it down. Do you really think I can remember these things?
I decided to make the sleeves ribbed so that they’d be very fitted. Who wants baggy cap sleeves? Not me. They’re done in 2×2 ribbing, to “match” the collar and bottom.
And then, there is the obvious “short sleeved minisweater” vs “long sleeved normal sweater”, and… yeah. 200 metres of yarn, people, what was I supposed to do? You think I’m going to buy another skein of $30 Cursed Mohair? That is beyond slight yarn-masochism, all the way to yarn-related self-hatred. Teeny tiny minisweater it was, and I used every last bit of that yarn. This is how much was left over:
(And the other thing in that picture? That would be one knitting session’s worth of shedding. Every single time I worked on this… thing… I got a pile of hair like that. Because this yarn sheds. Did I mention the shedding? I think maybe I might have.)
Anyway, all I did was bind off the sleeve stitches at the point where you’d usually slip them onto scrap yarn, and then join the fronts and back on the following row, casting on a few extra stitches at each underarm.
It came out pretty cute. Didn’t it? Despite the yarn. Oh, the yarn. It sure is beautiful, isn’t it? Fleece Artist yarns always are. Not going to dispute that, and I will still gladly give other Fleece Artist yarns a try, because I’ve heard wonderful things about them.
But, lovely appearance aside, this particular yarn? Country Mohair? STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM IT. IF YOU SEE IT, RUN FAR, FAR AWAY, AND THEN RUN A LITTLE BIT FARTHER, JUST TO BE SAFE. THEN LOOK BACK, BECAUSE IT MIGHT BE FOLLOWING YOU, AND IF IT IS, RUN A LITTLE BIT MORE.
I think that should make my feelings on the yarn quite clear. Luckily, it’s discontinued (gee, I wonder why), so you probably won’t run into it often.
I told you I’d conquer you, you Evil Cursed Mohair From Hell. MUHAHAHAHAHA!
Love that!! Gorgeous color and such a stylish minisweater! Great job!
3 Jun 2007 at 3:01 amCongrats on conquering the mohair! And it looks great! :)
4 Jun 2007 at 1:20 amI have a quick question (I: Sue Little of Little Knits), may I use a photo of yours at my blog? I am going to post about the Country Mo and wanted get your permission. I would also love to hear what you thought of the yarn. Thank you!
Sue – http://www.littleknits.com and blog http://www.livestitch.com
5 Jul 2007 at 2:18 pmPS. I really like how your mini-cardi looks on you. PPS. I like this yarn so please be gentle with me. :P
Sue
5 Jul 2007 at 2:20 pmOkay, three posts to your blog by one person in one day, I swear I’m not stalking you or anything. I came upon your blog by searching for Country Mohair Fleece Artist and getting Evil Yarn of Evil. Then I got distracted by all your other funnies. Then I remembered why I came here. See, cuz Little Knits (the poster from YESTERDAY!) is going to have it for 45% off. And I was trying to find out if it was worth buying. Thanks for saving me money.
But I think it’s funny that she asks to use the garment and wonders what you thought of the yarn. Did she not read the post? “evil yarn of evil”? Huh?
5 Jul 2007 at 9:13 pmI just about bust my gut (which would be messy) reading this. Oh that yarn is evil, yes yes yes. It sheds worse than my cats. And I, oh, I was seduced into by TWO skeins of it, TWO!! and for something like THREE years I have been staring at it saying: I cannot make this a scarf, too heavy, too sheddy. I cannot make this a sweater (my original intent) too heavy, too sheddy…and so on down the list. I tried to mix it with other less histrionic yarns
26 Feb 2008 at 10:47 pm60 dollars (plus applicable sales tax) for lovely but useless fibre. But you know what. I am going to make slippers out of it, oh yeah!!! I couldn’t bring myself to make slippers because, well, it was too expensive. Well these are going to be damn expensive slippers. Thank you. You have released me from the curse of Fleece Artist Country Mohair. EX$pen$ive $lipper$ coming up!! sltsm2k.blogspot.com
I have Mo in a kit to be knit with other yarn (kid mohair) and it has been OK.
But I had trouble with Fleece Artist’s dreadlocks – shed, shed, shed. I wore it on a place from LA to London and the poor person next to me (wearing a black business suit) was covered on the side nearest to me!!
And don’t wear it when you are out and having a snack as you will find you are eating strands of it. And it floats in your coffee if it is windy. Thank goodness Starbucks and other coffee companies put lids on the take-away cups.
The trouble is that it is a beautiful color (Hercules) and people keep stopping and admiring my poncho.
Dreadlocks is the evil pal of the evil Mo!
Somehow I think Fleece Artist and Hand Maiden need to learn a bit more about spinning mohair
18 May 2009 at 7:18 pmI have Mo in a kit to be knit with other yarn (kid aran) and it has been OK.
But I had trouble with Fleece Artist’s dreadlocks – shed, shed, shed. I wore it on a plane from LA to London and the poor person next to me (wearing a black business suit) was covered on the side nearest to me!!
And don’t wear it when you are out and having a snack as you will find you are eating strands of it. And it floats in your coffee if it is windy. Thank goodness Starbucks and other coffee companies put lids on the take-away cups.
The trouble is that it is a beautiful color (Hercules) and people keep stopping and admiring my poncho.
Dreadlocks is the evil pal of the evil Mo!
Somehow I think Fleece Artist and Hand Maiden need to learn a bit more about spinning mohair
18 May 2009 at 7:21 pmhi
3 Mar 2010 at 4:35 pmnice blog
i am here