Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Fauxnel

Not Chanel, but Fauxnel.  Fake Chanel.  Truly not a Chanel, but truly a better fit for my budget and social strata, I present to you, my faux Chanel.  My Fauxnel.


Pattern:  This one. 
 
This is the free ravelry download that I used  for inspiration.  The gauge on the French Riviera is 20 sts /4in whereas mine was 16 sts/4in.  So I combined the inspiration of French Riviera with the cast-on numbers from  Ann Budd's Handy Book of Top Down Sweaters.  Following the cast on, I simply knit to fit.

Needles:  4.5mm for everything. Trim and body.

Yarn:  For the sweater - Facination,  Desina. 
 
An Italian yarn consisting of a  60% Cotton, 30%Viscose 10% Nylon blend in a beautiful black, ivory and taupe boucle.  This yarn was donated to our stash swap at knit group.   I grabbed all of it  -   15 balls  in total   -  and  used about 7 for the cardi.  The black trim is Super 10 Egyptian Cotton.  Super 10 is great value because of the 230 yards per skein.  In my case however, I probably didn't use 2% of that.  I now have lots of black cotton as a starting point for another summer topper.

Mods:  The trim on my cardi is reverse stockinet. The lazy kitters' I-Cord.  I picked up and knit the stitches from the right side,   purled one row (WS), then cast off in purl stitch from the right side.  It gives a nice, cord-like trim, prevents rolling and with this boucle yarn was much easier to accomplish than I-Cord.

French Riveria shows the cardi with two different coloured bands of   trim.  The first, a plain, co-ordinating colour while    the outside trim repeats  the main yarn.  I have stopped at one trim.  I will wear it that way for awhile then decide if I want the second.  That decision was forced on me  because as yet, I have not been able to find a taupe yarn that matched the  pinkish-toned taupe in the main yarn.

Mistakes I Made:  Initially, I  got the gauge wrong.  Seriously wrong.  Somehow, gauge measured 12 sts/4in.  in the swatch.  Not only in the swatch but in my blind knitting until I reached the underarm.  Or so it seemed.  At that point I tried on the cardi  and it was small.  Seriously small.  I re-measured the gauge and the true count was 16sts/4in.   Quite a difference.  Certainly enough to make the knit on my needles too small and to require a re-start.  It fits well now.

Initially picturing this little cardi as a topper for a black tee and skirt, I now think it will also look good over white.  Perhaps even taupe. 


A great addition to my summer wardrobe.  Fauxnel and I are off to Baltimore tomorrow.  - where I am hoping the weather will be more summer-like than here at home.





5 comments:

Sel and Poivre said...

Oh I love that lazy knitter's i-cord edging. Very clever you!

When will you be back/how long does Fred have to cook for himself/when can we look forward to the post Festival report?

Brendaknits said...

LOL, Sel & Poivre. The M.S.&W Festival is Friday Sat & Sunday so I should be home late Monday. I am not taking our one and only computer with me as then Fred would not have any online access. So I won't be posting until Tuesday. But will tell you all about it then. Pooor Fred isn't much of a cook so I take pity and stock the freezer. Good little woman, you know.

Anonymous said...

a fast and beautifully fitting cardi. Not Faux anything, but genuine Brenda!!!
teresa_a

LynS said...

I'm always in awe of your capacity to adapt patterns to fit your preferences and yarn stocks. So thoroughly in the best traditions of 'make do and mend'. The cardi looks great - probably even better over white than black where you'd lose the effect of the nifty black edging.

Jan said...

gorgeous!