I don’t have a good track record with making sweaters for myself. They tend to be too large and shapeless and were therefore quickly abandoned. This sweater changed all of that.

I saw the pattern in the Spring 2017 edition of Ply Magazine, the Down-like issue. It’s a tunic, looked like an easy knit, and I simply loved the look of it.

As Spinzilla approached, I decided to knit for a project – and spinning for this sweater was just the motivation. I had 650 grams of beautifully carded rovings from a local sheep named Daisy just waiting for a project – and nothing like a spinning contest to get the job done.

First however, I made a swatch. Yes, a swatch. I wanted to see if my default (the easiest to spin) long draw two-ply yarn, could fit the pattern requirements. No need going into Spinzilla having to significantly modify my spinning practices. It’s like changing your running gait during the marathon. Not. Going. To. Happen.

So I quickly made some yarn using the same spinning (long draw) that I’d use during Spinzilla. It was a good choice for this wool. It was a carded preparation, short stapled fibre. Daisy is a true mixed breed sheep: 1/2 North Country Cheviot, 1/4 Suffolk, 1/4 Romney/Dorset/Karakul. I wanted a light, lofty yarn that had a bit of strength. Seems like contrasting purposes, but it is what I wanted/needed for this sweater. It also had to end up, after washing, at 10 wraps per inch.

I got it. Knit up a swatch, washed and bashed it and liked the resulting fabric.

When Spinzilla began on October 2, I spun Daisy until the bag was empty. This happened sooner than I thought so I had to find other things to spin to finish out the week. I plied all my singles on Saturday morning and kept spinning because I still had another day left of the contest.

Monday was a holiday and a lovely day here in Glen Valley. So I was able to wash my newly spun yarn and get it ready for knitting. I ended up with 1,062 yards of Daisy. The pattern called for 1,200. I decided not to worry about it. I had a Plan B. If I ran out of yarn, I’d use a different one for the patterned hemline, cuff and collar.

I had a busy work week and then another knitting deadline to meet, so I didn’t get the sweater started until October 16. Once I did it knit up quickly. On size 5.5mm needles, knit from the top down, it goes fast. I am not a fast knitter. But I am steady and knit every chance I get.

I finished it on Saturday, October 28. Wove in the ends and washed it. And I had about 100 yards of yarn to spare.

Thanks to a sunny Sunday, was able to do a photo shoot on the first wearing of the Wayfarer Tunic.

It had a loose look and feel to it, but as I wore it it grew in length. It wasn’t until I was handling the swatch that I realized what was going on. In the swatch, I really washed and bashed it so the yarn fulled. It was a dense, yet still soft fabric. The sweater is so large I had a hard time really bashing it around, so it was not fulled at all and it was stretching with each wear.

So I tossed it in the washing machine on the hand wash cycle to get it to full. It worked. The fabric fulled, it got smaller and now fits perfectly. There was a tense moment when it came out of the wash. But fortune favours the brave and I got the result I was hoping for.

It’s a great pattern. Good, simple instructions. I’d knit another in a hearbeat.