Bolero from Knit 2 in Jo Sharp Lumina

A pattern that works in several yarns, and in several styles is my favourite sort of pattern. I like to make up the exact garment planned by a designer as much as the next person, but adding my own variations is very satisfying.
This looks like a Summer garment.

 

Here is the same pattern, and same yarn, as an Autumn garment.

Last weekend, we went to a friend's house for dinner, and ate outside. It was a lovely evening, but the breeze became a bit chilly for the strappy dress I was wearing.
I could have done with this bolero.

Unfortunately, I don't have one yet, I actually knit this for a friend, to wear to her son's year 12 formal. It is modeled here by my daughter. It's a little big for her, but I think you can see the appeal of the garment better on a person than on a hanger, this yarn makes a beautifully drapey fabric.

The yarn is Jo Sharp 814 Halo Lumina, which is a gorgeous shimmering gold with integrated (soft) sequins. It's a perfect weight for spring and autumn evenings in our part of the world,.

Using Lumina for this pattern, rather than the Soho Summer cotton suggested in the starting pattern (Bolero from Jo Sharp Knit 2), makes the garment a little more dressy. Lumina requires some care in knitting, using bamboo needles and attention to detail when sewing up. I have written about working with Lumina in an earlier post

I adapted the pattern by knitting the backs and fronts in one piece to the armholes, by knitting the sleeves in the round, and by finishing the knitted on border and starting the sleeve cuffs with a stocking stitch edge, allowing it to roll over the ribbed binding for a softer look, with more textural interest.

I am impressed with the versatility of this pattern. After I'd completed the body, the sleeveless version looked rather smart as a waistcoat.
 There are 3 lengths of an A-line waistcoat in this yarn in Jo Sharp's Knit 4 book, which I admire, but this bolero version is equally as suitable.

The garment is fastened with a decorative kilt pin.

Scarf Series 2: Seaweed Scarf in Lumina

This scarf is one I was commissioned to make - twice, by one of the few people who can get away with whinging about something I knit for them, my Mum.

 (That is not my Mum modelling the scarf, did you guess?
 My Mum claimed that she was off to Fiji when I asked her to model the scarf, and posted it up so that someone else could wear it for the photos)
 The first scarf I knit for Mum from Lumina was in stocking stitch, as she found the rolled stocking stitch edges on the Lumina A line top I had made her from Jo Sharp Knit Issue 4 quite appealing.
 Unfortunately, once I had knit this scarf, her expression when she tried it on was at odds with her mendacious story that she "would get used to it" and that "It is very nice". I had dreadful visions of it lurking in the bottom drawer, wrenched it away from her, and started a new scarf, with a wavy edge, and little wriggly things along this long edge to emphsize the waviness and further limit rolling. (The Lumina did not seem to suffer at all from ravelling - I knit the new scarf straight from the old one without balling up the yarn in between, and did not lose a single sequin)

 I was very pleased with the organic looking edge, and although this is a glamorous evening scarf, with a lovely sheen and pretty sequins, it still looks like seaweed to me - pretty seaweed.



 I am particularly pleased with how the scarf can form a really flattering ruff -like collar, front or back as needed. I think this would look lovely with a strapless gown.

A-line cardigan, Jo Sharp Knit 4

After my long post about working with Lumina, I thought I should leave the actual garment for another post.

I am very pleased with the finished garment.It is a beautiful colour, and a perfect weight for this time of year in Queensland.
This is the shorter version,# 1 from Knit 4, with the closure from version 2, albeit with 5 loops on each side instead of 3.

I did change the construction slightly. I made the main body of the cardigan in the round, to reduce seaming, and when I did seam, I used only the cotton strands, splitting these out from the yarn.
The pattern called for separate, short crochet chain loops. It seemed to me, that these short loops would increase the sewing required, and also increase the risk of the rayon strand in the yarn unravelling.
Instead I made one long chain for each side of the front, and couched the chain to the inner edge in between the loops.


Unfortunately, although I made this cardigan for myself, the A-line shape is not really flattering on me. I should have altered the shaping to be more fitted at the waist.

My daughter is quite pleased with my mistake, I don't think I am getting this cardigan back.

Working with Lumina

I like to work with a variety of yarns. I am always interested to try different blends and fabulous new colours. I notice from reading knitting blogs and Ravelry that this is not a universal affection. Some people are very disparaging about any yarn that does not behave like wool. I don't think this is a reasonable requirement unless you are prepared to only work with wool.
Off my soap box now, but this common disparagement is why I am writing this post about Jo Sharp Lumina.

Lumina is an eyecatching, beautiful yarn, and it does not behave like wool. It requires some care to knit, but is truly lovely and unique. It has a strand of a tube knit structure, that appears to be mostly viscose twisted with two strands that appear to be cotton. The yarn is liberally threaded with gold coloured sequins. This beats threading hundreds or thousands of beads onto the yarn for a beaded effect IMO! The composition of the yarn is 62%viscose, 36%cotton and 2%polyester.


The twist of Lumina is quite loose. This means that a sharp, hard needle is likely to encourage the yarn to split. I would not choose metal needles for this yarn. I used bamboo needles with a slightly rounded tip, but casien or wooden needles would also work nicely.
The sequins in the yarn are not hindering to the knitting, as they are small and soft. I do not find them at all scratchy to wear when they end up on the inside of the garment.
The only extra care I needed to take with the knitting of my first garment from Lumina was to deal carefully with the viscose strand when joining a new ball. I found that the knit tube tended to unravel. I tied off the rayon strand with a reef knot whenever finishing or starting a new section of yarn, and the unravelling was tamed.

I did not stitch up the garment with the full yarn. Initially, I simply removed the sequins from the yarn by snipping open each sequin, as sewing with sequins would be just asking for catching and pulling. Despite this preparation, I had to remove some stitching, as knotting the rayon strand for sewing proved insufficient to stop the unravelling. Instead I fully untwisted the yarn, and sewed up the garment with the cotton strands, which was quick and effective.
The garment I knit was the A-line short sleeved cardigan from Knit 4. Photographs of the finished garment will be displayed soon.