T
he Loop Knitting Shop in London is hosting a “Knit Along” (which is called “KAL” as I’ve learned recently). The designer Norah Gaughan published a pattern which you can buy at Loop as well.
There’s also a corresponding discussion group on Ravelry and a helpful blog post by Loop. If you join it via Instagram they recommend using the hashtag #soussousKAL and link to them in @looplondonloves so they can follow everyones progress virtually.
I chose to use Madelinetosh DK in colorway C
alligraphy, a beautiful plied DK merino yarn (very stretchy too as long as it’s not blocked). The color is kind of a pale shell pink with grey and taupe.
I swatched in the recommend pattern (double moss stitch) and tried desperately to get gauge but this didn’t really work out. I counted 18sts (10cm/4in) for all needle sizes I tried, which were (from the bottom on the picture): 4.5mm/US 7, 4mm/US 6, 3.5mm/US 4 and the last top rows in 3mm/US 2.5.
At first I didn’t block the swatch, but liked needle 3.5mm/US 4 most because knitting the pattern stitch with it was most comfortable and the tension of the fabric seemed to be alright, though it was very stretchy anyway. Couldn’t see much difference visually though between the different needle sizes. But the largest needle (4.5mm/ US 7) produced a veeery loose fabric (and I’m normally knitting very tight), while needle 3mm/ US 2.5 had too tiny stitches and the fabric felt like a brick. :)
After a few more days considering (and some advice from other Ravelry knitters), I decided to wet block my swatch (using Soak wash). The fabric visibly “relaxed”, but lost also nearly all of its former stretchiness and stitch count is even further off than before (18st with 3mm/US 2.5 and 17 st. with 3.5mm/US 4).
On the other hand, it gained in softness and drape. So considered all of these points, I guess I will knit the smallest size with a 3.5mm (here’s my project page on Ravelry).
suzan oakhill 