Vixen Pullover - Cast On!

This is one of the patterns for the Fleece and Harmony third quarter Canadian Collaboration.  The pattern is the Raynard and Vixen Pullover, but that is just too long, so I shortened it to the Vixen Pullover for my project page.  It uses Fleece and Harmony Selkirk Worsted in three colors:

Crow Wing

Fox & Kits (appropriately enough)

And Fairy Ring

I am right at the point in the yoke where I have three colors (the Crow Wing is for the eyes and nose of the foxes), and that is proving a little bit challenging.  I know that I could duplicate stitch those in later, but I really want to try to knit with all three colors.

I did work a couple of repeats with the three colors and then decided to take a break and focus on my Divine Beauty Shawl.  I am also a little concerned with the fabric I am getting.  I am good on the gauge, but I’m not sure I like the fabric.  I did a swatch on US 6 needles (the pattern calls for US 5 for the body), and I like the feel of that fabric, but the gauge I get with the larger needles does not match the gauge of the pattern and adjusting for the difference (by going down a pattern size) doesn’t seem to quite work out for the way I want the sweater to fit.  When I finish the colorwork yoke I am going to put the knitting on Barber Cord and block it and just see how I like it and how it fits.  I can always start over if I am not happy with the result.

The collar is worked on US 3 (3.25 mm) needles, and I remembered to use a needle one size smaller than the body needle on the straight stockinette short row section on the back of the neck.  So I used a US 4 (3.5 mm) for that part, and then switched to the US 5 (3.75 mm) needle when I got to the colorwork.  I’ll use a US 4 (3.5 mm) for the straight stockinette portion of the body as well.  I learned this trick while working the Bunny Wishes Sweater.  When I knit the Bunny Wishes Sweater I did not go down one needle size from the body for the short row section on the back of the neck and I can see the difference - fortunately it is not obvious - but I had made a mental note regarding that customization for the future.

Pattern:  Raynard and Vixen Pullover by Sarah L. Kelly

Yarn:  Fleece & Harmony Selkirk Worsted

Needles:  US 3 (3.25 mm), US 4 (3.5 mm), US 5 (3.75 mm)