This story is the knitting equivalent of ‘A Tale of Two Cities’… “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” Only really it should be “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, and then it was the best of times again”. ‘A Tale of the Two Pomme de Pins’. 😉
I have knit this pattern once before back in 2015 and I was in love. The pattern is lovely to knit, and I loved the yarn I used (although no longer in my preferred wardrobe colour palette). Here it is:
Not a great pic but she was gorgeous
I loved it so much. I wore it over and over for the first week before I’d even given it a wash and block. The arms were the perfect length, it was long enough to almost cover my butt and it was beautiful. I thought that after that week of continual wear I should probably give it its first bath. The yarn it was knit in was KnitPicks Wool of the Andes Sport and I’m well aware that that yarn is a fabulous felter so I was being extra gentle. I washed it in lukewarm water, no agitation, a small amount of gentle swishing followed by a gentle squeeze out. You can see where this is going, right? As I usually do, I popped the cardigan into a delicates bag and put it into the washing machine to have a spin (on the lowest speed setting), as I have done a million times before (well, it feels like it! 😉 ) with all different types of yarn, both superwash and non-superwash, and guess what (you’ve already figured it out right?) it shrunk and felted slightly. It was now too small for me to wear. The armholes were far too small for me. I was crushed. It had been my favourite knit to that point, and now it just made me sad to look at it. 😦
So, of course I vowed to try again. I almost immediately jumped onto KnitPicks to see what they had in the way of sport weight superwash yarns (I wasn’t risking that again!!!) and I found that my only option was to get some bare Stroll Sport. At this point I didn’t know how to dye yarn so I purchased 7 skeins of the yarn along with a Greener Shades starter set. I used one of the skeins to test different dye formulas but I couldn’t settle on one. So I put the whole lot away for over a year.
At the end of 2016 I created a colourway called ‘Wisteria Arbour’. I had it. This was my colour. So I dyed up my 6 remaining skeins in this colourway and I used the project as my Christmas Eve cast on. I was worried slightly that the colourway would be too variegated for the lace in the pattern but I needn’t have concerned myself. As an Instagram friend commented, it seems I have the perfect mix of colour and pattern:
I just love this. It’s all I hoped for and more. And I can’t wait for it to be completed and for the cold weather to come around again. I’m gonna wear the crap outta this cardigan. 🙂
Have you ever had a disaster happen to a beloved hand knit? Let me know in the comments.
Pattern: Pomme de pin by Amy Christoffers (US$7.00 Ravelry download)
My Muddlings 
Oh man, that is so sad. I would hate to have spent so much time on a sweater to only have it felt so badly.
I haven’t had any sweater issues, but I have had that problem with a few pairs of socks. One felted really bad and the other got very very fuzzy (it had cashmere in it – never again!)
I hope this sweater brings you more joy, both in knitting and wearing.
~Lisa
Thanks Lisa! 🙂
Oh gosh, that sure looks comfy and lovely.
It’s so squishy! 😀
I’ve got this sweater in my queue, having long admired it- so glad that you have rave things to sty about it as a great knit to wear! I’m so sorry about the first one felting, that is so sad. I accidentally shrunk my old thermal pullover, one of my favourite sweaters. I still have it somewhere, can’t bear to look at it or part with it, it seems.
Hi Julie! Wow! A knitting celebrity reading my blog; I’m honoured!!! 🙂 It really is a great pattern. It’s such an interesting construction and a great easy-wearing style. The felting was a very sad event. 😦 Sorry to hear about your pullover. 😦 I’m like you, I can’t bear to look at my shrunken cardi, but also can’t bear to throw or give it away. Looking at it just makes me sad. Maybe if I finally lose some weight I’ll be able to wear it at it’s smaller, felted size! 😉
I made a Pomme de Pin as well. I had a really difficult time making it, but it too was a favorite. What I didn’t realize is that the yarn I chose would pill so badly. It doesn’t get as much wear anymore, but I also have considered making another one.