a rose by any other name…

Cheesy, I know – I couldn’t resist.
I ordered Breeze by Kim Hargreaves on Memorial Day* and have spent several evenings thumbing through the book since then. I love several of the designs – they’re wearable with just enough detail to make them interesting to knit too.
*BTW, I ordered it Monday night and it arrived on my doorstep on Friday! Great service – I expected to wait at least another week.
I had planned on making this weekend as work-free as possible (both work-work and knotions-work), and I wanted to start a big project. I’ve started several in the past few months but I’ve lost steam on all of them quickly.
I decided to give Rose a try.

It fits all my criteria – great wearability, enough details to keep me interested, and ability to use stash yarn – sorta.
Rose calls for Rowan Handknit Cotton (worsted weight) and I’m subbing Rowan Felted Tweed (dk weight). It’s a really different yarn but I went with it for a few reasons:

• A collar that large will likely be warm, so making it in a cotton won’t make it any more wearable in warmer weather.
• I’ve had the Felted Tweed for 2 years now and I lovelovelove the color.
• Ever since Kristy started making sweaters in finer yarn at larger gauges I’ve wanted to give it a try.

I knit up a swatch at worsted gauge (20 sts/4 in) and the texture was awesome – almost spongy. I think the looser gauge may also make it a little less warm, and with the alpaca content I’m fine if it’s a little less warm.
I can see wearing this sweater with a variety of bottoms – jeans (of course), khakis, cotton twill skirts, and maybe even dress pants (not sure the collar would work with dress pants). I want to find a burnt orange t-shirt to wear underneath it, thinking you may even be able to see a hint of the color though the knit with the larger gauge.
I almost decided against Rose because of the way the peplum is made – you knit a narrow band of garter stitch and then pickup stitches along the long side to do the rest of the body. I wasn’t sure I had it in me to knit all that garter stitch, but something clicked and I knit over 300 rows of garter stitch yesterday and the peplum is done.
I’m making a few minor mods – I’m knitting it in the round, and I plan to knit the raglan in one piece once I knit the bottoms of the sleeves and the body. I’ll also add in some short rows for bust shaping, and i decided to have the knit side face out. Rose has the purl side facing out, but I think with the tweed there’s enough going on already.
It’s mid-July (albeit one of the most temperate July’s I’ve ever seen), and I already can’t wait for fall so I can wear Rose! It’s been a long time since I’ve been so taken with a project – it’s nice to be back.