Lady Violette

Noro Cropped Flowers Inspired Sweater

I have finally finished knitting and finishing this lovely Noro Kureyon Sweater. The color way is appropriately called The Greens. I executed the entire thing in moss stitch, except for the ribbing which is done in a knit 2 x purl 2 rib.

I ended up having to create the pattern myself which has often been the case for me when working with Noro yarns. I wanted a little 1950’s style bolero jacket that would fit snugly under the bust and stay put due to the ribbing. I had to add the wide ribbed button and buttonhole placket down the front and the ribbed collar to make the ribbing under the bust look balanced.

I struggled and ultimately succeeded to make the stripes on both sides of the sweater match up perfectly This took two more balls of yarn, than I would have needed, yardage wise, to complete the sweater. Noro is self striping hand dyed yarn and does not come out in a predictable manner. Every time I have used it I have needed a lot of extra yard in order to match the stripes on both sides.

I love Noro’s yarns and have made a number of garments out of them but without fail I have needed a lot more yarn than sizing recommendations or patterns called for. I highly recommend buying at least two more balls than you estimate you will need to be sure you can complete a garment. It is also made in limited color runs and dye lots so it is often impossible to get more if you find yourself running short.

If you end up with extra you can always use it up in a small project. It felts beautifully creating unusual effects! I do have some left over from this sweater and I plan to make one of the Lady Violette Clutch Purses out of it. It will come out in the same colors as the sweater but felted so the fabric will look totally different! They should be adorable together! In fact, I want to start on that tonight!

One-Row Buttonhole

I recommend using the One-Row Buttonhole method as the buttonholes described in average knitting patterns usually just create a hole which can stretch out easily. Just google Knitting One-Row Buttonholes to find several  instruction methods on how to make them.

If you want to make a similar collar there are patterns in Noro Flowers Book 4  by Jenny Watson with ribbed collars – not exactly like this and shown in different Noro yarns. In fact it would probably be much easier just to follow one of those and use the yarn they recommend.

I really wanted to make my bolero out of Kureyon The Greens yarn and already had the yarn. It is much heavier than any sweaters they show in The Flowers book. I did keep notes but I do not plan on writing out this pattern for others to use at this time. I am on to other knitting projects myself! This one took a very long time to complete and I am eager to plunge into something else now.

Here is the back view of the sweater. I really like the placing of the stripes on this one solid piece of knitting. It is always easier to work on a large pattern piece with self striping yarn than a series of small ones that need to be sewn together. Notice how the stripes are both horizontally longer and narrower in width on the larger back piece than on the two smaller front pieces. I think this shows the yarn off to greatest advantage. To end up with equally narrow stripes on the fronts you would have to break the yarn and attach new pieces constantly which isn’t good to do. I ended up deciding to compensate for the wide stripes in the front by the positioning of the yarn and the stripes in the front ribbing and on the collar. I am satisfied with the way it ultimately turned out but I want to try to work with Noro in larger more continuous pieces of knitting to best utilize the way the stripes naturally form in the yarn if I can.

I plan to wear this bolero with bright kelly green tights, the dress shown in the photo and, for additional warmth, with a dark green hand loomed Irish tweed hooded cape. The green alligator shoes I showed a couple of days ago will complete my look. Yet another good one for Saint Patrick’s day isn’t it?

The necklace in the photographs is vintage Givenchy.

Back View of Noro The Greens Kureyon Yarn Bolero Sweater