My first shipment of wholesale yarn included a kilo of Superwash Zebra DK, a 100% merino wool that has black and white yarn. I was massively interested in seeing how that would knit up, so I started a project in June 2022. I cast on the bolero Aurea by Berroco Design Team and planned to incorporate the eyelet details of the Center Street by CJOriginals on the back. When I look back on the project and what the Aurea pattern says, I did not follow the instructions. I didn’t make separate pieces for the back and fronts and instead knit those all in one piece. Once the main body was done, I put it in a corner and only looked at it again in May 2023.
At that time, I decided to start knitting the arms. Again not wanting to deal with seaming, I tried to do top down set-in sleeves. I’m fairly certain that I didn’t make the sleeve cap large enough, so that’s something to keep in mind for next time. But the sleeves are there and that’s all that really counts. I then started on the neck edge, which was frogged a few times before I was happy with it. It needed a lot more stitches than I initially thought.
I do really like this yarn, it’s so soft and the way it stripes is really interesting. I do find it funny that there is less of a raccoon arm effect, where the stripes on the arms are much wider than those on the body. I guess the knitting in the round of the sleeve and the much longer knitting back and forth in the body almost cancel each other out. I haven’t yet entirely figured out how to wear it, because it does gape a little. I think I’m going to find some sort of pin to keep the fronts together and see how I like it then. For now, I’m happy with it because it is cute and warm.