Tegna - Off the Needles!

I spotted Tegna back in May on Ravelry; it's by Caitlin Hunter the designer and creator of Boyland Knitworks. An oversized boxy sweater, it's slightly cropped so perfect to wear over tunics and dresses which couldn't be a better fit for my dress style and wardrobe.

I chose to knit my Tegna in Blacker Lyonesse 4ply as I wanted a linen wool blend and my colour choice was Amethyst; it's a subtle lilac almost grey so pretty but not too girlie! I swatched to check my gauge, which is essential for this project, the designer advised that there was a vast range of different needle sizes used by the test knitters from 3.25mm to 4.5mm depending on the yarn chosen and your knitting style. I found that 3.75mm worked fairly close to the given gauge of 22 stitches and 28 rows, I also liked the fabric this needle size gave me. 

Tegna is knit from the bottom up in the round, it's quite a long cast on, but well worth it to create the stunning deep lace hem which I must say has blocked beautifully in the Lyonesse 4ply. The pattern offers both written and charted instructions for the lace.I favor charts but I know not everyone does so it's good to have a choice.

I took this knitting project on holiday with me and worked on it whenever I could including on the plane and when I was sat on the beach, once I was past the lace its was easy knitting with plain stocking stitch.

Once you reach the armholes, you then knit back and forth, and short rows are used to add shape to the shoulders. The shoulders are joined using a three needle cast off which gives you a lovely neat finish.

The neckline can be worked from either live stitches, ie putting them on a stitch holder and working them later or by casting off and then picking up the stitches. I followed the advice of the designer who recommended for linen yarns that picking up your stitches would give a more stable finish to the neckline and she was spot on the neckline has turned out really nice. I knit this on a slightly smaller needle, a 3.25mm.

When it came to casting off my sleeve cuffs I wanted a cast off with plenty of stretch, so I opted for Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off. This cast off is well worth having in your knitting knowledge. For techniques like this, I save them to Pinterest so I can refer back to them time and time again.  

I'm so pleased with my Tegna, all I need now is the perfect tunic to wear it over. I've spotted one on Merchant & Mills website the only trouble is I'm no dressmaker!

If you decide to cast on Tegna remember to share your finished sweaters on Instagram, use the tags #boylandknitworks, #tegnasweater and #tangledyarnuk

Happy knitting!