Gloria

I'm very pleased with the way my Gloria turned out. I'm a size 12 U.S. and made the M/L size. The style is sort of long in the back, but just right in front.

I need to get a picture of her on a body,but in the meantime, here she is. I've worn her pinned and unpinned and like her both ways, but I have this idea to put in a hidden hook and eye (one like they use on fur coats - heavy and wrapped in silk) to bring the two front sides together with the lapel turned back all the way down the front. I think she's going to look terrific that way! I know wrapped styles are supposed to be slimming, but she just feels unnecessarily bulky over my already bulkiest part when wrapped! (She looks just fine unfastened.)

My one big suggestion is to use a sewn bind-off. I almost didn't until I realized that I could use spit-splices to avoid the lumpiness my normal technique for joining in (two stitches with both the new and the old strand) would cause. It worked beautifully. The edge is totally stretchy and looks more like a cast-on edge than a bound off edge. I am totally incapable of binding off without the edge getting too tight, so this was a real breakthrough!

Oh yeah, my other big suggestion is to use spit splices all the way through. Duh. They work great with this yarn, and I would have avoided what seemed like hours of end-weaving!

JudiP53 (same ID on Ravelry, where there's a little more detail)

Addendum: Commenters asked about the spit splice and the sewn bind-off. I only used the spit splice during the bind-off, which is done all in one color. To do it, just lick your palms, then place the ends (helps if they were pulled to break instead of cut with scissors) overlapping between your hands and rub fast to create heat and friction. Add spit if needed and keep rubbing until both ends are nicely incorporated into the strand. Virtually invisible and absolutely no ends to weave in. Just wish I'd thought of doing it during the knitting of the rest of the sweater. I had to do LOTS of end weaving! The splice only works when joining the same color. There will still be the need to weave in ends where new colors are joined at the selvedges.

As to the comment about the yarn getting too worn with the sewn bind-off, I didn't have that problem at all. I avoided it by only working with a modest length of yarn, spit splicing as needed to go around that long, long, long stretch of collar, fronts and bottom. I used a double-strand to bind off (the solid band around the edge is knitted with a double strand of yarn) and I did make a point not to splice both strands in the same place. It worked great -- looks fantastic and I feel confident no excessive wear and tear on the yarn.

Be sure to check the comments for a description and link to a blog with more description and photos of Hanne's visit to a Dutch yarn shop. Sounds like she charmed everyone!