Silk Tweed cardigan

Be warned: Today's post is a bit on the grumpy side. You see, I wore my new Garnstudio cardi to work today. It was the first time I wore it, and my conclusion is that I wasn't any happier wearing it than I was knitting it. Meaning the thing is a complete failure in both respects..

Problem 1: The yarn. I hated knitting with the Garnstudio Silke Tweed, and as it turns out I hate wearing the fabric it knits. It resembles household string to touch, although I am sure the string would knit up nicer, not rip so easily, and be free of little bits and shreds of I I don't know what - is it straw? Pieces of dead silk worm? Impossible to tell. I find it very difficult to knit an even fabric with this yarn, and steaming it didn't help much. The strangest thing about it was that it was really difficult to measure the work-in-progress; the gauge seemed to be constantly changing or perhaps the fabric was stretching, anyhow it caused me big problems in my attempt to knit identical sleeves. In the end the body of the cardi turned out to be skimpy and ill fitting despite my best efforts in measuring beforehand and constant cheching of gauge. And I almost forgot: The finished fabric itches like a rash!

Problem 2: The yarn. The crocheted edge is made with Garnstudio Eskimo, which is a bulky wool. It wasn't so bad to work with, but it turns out to be too heavy for the Silke Tweed, so the edge keeps folding inwards when I wear the cardi. All day long I found my self pulling and stretching and correcting it. I really dislike an ill fitting garment.

Problem 3: The yarn. The cuffs are knitted with thin Garnstudio Vivaldi mohair yarn on thick needles. I think the pattern called for 8 mm needles, but I had to go down to 6 mm to keep my sanity. So far so good, but again I'm having serious misgivings about starting the Birch...
There was supposed to be a crocheted mohair flower for decoration, but I had to give that up entirely. Also I find that I have to make som ties or something, because closing the cardi with a brooch didn't really work for me, although it looks pretty on the model.

So why did a choose this project in the first place? And why didn't I replace the Silke Tweed with the suggested alpaca??

I guess I liked the idea of combining the different textures of the different yarns in one garment. And I wanted to knit something summery, so alpaca wasn't an option, and I don't like cotton. And I really liked the effect added by that crocheted flower (the one that I did not make).

To be fair: My colleagues did compliment me on the lovely new cardi!!