I love when I see a design and think “I must make this like yesterday”. That’s how it was when I first saw Camilla Vad’s Magnolia Bloom pullover. The wheels immediately began to turn to decide which Berroco Yarns I could make it with. Despite not being the right weight, I couldn’t shake wanting to make it with our Mochi yarn which is so light and fluffy.
After searching the warehouse shelves for other good substitutes, I decided to go with my gut on using Mochi. I made a gauge swatch to get a feeling of what I was working with. Here’s where things can get tricky or nerdy depending on how you look at it. My Mochi gauge swatch was measuring 16sts/4″ in stockinette where the pattern needed 12sts over 4″. I got out my trusty calculator and with encouragement from one of our amazing reps (shout out to you, Andra!), began multiplying the various body stitches with my gauge to see which size I could potentially make. The numbers of her XL size turned out to be the perfect size for me, so I decided to go for it.
I knew there was a chance I’d have to modify the sweater in regards to my row gauge but I could add (or subtract rows) as I went to get the right size.
Turns out I didn’t have to make many, if any, changes! I added the neck shaping where she did in her pattern (below the motif) and I added a row or two to give me a longer yoke depth before dividing for the sleeves.
As for the sleeves, I made no modifications.
Ya’ll.. I’m thrilled with how it came out! I could have made lots of different mods but I really enjoyed just making it as it was written for the XL.
Pattern: Magnolia Bloom, XL (which gave me a Medium size sweater) My bust size is about a 36 and I was looking to make a size that gave me about 6-8″ of ease.
Yarn: Mochi – 5 balls of Ginnan 3203
Pattern Gauge: 12sts/4
My Gauge: 16sts/4 over stockinette
Needles: I used size US8 and 9s
My only regret… I’m sad I made this so late in the season. I’m wearing it every chance I get before it gets too hot out and even then… well like a good friend told me, that’s why they invited A/C 😉
Happy Making!
M
Very nice pattern, very nice shade.