Red Elphaba sweater

This sweater probably didn't take that long to knit, though it felt longer because it kept being picked up and put down a lot. 

The pattern is Elphaba by Mary Annarella.  Knit top down in one piece with raglan, elbow length sleeves and lace trim, this is the second version of this useful little sweater which I've knitted. The first was purple and it gets lots of wear so I expect this one to be similarly versatile. I tend to wear these over a thin polo neck with full length sleeves as a layering piece and find this works really well for me. 

The yarn is Auracania Ranco sock in a deep, and slightly variegated, kettle dyed red.  Its a slightly brownish red so its very warm looking.  I do like to have a red sweater in the wardrobe at all times.  So warm feeling when its cold and dark in the winter.  This yarn was a gift from J for my birthday last year and was bought at last year's Yarndale.  The yarn knits up beautifully and being superwash should be practical for laundering too.   I do have some left,  enough to make a little sleeveless sweater which I plan to create next year.  The photos were taken late at night under strong, but decidedly artificial, light.   This has turned the colour in the close up shot of the lace hem much pinker than the reality.  The full length shot shows the true colour.   Isn't the variegation resulting from the yarn's kettle dyed process, lovely? So subtle but really adds interest to the finished article.  All in all, I'm really pleased with how this came out. 

I'll be wearing this to work tomorrow with a black polo neck underneath it and a black straight skirt, snakeskin boots and a big smile brought on by the cheerful colour to counteract that Monday feeling.