Triumph

The grey sweater is finished, and best of all, it fits!

(Sorry about the lousy picture: self-photography is hard)

It doesn't fit perfectly - it could use a little bit more ease across the back, a touch less ease across the front, and the arms could stand to have a slightly bigger circumference. But despite that, it fits well enough. I wore it all day Thursday (it did snow), and I'm pleased with both its warmth and comfort.

The yoke pattern is No. 10 from Lett-Lopi No. 16, and it looks almost as good from the reverse as it does from the right side.


I didn't follow the pattern at all for shaping the body and sleeves. I winged it with the help of Elizabeth Zimmermann's seamless sweater guidelines. The challenging aspect of this was completely unexpected. Before I started, I swatched on both size 6 and size 7 needles so I could pick which fabric I liked better. I preferred the fabric knit on size 7 needles (it was a little lighter, and less stiff), so I went to the store and bought size 7 circulars in varying lengths. Or at least I thought I did. As I was finishing the body, I started trying it on the check the length and noticed that it seemed tighter than it ought. Perplexed, I checked the gauge of the sweater and discovered that it was the same as the swatch I'd done on size 6 needles. This seemed odd to me, so I got out my needle size checker and discovered that I'd been knitting on size 6 needles! There was no possibility of mix-up on my end (I simply don't own enough needles), since these had gone straight from the store's package labeled size 7 to my knitting. At that point, I wasn't willing to frog the body, so I adjusted the number of stitches to account for it all being on size 6s and went with it. The lesson? Always double check your needles, even when they're fresh from the store.

There's so much I like about this sweater - I love the dark blue with the grey. I really like the pattern of the yoke. I like the way it fits. I like the blue on the cuffs and hem. The technical detail I'm proudest of, though? The underarm grafts:


When I introduced the sweater to the blog, I mentioned that it was my Knitting Olympics project. Despite my late finish, I think I could have done the sweater in two weeks had I not severely underestimated the amount of time school was going to take. Still, I think I'm at least as happy with it now as I would be had I finished it during the Olympics.