New Sweater!

I had the pleasure of test-knitting a sweater pattern for Becky, a very talented knitter and designer whose blog I've followed for the last couple years.  A couple months ago she said she was looking for test knitters for a new design and I thought, hey, I've been wanting to knit another full-sized sweater!  So I volunteered.

This is the fastest, easiest sweater pattern I've ever made!  It took less than 5 days knitting to make up - I never thought I'd make an adult sweater in under a week.  The pattern knit up with no difficulty; it was very easy to follow.

I used KnitPicks' natural, undyed Wool of the Andes worsted weight yarn, dyed to two different shades of blue using Rit dyes, with the contrast left undyed.  It was my first foray into dyes other than Kool-Aid, and went pretty well!  The yarn is slightly thinner than the heavy worsted suggested in the pattern; I went up a size to #10 needles, which produced a slightly looser, more drapey fabric than the heavy worsted would, but keeps its structure well.  I would say if you like a firmer, stiffer fabric, stick with the heavy worsted, but this worked well for my preferences.  It knit to the correct gauge on the size 10 needles, and blocked out to the right size.  (It's also budget-friendly!  The whole sweater took only 5 hanks for the main colour and one each for the two contrast colours.  I dyed 6 of the light blue and had nearly two whole ones left over, plus plenty of the dark blue and the white - so my dad's getting a scarf out of the remainder.)

This sweater is designed for men so there's no shaping to speak of.  I made the 40" chest size; it has enough ease that had I wanted a snugger fit I should've done the 36" size for my brother (whose chest measures 37") - but I like this loose, relaxed fit so this was perfect.

And oh, btw - it fits me, too :)  In fact I liked it so much I don't think I'm going to let David have it, after all!  The fit is flattering on a woman, too - relaxed and oversized without being hugely bulky.

My only note on the pattern would be the sleeve length: I knit the sleeves to the measurements given and they still ended up quite long on both me and my brother - and we both have longer than usual arms.  So those with shorter arms might want to take off an inch or so.  I happen to love really long sleeves, so the fact that these come down over my knuckles delights me, but they ARE long.

(This is just documenting the models switching off!  I wore David's boots because they look nicer than my monster boots, and we had to swap sweaters, but neither of us bothered stepping inside to do it!)

Oh, and we had a snowball fight, too.  Normal.

To sum up: this is a really nice pattern!  QUICK to knit, very simple, but just enough colour work that it's not mind-numbingly boring; I enjoyed making this.  And there are only two short seams, which suits me just fine; I hate sewing in a knitting project!  The fit is nice, and both of my picky brothers approved of the design :D  Two thumbs up from me!