FO Friday: Striped Sweater!

 

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For this FO Friday, I've finished the commission knit sweater!  This is before its final wash-and-block, but I'm still pretty happy with how it turned out, and I hope my customer is, too!

 It took a couple of tries, since it's a drop-shoulder sweater done to custom measurements, so, I had to unravel several times to get it to do what I wanted it to do.   I based the construction loosely on the sweaters from the Handy Book of Patterns (seriously this is a great resource for designers to see how things all go together!) though, since the sweaters in there are set-in-sleeve sweaters, I had to do quite a bit of additional math!  My client also wanted a wider neckline, so, that was more Designer Math too.  (All those High School Algebra and Geometry classes I never thought I'd use are proving very useful now!)

But, honestly, I'm loving the finished sweater, and filing this yarn away as something I might use to make stuff for me, too!

Speaking of yarn, the yarn is Lang Yarns Cloud in the colourway "Nebula".  I was a bit worried it would felt, since it's a 'blown' yarn - that is, fine merino is blown into a nylon mesh.  This creates a soft, lofty yarn without the structural problems that one ply yarns can often have, but, I was still worried it might felt or pill on me.  It's pilled a teeny bit, but I blame that on the frogging, honestly!  I've yet to see how it behaves in the wash as a full sweater, hopefully there won't be any unpleasant surprises!

What I'm really enjoying about this yarn is how light it is.  Most heavier yarns like this are, quite literally, heavier.  But because of the blown construction of this yarn, it's a bulky yarn without the bulky weight, which is very very nice - especially when I'm carrying a sweater around and knitting on the subway or at knit nights! 

Needles are my *4 mm circulars.  Yes, I knit the front and back flat to help control the pooling and make thicker stripes at my client's request, but the sleeves were picked up and knit, and so was the ribbing at the neckline.  I don't like seaming (I can do it, I just don't enjoy it!) so the more stuff I can knit in the round, the better!

What's next?  I've got some repairs to do to a different commission project, and, I've revived an old project with a second take on the Fireside Mittens!  Stay tuned to the Youtube Livestreams to hear more about those (and to come and hang out and stitch!)