craftgrrl | Finishing things - knitted sweater (Reply)

In a stroke of genius, I have determined that actually FINISHING stuff I started can be a great way to make space in my sewing room for, you know, ME. I'm notorious for starting stuff (I am not alone here, I know it) with plenty of lead time for Christmas and birthdays, and eventually giving the handmade gift one and two years AFTER the occasion. My father got a merchant navy turtleneck sweater in July 2008, intended to be his Christmas present in 2006. Then his Father's Day present in 2007, then his Christmas present in 2007, then Father's Day again... and so on.

Behold! I give you the MIRACLE SWEATER: I started it in March, 2008, and IT IS FINISHED! TODAY!

This is from a Bernat "Naturals" pattern book currently on the rack in crafting places that sell Bernat yarns. It was supposed to be done in bamboo yarn, but zoiks! that was expensive! so I substituted the Bernat alpaca-acrylic blend. Not too shabby and it's yummy-soft, warm enough for winter (the sweater pattern was in the "spring" section of the book). One thing I've learned from this Bernat pattern: treat it like a McCall's sewing pattern! According to their size chart, I was an XL, so I knitted up an XL. But I'm swimming in it, you can see that. On the other hand, it's perfect for my mom, and it's been a very, very long time since she got a handmade gift worthy of regular daytime wear from me. And I happen to have something else I have to send to her, so this is the perfect opportunity, blah, blah, blah...

One thing that irks me a little, and hopefully some knitters here will be able to point me in the right direction: I had to increase on every knit row to make the cowl neck in front, and you can see a "V" because the increases left a gap. How do I avoid that in the future?

Please to not notice the bleargh face - it's been a very long, hot and sticky weekend for me at both the farmers' market and working in a pioneer village garden. (They didn't make me wear a pioneer dress, thank goodness, but oooowwww... weeding with improvised period tools is not fun.) And I'm running on about 20 hours of sleep since Thursday.)
And the sleeves are the reason I bought the pattern book. I love the sleeves. If I ever start another sweater, I'm going to make the sleeves like this. And I love the curled hems - they're supposed to be that way. Yes, I blocked. The first row of every piece is purls to the right side of the fabric, and casts off purled to the right side.

So, please: any suggestions on how to eliminate that "V" in the cowl neck?