they say it's spring

 

Surely, you will agree with me that, after daffodils, there is nothing more spring-like than a knit wooly sweater.  No?

Well, I finally finished my Lopi sweater. There are some interesting (well, to me --you are likely to feel otherwise) yarns (ha!) I could spin (double ha!!) about this sweater--sorry, it's spring and I always get a little punchy on the first day of spring.

This sweater was two years in the making.  The yarn came from a neighbor who read an article about me that appeared in a local newspaper.  In the article, the writer mentioned that I was a knitter, a rather obsessive one.  So my neighbor, Lisa, figured that I was a good person to entrust some Lopi wool that she had sitting in her attic for the last three decades to (no, really).  She received it from a friend from Greece who went off knitting; and, Lisa never got around to doing anything with the yarn, so the wool showed up at my door...with a Reynolds Lopi pattern book (Volume 22 - ravelry link).

The pattern book was older, and the designs were not super modern, but that is not necessarily a bad thing.  I figured I could use the yarn and pattern book to try some new things, right?

This sweater presented all sorts of great learning opportunities for me, which is, really, why I chose to knit this particular in the first place.

Firstly, I have to say, I knit this sweater twice.  I broke my own stance against ripping and ripped the sweater--in its entirety because the gauge issues the first time around could not be resolved; and, for some reason, it took knitting the whole sweater to figure this out--sometimes I don't want to own my knitting imperfections.

The reasons I selected the particular pattern from all the possible choices were threefold: I could try stranding three colors (as I have only done two-color stranded knitting in the past); I could use all of the yarn given me; and, I could finally try steeking.  As it turns out, the steeking is what delayed the finishing of this sweater.  Because, as I have said before, the thought of cutting my knitting makes me want to vomit.

Well, there is no longer any quesiness around the whole steeking business.  After months of putting it off, I did it.  And you know, it wasn't so bad.  I thought the Lopi book could have provided clearer instruction; but, there you are.  If I really wanted to prep myself, I would have gone to the winter 2006 IK magazine and re-read that article that Eunny wrote on steeking, but I didn't feel like pulling out the magazines, I just had to steek it and be done with it (because, if we are being truthful here, and I am, I just wanted to finish this sweater so I could knit other things).

I will own my imperfections in the sweater, now that I have knit it twice and steeked it.  The front of the yoke does not line up properly.  I think this is due to a couple of things, all surrounding my steek.  My gauage for the purl stitches was totally off from the gauge of the rest of the sweater.  I think I was nervous sbout the steek even while I was knitting it.  Also, I didn't switch needle sizes for the ribbing and button band as the pattern prescribed, because I didn't like the cinched look of the ribbing and band in the patternbook so I knit with US 10's throughout. 

This misalignment is only noticeable when the cardigan is buttoned though.    So, I suppose it's a good thing I rarely button my cardigans.

The part of this sweater that I love best is the yoke.  I was able to do all of that stranded knitting in a pretty even tension and I think it looks pretty good, well, the back does.

While knitting it, I thought that this would be a sweater knit purely for the purpose of learning, but it fits well and it's warm, so it will be a good "kick around" sweater, I think.

So overall, I think I am pretty happy with it.

 

I will put up the details in the gallery and ravelry for anyone interested.  Oh, and happy spring!

Comments

[Steph]

Simply lovely. The milk-coffee colors of this sweater are wonderful and it looks super cute on you!

[Oiyi]

It's beautiful! And you should be proud of it. Funny thing is that I did not notice it didn't align in the front until you said something. I was in awe of the sweater and kept thinking how awesome it was. Now, the front is glaring at me. LOL! Who cares! It is still fabulous.

[industrious sarah]

It's lovely, great job! The yoke looks simply amazing

[Nora]

Gorgeous colours - you look beautiful.

[Liz K]

I think it looks great -- and it sure beats all that Lopi sitting in someone's attic. It sounds like it finished up beter than expected, and that's always good!

[Lisa]

Nice work!!

[Deborah Kindel]

Nova, you are such an honest knitter. It's fun and encouraging to read your sweater journey. Love the peek-a-boo photo.

[SpiderWomanKnits]

Wow! It really turned out lovely, Nova. Steeking makes me want to puke too and I haven't crossed the line yet. Your story is inspiring.

Spring is the perfect time for a Lopi sweater since you don't have to cover it's gorgeousness with a jacket :)

[whitney]

I loved reading this post. And I love the sweater...but you know how I am about the yoke. It looks really great, and I'm glad it was such a good learning experience, too.

[grumperina]

This was a great challenge, with a wonderful result! I hope you enjoy wearing it... perhaps in the fall, since it seems to be getting warmer and warmer :).

[Emilee]

That's gorgeous!

[tiennie]

Nova! This is so wonderful!! I don't see any misalignments. It seems like it will be the perfect kick around sweater. :)

[Erin]

It looks so comfortable and I love the yoke. How fun that you got free (and good) yarn on your doorstep!

[Kristy]

Yay, you steeked! The sweater looks great, and I'm glad you learned so much in the process.

[Heather]

So impressive, love the peek-a-boo shot:)

[Kwana]

What a beauty and you look wonderful in it. I'm glad you learned so much. I really need to take a class and get my learning on.

[Pat]

I love "natural" color Lopi sweaters and yours is SO pretty! I had a similar Lopi cardi that I wore as a jacket for years before it TOTALLY felted in a mistake washing(all that was salvageable were the beautiful buttons).
I know you'll enjoy yours next fall/winter!

[stacey]

Beautiful! Looks like a cozy companion for the chilly spring we've been having!

[Alice]

This Lopi is A DO RA BLE!! Love the natural colors!

[kathy]

Nice! And now you can knit something new! Very nice!

[Rachel]

This is a beautiful sweater! I love the colors you chose! I so appreciate how detailed your posts are regarding your knitting items--I always learn a lot about the process! Great photoshoot too--last picture is too cute!

[Sheryl]

Nova, The sweater is beautiful, but I disagree with you on the probable cause of the misalignment of the yokes. Whenever I've had the fronts of a cardigan not line up when buttoned it was because of the way the stiches were picked up for the button/hole bands. Perhaps you picked up a different number of stitches on each side, or picked them up unevenly. Anyway, it still looks great on you, and you get multiple gold stars for steeking!

[Harpa J]

What a great job you did!
And like my grand mother always said when someone mentioned imperfections in knitting - well then you can see that it is hand made!

[Nell]

Congrats on your steeks! That's bravery. Seriously. And isn't it nice that the yarn is finally what it always wanted to be?!?!?!

[Andree]

Very nice work!