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March 21, 2006
The Thrill of Victory
Let me get right to the point: I adore this sweater. I like it so much, in fact, that I have already worn it four times since I finished -- three times for dinner with friends and again to its Knitsmiths debut yesterday. It's comfortable, the fit is right, and the yarn is so soft. In terms of the way it feels, Samoa is the most like Calmer that I've encountered.
The pattern's been written for days now, and I've been trying to get it posted for about 48 hours straight. Yesterday, Jason's laptop ate it (note to self: Macs and Word documents originated on a PC do not play nicely together). Today, I finished recreating it and converting it to a PDF while at work... only to forget to grab my *($^*&% USB drive on my way out the door.
But I cannot contain my joy at the finished product that is this sweater, so I'm posting this entry now and will add the pattern tomorrow morning. [Update: It's up!] In the meantime, I managed to salvage the pattern notes from a previous version on my home computer-- they are in the extended entry if you'd like to read a little bit about the sweater and its construction.
- As many of you know, I knit loosely. Very, very loosely. I used 6s and 7s to knit this sweater, but I suspect many of you will end up using 7s and 8s.
- As I was knitting, I kept row-by-row notes. When I went back to write the pattern, I relied heavily on row counts to do it. As a result, you'll see that the sections (ribbing, armholes, etc.) includes row numbers from beginning to end. I kept them in the published pattern in the hope that they might be helpful in allowing you to make adjustments if your row gauge is different from mine.
- One of the things that I love best about the model sweater is its flattering fit and high ribbing. In particular I love that the ribbing does not "pull in" too much, which allows the line of the sweater to continue uninterrupted. In order to attain this look, I knit the ribbing in larger needles than the rest of the sweater. (Claudia describes another technique for achieving this look in her Mariah wrap-up entry, in the paragraph that starts "Mods".)
- This pattern is fairly easy. The only technically complex section is the short row shaping for the neck, and though I think it makes for a smoother neckline, I've provided alternative directions if you don't want to use short rows.
- Wanna help? This was my first ever attempt to write a pattern, and as soon as I finished my sweater I wanted to share it with the world. Unfortunately, that means it's only written in one size: mine. I would love to size this up and down, and I would doubly love some help with doing that! If you make adjustments for size, please let me know how it goes. Provided that you get the same gauge, if you send in your numbers when you're finished I'll add them to the pattern and give you credit for the help. Likewise, I am 100% certain there are errors in this pattern. If you find mistakes and/or have suggestions, please drop me a line!
Posted by shannon at March 21, 2006 9:36 AM