*dance break*
Ok, I'm back. You've actually already seen this sweater as I finished the knitting back in May, but now it is finally blocked, has its ends woven in, and has had actual pictures. I'm talking, of course, about my Kaleidoscope, knit out of Three Irish Girls Adorn sock in the You Are My Sunshine colorway for the Stockinette Zombies' Two Ball KAL.
I love this sweater. It is a flattering color, a flattering cut, and just edgy enough that I would not wear it to work (which seems to be the theme of my garment knitting this season). I love the fact that it was all stockinette but that I was intrigued enough that I did not get bored. If I say this is the sweater that made me want to knit sweaters again, would that sound weird? For a free pattern with surprisingly few directions, it was a wonderful experience.
At the same time, this sweater was a learning experience. You may notice that the sweater is pulling a bit at the button band. This is, shockingly, not because I have gained weight from all the stress-eating I have done lately. It is actually due to the fact that I knit the yarn too loosely. Let me explain. I am a tight knitter. Usually when I knit a sweater I automatically swatch with a size larger. The Kaleidoscope pattern calls for a US 7, so I ended up using a US 8. But because I used such a large needle, the fabric seems to have lost more of its stretch than I had anticipated. It's a great little garment, but if I were to knit it again I'd go down to at least a US 6 and knit the larger size.
I also modified the button band for five buttons instead of six, because I had the perfect shade of purple in my stash (I know, who knew I even had a stash? I sure didn't). This may also have contributed to the gaping issue, but they are too perfect for me to want to change them now.
The other thing I love about this sweater? My brother helped me take pictures. Yes, I got my seventeen year old brother to help take pictures of my knitwear. He even ran up to his room and put on a scarf and a hat so he'd be more "authentic". We had a lot of fun in the back yard with me asking "does this look ok? Are you making me look fat?" And him saying things like "No, no, you look lovely darling. Now give me more! Pretend there is an apple. No wait, that's too much Megan Fox."
And you know what? He is the best knitting photographer I've had yet. There may be a future for him in this.
If you would like to see more FOs, check out Tami's Amis!
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A way to help the button band from pulling like that is reinforcing it with ribbon. I prefer grosgrain. Plus there's so many cute ones out there (I saw some that had SHEEP on it and had to restrain myself!) that is really adds a special touch!
ReplyDeleteYour sweater is amazing.. It really is perfect. And how awesome of your brother to help out and make it so much fun.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun color! Your sweater looks great!
ReplyDeleteAwesome sweater! Be grateful you have such a willing photographer. I get a few quick snaps from my brother, then "there, are we done?" while I'm still going "get the sleeve detail. Did you get the sleeve detail?" Brothers...
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures. But he isn't too bad either. ;-)
ReplyDelete(Sorry if I somehow posted twice. I think my internet is screwy)
ReplyDeleteYour brother is too cute! I loved your photoshoot story ^_^
Pretend there's an apple hee hee
So fun. Your sweater, of course, is very lovely.
This is great, I have had this pattern in my favourites for a while and yours is making me want to make it. It looks super.
ReplyDeleteI have had a similar experience with a 4 ply sweater making me want to knit garments, which is odd because I whined about the endless stockinette while I was doing it :D
Your brother did great with the pictures.
What a lovely sweater !
ReplyDeleteI love the neckline and your brother did a great job taking pictures :)