FO: Shipwreck Cove

What better subject for my first post of the new year than my biggest (and I do mean biggest) accomplishment of the last?  For lo, I picked up the scissors and brought the yarn to its knees.  Behold!  The finished Shipwreck Cove!

Slope by Cookie A in Dragonfly Fibers Selkie, Black Pearl

So I am feeling just a wee bit over dramatic, but I am super stoked about this sweater.  I finished it mid December and wore it twice before I finally got around to taking pictures.  If I say that this is the sweater that makes me feel stylish and sexy will you think I'm over doing it?  I did not do much in the way of styling for this picture but I love pairing this with black leggings, tall black boots, a chunky ring, and dangly earrings.  It is also fun to pair with a boldly colored beret and matching eye shadow.

The ingenuity of this sweater is what makes it so great.  Though, it is the way in which the body is knit in a single piece that results in tired wrists and a frustratingly large amount of fabric in one's lap.  But it is so worth it!  The construction also really leveled up my finishing technique.  My seaming may still need a bit of work, but it has improved so much over the last year since I decided that I was just going to have to bite the bullet and improve.

This is the sweater that suffered from the giant sleeve debacle, in which my sleeve was a good 8-10 inches too long and had to be cut and reknit back down.

Can you tell?  (If you can, please don't tell me.  My ego is too fragile and I'm just too darned proud)

If I was not already sold on Cookie A designs, this would do it.  I wrote before about trying to refocus my knitting on things that actually make me feel and look good, rather than things that are just in my budget.  This yarn is clearly not a budget yarn at $50 a skein, but I earned it in trade and waited until this pattern came along.  It used about two and a half skeins for the size 40, but that did include a swatch and the giant sleeve.

End result?  Five stars, two thumbs, a partridge and a pear tree.  Now, I just need to find more reasons to go out because I have not worn it yet this week.

For more exciting FOs, check out the gang over at Tami's Amis.