Thermal Sweater Report

It's done! And I love it!

Well, truth is, it's not *quite* done--no buttons for the placket yet, but I've already worn it a couple times, and hopefully once the June gloom hits I'll get a few more chances before all wool is banished for summer. I love the look of the celtic buttons at The Button Drawer, but I worry that the metal edges will be sharp and cut the yarn, or the buttons will be too heavy and pull the knitting out of shape, and no one likes returning something they bought on the web, if only because of the waiting in line at the post office.

But honestly, I don't know if it even needs the buttons--no one else has noticed they're missing. The sweater is so beautiful and soft and fits so well. The waffle stitch doesn't cling but drapes nicely where there's ease, and doesn't strain at all where it stretches. It's definitely a stitch pattern that works well for garments, and I'm still considering making the sweater again in teal, maybe, when I need a mindless knit.

I have nothing but good things to say about the pattern. It's detailed without being wordy, and the number of sizes is astounding. I didn't find any mistakes, either. Also, this is the best-fitting sleeve and sleeve cap I've had the privilege to make, and not just because the waffle stitch is so stretchy. The cap itself is shallow so it doesn't do that wing thing when you lift your arm, but it's wide enough that you can easily move around. I'm totally stealing the measurements next time I have to adjust the sizing of a sweater. :)

Here are the details:

Pattern: Thermal from Knitty by Laura
Yarn: 7.25 skeins Knitpicks Gloss in Cocoa
Needles: 3 mm Addi Turbos
Size: A, but with mods
More pictures here
Modifications: I knit the straight portion of the body about 2" longer than specified. I'm pretty short (5'2") and I don't have that long a body, but I usually find myself adding length because I like my sweaters to sit on my hips, if only to keep my belly from getting cold. If I had stuck to the pattern, I easily could've used only 6.5 or 7 skeins, as it says. Also, I used a Channel Islands cast-on and loved it. It's a bit tricky to do and seems a little fidly knitting the first row, but it creates this lovely subtle picot edge with the twisted rib. In the name of spreading the Channel Islands gospel I've taken some pictures for a tutorial, and now I just have to type it out.

And that's that. Hopefully I'll be able to post a little more regularly, especially with the massive amount of knitting I did this weekend. I also need to catch up on other blogs and commenting, and sometimes that's more fun. Come June 15th or so, I'll be done with school, and then I'll have more time. I can't wait.