Svenson

I worked hard all day adding the neckband and working a tubular bind-off to finish my Svenson Pullover. From start to finish, this project took exactly a month. Some kind of record for me, but I never would have got it done in such time if I hadn't had a long break between semesters. These frigid past few days have been very motivating, too.

This is a great pattern. Lots of challenges, yet memorizable. I've always wanted a moss stitch sweater. Now I've got that and then some! The way the pieces were designed with purl gutters next to the edge of the sleeves and the moss stitch up against the body pieces made it very easy to figure out how to seam things together. Bonus: with this Arbor yarn, you can actually use it for the seaming, something not advised with Brooklyn Tweed's Loft and Shelter lines. The raglan decreases on the sleeves and body were half-versions of the double 1-over-2 cables done on the body so when they were seamed together they came together like zippers. That was supposed to be the effect, anyway. Not sure I got it exactly right, but for the most part I think the seams are fairly invisible. A lot of clever thought went into this design.

It's styled on the slim side, which I'm not always, so do be aware of that. The sleeves cling a bit, which I'm not used to, but find I don't really mind. I added 1.25 inches to the body length and might have done well to add even another inch. I also added an inch or so to the sleeves, and they're just right. A person commented on Ravelry that all the modeling shots show the sleeves pushed up, so it's hard to get an idea of how long the sleeves actually are on a person. Long ago it was pointed out to me that it's important to note what's not showing in the photographs. Do none of them show the back? Is the model always hunched over in a funny way? I'm not saying that's going on here, but I, too, noted the sleeve position. Since may arms tend toward Charlotte Greenwood proportions, I have a habit of adding a bit of length to sleeves in patterns. That's not always worked in the past, but this time it was a good call.

It was also pointed out that the neck opening seemed a bit wide. Once the sleeves were seamed on, there was indeed a very large head hole at the top. After adding the half-twisted rib neckband, it closed in quite a bit, but I think most people would definitely want to wear a collared shirt under this. I wouldn't call it a boat neck, but it is a bit broad. I suppose that could be mitigated by making the ribbing in the neckband longer, but at some point the proportions might start looking wrong. I don't mind it the way it is at all.

I steam-blocked the pieces as I went along, although I think I might still wet-block this before I wear it. I got the gauge called for and all the pieces fit. I just need a tad more roominess for this to be perfect. I'm thinking it'll be good to get back to campus tomorrow and away from holiday snacking.

Oh, and I should mention -- looking at these pictures, this last one is the most true to the actual color.

So happy to have this done. Here's hoping the cold snap of the last week wasn't our entire winter. I need more chances to wear this before the heat creeps back. And please, everyone --  have a wonderful new year with lots of knitting and coziness!