Friday, November 14, 2014

Homemade Friday: Starbrook Pullover

I wanted so badly to love this sweater.  The lace, the pocket, the ease of it all.  And really, it's not the fault of the pattern at all.  It's a solid, nice, easy pattern.  


No - it's my fault.  My choice of yarn.  My decision not to swatch before I started knitting.  I'm a lazy knitter, generally able to overlook small flaws or inconsistent issues that someone else might deem rip-back-worthy.  But when I knit for myself, I don't need the end result to be perfect.  When I make something for someone else, however, I'm more of a perfectionist.

This pattern is Starbrook Pullover, knit in Knit Picks swish worsted.  The yarn is great, soft and a gorgeous color called Marine Heather - full of blues and greens and teals.  But for this pattern, not the best choice.  


I did change the pattern a bit.  I made it much longer because I like long sweaters.  And I didn't like the puffy sleeves so instead of massive increases I only increased two stitches every 10 rows.  It looks much better I think.

I thought the sweater was knitting up fine, but once I blocked the pieces I realized that the body was about three sizes larger than I expected it to be.  I waited days for it to dry, hoping against all evidence that it would shrink down to a manageable size.  And it did, a bit.  The actual body is fine.  But the neckline is obnoxiously large, falling off my shoulders in a way that is less sexy and more sloppy.  These pictures are carefully staged to keep the sweater up.  If I move the whole thing falls down.  


I think I can fix it.  I'll have to take out the neckline and reduce the stitches around the neck by quite a bit, but I think I can make it wearable. 

I haven't attached the pocket yet.  I still haven't decided whether I want it or not.  Once I saw the general shape of the blocked sweater, I couldn't decide if the pocket would be weird.  I think I'll attach it once the neckline is fixed and see if I like it.  

 For now I stuffed a shawl pin in it to keep it on my shoulders.  You do what you have to, right?




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