Those who know me are aware of the fact that UFO's (unfinished objects, not the alien types) don't sit well with me. Can't stand to have something in the closet that isn't finished. This one has to be a record for me having sat around for 2+ months. I started this at a machine knitting retreat in October, wasn't sure I liked it, then decided yesterday to finish it. All I had left to do was the wide shawl collar. Easy enough for a machine with a ribber.
The pattern is "Kyra", a free pattern obtainable on the Berroco website. It was easy to convert from hand knitting to machine knitting. I changed the cuffs and bottom hem to Mary Anne Oger's stockinette, no- roll hem, which I love.
It's a little hard to see because of the variegation in the yarn. I also love the asymmetrical aspect of this sweater, the shaping at the sides and the huge shawl collar, which I had to knit in two sections in order to have enough stitches.
I knit it on my Silver Reed 860 midgauge with ribber (the ribber was needed only for the collar). The rib isn't exactly like the rib in the pattern. A person could knit the sweater on the machine and then knit the collar by hand, but I don't have that much patience. Actually, I have to say the 860 does make nice ribbing. The yarn is Conshohocken cotton (lovely soft stuff) that I hand dyed. I knit up 3 large blanks and painted them with Dylon in wide swaths so the color repeats would be long. I machine washed and dried the blanks so all the shrinking is done. Some people think this is a lot of work, but the fact that the garment won't shrink appreciably is worth it to me. I unwound the blanks into balls and knit from there. I didn't make any attempt to match up fronts with the back and didn't try to make the sleeves match either. Artistic license, I guess.
It's for my daughter. Don't know if she'll like it at all, whether it will fit her or how the closure should go. Guess I'll just have to wait a week or so.
This sweater is absolutely gorgeous!
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