The first major project is finally complete! I have been working on this sweater for over three years and can’t believe it’s finished. I have been really pushing to get this done at the end because I really wanted to transfer it from my knitting bag to my dresser drawer. So, after a few (or many!) setbacks, I can finally wear it!
What started as a need for a sweater to quickly throw on while I was living in the Sahara desert (it gets cold there in the winter, ok?) became a project that would eventually travel through four countries with me.
I started it stateside before I moved to the desert, worked on it in England, finished the body in Morocco, started the sleeves in Spain, and finished the rest of it back home in the US. The silly Brits at Heathrow scoffed at my needles on my way home and told me to either not take them out of my carry-on or put them in my checked luggage. So I scoured the shops for Galaxy and Mars to bring home instead.
The History
The first problem I encountered was that I was making the sweater too wide, but since I could only tell when a significant portion of it was already done, I decided I will make it a wrap style instead.
The second problem appeared when I was working on the sleeves. Using the double-pointed needles I had made them too narrow and awkward, while the circular needles were way too long and made the sleeve gigantic and ugly. I took it all apart several times in an attempt to get it right, but then just decided to leave it alone until I found the circular needles of the right size. That took about half a year, and I didn’t start working on the sleeves for a while since I was sort of busy with a new job.
Then came a baby and all the baby related knitting, so the sweater was in hibernation for quite some time before I decided to give it another go. I finished the first sleeve while driving back from a work trip (as a passenger, of course) – it was all I could do before it got dark. The second was done a few months later as I knitted while watching movies with my husband.
Another problem I had was when I discovered that somehow the stitches for one of the sleeves were picked up wrong and now I had this very visible seam – oops! I was so disappointed that I threw the sweater into my knitting bag and didn’t look at it for a while. Then an idea was born! I used my knitting needle and pulled the part that was sticking out back inside. It was a quick and dirty fix without knitting the sleeve again, but it did the job and made the seam invisible.
The last major problem was in the way it wrapped around. When trying it on, it looked like it would be fine, but when all was said and done and the edging was completed, it just didn’t have that wrap feel to it. There was no single point I could use for a tie and the corners came up too high. So I decided to go with buttons – that could work, right? I couldn’t put them in a row because there was too much width and two columns of buttons just looks too stuffy and would be a pain to button up every time – remember, I wanted this to be a quick sweater to throw on, even if I wasn’t living in the desert anymore. But how about an odd shape, like a triangle? Brilliant! I placed one button at the very bottom where both corners met, another at the corner of the front wrap, one more to hold the corner of the inner wrap (but lower than the other so that it looked unusual, and the last one on the edge of the front wrap between the other two buttons.
The Result
Now, it’s thick and bulky because of the yarn and the two layers in the front, but it’s also so warm and soft and comfy – perfect for those cool evening walks or on a chilly day at the office. The collar is a bit low, so I usually wear it over a dress, but it’s not low enough for that to be necessary. I can also throw on a scarf if it’s windy.
The How
Since I was going for a warm and comfy sweater, I made it with no seams in mind. So the body was made as a single piece with circular needles, straight up at first, then slowly tapering for the collar in the front. The back was straight up. I separated the front from the back for the sleeves, but didn’t taper the holes because I wanted the sleeves to be straight out. Then I joined the front and back at the shoulders by just binding off the stitches together (again, no sewing). The sleeves were made from stitches picked up at the holes so there would be no seam. The sleeves and the whole edging of the front, bottom, and collar were crocheted with three double crochets in one stitch, slip stitch in the next, and repeat. The whole thing was also knit in stockinette stitch and then turned inside out for the purl side. Then buttons and done!
Here are links to this project on Ravelry and Pinterest.
