Green Sleeves

It's Saturday, and despite the fact that it's now July the sun has yet to come out, and it's cold enough to curl up with tea, wool socks, and a sweater. While I'm frustrated with the endless rain, it is a good excuse to hunker down to read and knit. I feel particularly bad for the farmers around here who are having a hard time with their crops because of it. Sun - please show your face!!!

Enough about the weather...it stopped raining long enough for me to finally snap a few outdoor photos of my finished Gathered Pullover. For the last few weeks I had been feeling a serious lack of knitting motivation; the endless stockinette of the pullover's sleeves was boring me to tears, and I couldn't figure out what project to start next. Now it's done, and I love it!

Gathered Pullover by Hana Jason, Interweave Knits Winter 2007

A while back Whitney posted about the sweaters she's knit (I love her taste in sweaters), and which ones she wound up wearing. What she said rang true with me- the sweaters I'm apt to wear will probably be the simplest ones, which I also don't like to knit as much. Finally I've managed to knit a sweater that I think I'll wear often, which I can't say for the other four knit tops that sit in my closet and never see the light of day.

Mmm, cozy long sleeves

I love the simplicity of this pattern, and the ease with which it can be modified. Being a longish gal, I added quite a bit of length in the body and arms. A sweater that's too short is irksome, and I enjoy having sleeves long enough to tuck my hands into when it's cold and I'm hibernating in the library basement. I also left out the bust increases and decreases, and widened the shoulders a bit so that the V-neck wouldn't be quite as wide and deep. The yarn is Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light, in the color Peat Mix. I love the deep, heathered green, and soft feel of the yarn. It's lightweight enough to be worn comfortably indoors.

No rain, for the moment!

This was definitely a project that I knit more for the finished product than for the actual enjoyment of making it, but I like the sweater enough that I would do it again!