Pattern: Hourglass Sweater, Last-Minute Knitted Gifts, 33″ size
Yarn: Noro Cash Iroha, #85, 10 skeins
Needles: Addi Turbos, US 8 (5mm)

Oh, this is so, so much better. Let me remind you again of how it used to fit:

Why on earth did I ever think this fit well?

I love the fit of the new sweater, though I am a little bit concerned about the sleeve length. The length looks fine in the photo above, but the shoulders and upper arms stretched out as I wore the sweater, causing the sleeves to shorten. Ideally, I’d like to have another inch so the sleeves completely cover my wrists. I’m trying to block the sleeves a bit longer, but I can always take the sleeve apart in the middle and insert a few rows if I need to.

I made a few minor adjustments to the pattern. First, I skipped all the turning rounds and did up all the hems as I went so the only seams I had to do were the underarm seams. Second, I worked two extra decrease rows at the neck so the opening wouldn’t be too wide.

The main lesson learned from my adventures in knitting Hourglass twice: When in doubt, go small.

It’s a lesson I’m slowly learning with my regular wardrobe as well. Fitted looks nice. Baggy looks sloppy. Negative ease is good, particularly in clothes that will stretch out with wear.

On to Rogue, and NaKniSweMo!

Other entries about Hourglass Sweater 2.0:

• The Swatch is Good
• New and Improved
• Sweater Life Cycle
• F-Weekend Report
• F-Day Update
• What Would a Sane Knitter Do?

Remember Rogue? And the size issues? And the hair-drying and the dryer-drying and the frogging?

I learned my lesson. Behold, a proper swatch:

In the background, we have the not one, but two swatches I did for Hourglass. In the round, like a swatch for a seamless in-the-round sweater should be. Hourglass is done, by the way, and is blocking as we speak.

In the foreground, the swatch for Rogue. The bottom half of the swatch is in the round. The top half of the swatch is flat. The swatch was washed and blocked. I get gauge in the round and in the flat. The Swatch is Good. Time to cast on!

There is such a thing as a sheep-to-shawl competition (scroll to halfway through the post)?

I think I carded some wool, once. I was in middle school. Or maybe it was something for Girl Scouts. We were on a field trip to a farm.