Ella Rae T-Shirt Sweater

The weather, still gorgeously sunny, has turned cold again.  Sweater weather is more typical this time of year.  It's the perfect season to trot out my T-Shirt Sweater.

Yarn: KFI/Araucania Atacama 507 Colorway
Pattern:  T-Shirt Sweater, p. 28 form Ella Rae Designs for Hand Knitting Book One for KFI Yarns

I have mixed feelings about this sweater.  The yarn, 100% alpaca hand dyed by artisans in Chile, is really luscious.  It's soft, yet woolly, but has an interesting sheen that compels me to rub my belly like a pregnant lady.  It was easy peesy to knit with.  It's also officially my first sweater, even though I finished the Bobby Cardigan first.

However, there are more than a few problems with this project. One, I chalk up to my ignorance.  Hand dyed, variegated yarn isn't the same from skein to skein, even those from the same dye lot.  I should have worked two skeins at once, alternating every couple of rows to blend the colors.  I didn't know this until I was just about done and I started to lay out the sweater pieces to block them.  Silly me, this recommendation is right there on the yarn label, which I didn't read because I followed a pattern for this yarn.

Here's a close up of the sleeve.  It's almost kinda funny.   Hee hee

The upshot is that the front is more or less consistent, and the back is more or less consistent even if each individual piece is different. 

The other problem is the fit.  That is to stay that it doesn't really fit me.   My guage was accurate, and I wound up with the right dimensions for the small.   It's still pretty big - bulky in the shoulders and saggy in the bust.  I'm not that flat-chested.  There's also more room in the hips than I need. 

Looking back at the pattern,  I see that it says the small would work for bust size 31 1/2 - 35 1/2.  You know, that's a pretty big size difference especially if the pattern leans towards the upper end.  No wonder it just hangs on me.

Here's another shot where you can see how much "ease" there is. 

The last thing is the neckline - it's terrible and for this I blame the pattern 90% and me 10% for being too inexperienced to fix it.  I must have worked the neckline half a dozen times before I managed to come up with something even remotely acceptable.   If you Google the pattern, you'll find that everyone hates the neckline.  At least it's not me.  :)

In spite of its flaws, I love this sweater.  It's warm and snuggly - perfect for hiking on a cool day or running errands.  I especially like wearing it in the car on road trips.  I figure that one day when I'm pregnant, it might actually fit! 

Comments

[Josie]

I've had that happen before. I knit for an entire year (not straight) on an Alice Starmore cabled sweater and it turned out so big that I really did wear it through all nine months of my pregnancy. Thank goodness I had a January baby and I got to wear it a lot!

[margene]

Despite the problems it is a nice looking sweater! You can wear it, enjoy it and know you learned from it. Good work.

[Debbie]

your sweater looks very comfy!

[becky]

It does look so comfy- The sleeve seaming especially. I definitely need to do some reading on how to do those well or else plan to knit raglan sleeves in the round for the rest of my life. Now a few too many inches at the pits on those and you're really talking saggy. Glad to see that the obvious idea of "read the label" doesn't just apply to me!

[Heather]

I've gotten burned many times by not reading the label or directions all the way through...live and learn;)

I like the sweater, maybe because you knit it you only see its flaws, I'm that way too.

[Jen]

Thanks for all the kind words about my sweater - I do like it, in spite of it's oddities. I'm wearing it today in fact. I have to also note the the yarn is really light - it's not a heavy (as in weight) sweater at all. Yet, it's quite warm. Those Andeans, they know.

Becky: Sewing up the sleeves was pretty easy. As far as I can tell, it's no different from sewing any other seam. Though, the right sleeve looks a little funny in that photo... weird it's not like that in person. I'm really jonsing to learn to knit sweaters in the round. The very idea of knitting the front and backs together just makes me giddy.

Heather: I should rename m blog "live and learn." haha! You're right that most people won't notice anything, which is why I wear it in all it's funny-coloredness.