DRK Everyday Combo Spin Sweater

2/16 – Finally! Nearly three years after finishing this combo skin specifically for this sweater, I cast on yesterday. I’ve been apprehensive about it for multiple reasons, but in the end, I just need to start it and see how it goes. Working with handspun is always a tentative adventure for me with garments. I should swatch, but instead I’m just going for it, as it’s a top down sweater and I think it can make adjustments as needed as I go. :crossed_fingers:

I knit the neck band yesterday. I did not do the tubular cast on. And I’m making the band only about an inch instead of two inches since one of my concerns about this pattern is the neck being too close and high up.

2/25 – I’m through the third of four yoke increases and things are going fine. I tried it on yesterday and I love how it’s fitting so far!

3/26 – I tried it on again today. I love how it’s looking and the fit is great! I have about 4″ more to go on the body for the length I want before starting the hem. I’m planning to do a split hem.

4/5 – The split hem in the back is finished, and I’ve only got about 4 more rows to go on the front one.

4/8 – After taking some pictures of me wearing the sweater at this point, I realized something looked off. The front hem is about 1/4″ longer than the back despite being the same number of rows. The fabric also looks more open, though the gauge is the same as the back, 10 st over 2″. I think the problem is likely that the handspun I used at that point for the front hem was just spun somewhat thinner than the back. While I wasn’t crazy about how light the front hem looked colorwise, I wasn’t going to rip it out just for that, but I’m really not happy with the effective gauge of the fabric, so I think I am going to rip it out and use a different skein of the handspun (one with more of the dark colors) and re-knit it. I’ll be happier with it in the end.

5/2 – Finished! I knit the final inch of the second sleeve this morning, added a SC round along the edge of the neck ribbing to give it more stability and not pull, wove in the ends and it’s already blocking! I’ll add more details about the rest of the finish (the sleeves mainly) and some more pictures soon.

5/3 – Ok, pretty pictures are uploaded. First four are me wearing it after it was blocked. It fits so perfectly, I couldn’t be happier! 5th pic is inside folded after blocking, not super exciting. 6th pic was yesterday after it was finished but not blocked.

I did indeed rip out the front bottom ribbing and reknit it with different yarn that was both darker and a little heavier. I knit the front a few rows shorter than the back as well (and now that it’s blocked, the high/low effect is more evident, and I really like it!).

I basically did the sleeves as written, though I’m fairly sure my decrease increments were larger than the pattern called for as I only did 13 on the R sleeve and 14 on the left (no idea why, as everything else was the same, but whatever, they were the same stitch count in the end). I decreased to 56 stitches, knit straight until I was about about 15″ and then did 2″ of ribbing on a US 4. They were just a smidge shorter than I like, but I did get the rest of the length in blocking and now they’re perfect.

I have nothing bad to say about this project. If I have one hesitation, it’s that there are a few spots when I have it on and it’s touching bare skin that are prickly. As I was knitting, I occasionally hit small stretches of yarn that felt rough and wiry, but once knit, I couldn’t feel anything unpleasant, so I didn’t cut them out or anything. I’m not sure if that’s what I’m feeling or if it’s just that it is wool. I don’t anticipate it being a problem. If it is, I’ll wear a light t-shirt under it and it’ll be fine.

Overall, SO VERY HAPPY with this sweater. It’s one of the best fitting pullovers I’ve ever made. The pattern was great, in so much as I followed it.