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Friday, November 09, 2007

Finished: Central Park Hoodie

I really wanted to do an outdoor photo shoot for this FO, but I couldn't wait any longer. You'll just have to deal with my parents' living room as the backdrop.

Pattern: Central Park Hoodie by Heather Lodinsky (Knitscene, fall 2006)
Size: 36"
Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers (100% Peruvian highland wool), color 9461/Lime Heather, five skeins (including swatch and seaming)
Needles: US 8 (5 mm) and US 6 (4 mm) Addi Turbo circs
Started/Completed: September 5/November 6

I am absolutely in love with this sweater. I think it says a lot about a pattern that as soon as I was finished I wanted to knit it again.

There are several things I'd change if I knit this sweater again, however. The first thing would be to knit the next larger size. I knew that others who'd knit this sweater had found it to run small, but I wanted a fitted sweater, so I knit my normal size. It fits perfectly, for the most part, but as you can see in the photo below, the lower arms are a little snug. I have the pull the sleeves on, but once they're on, they're not uncomfortable. I wore this sweater all day and didn't really notice. Still, it would be nice to be able to wear a looser shirt underneath the sweater and to have a little more room.

The other thing I'd change is the decreases on the hood. It bothers me that they're not centered, and that's a little apparent because of the fact that I grafted the hood stitches instead of binding off and seaming it. Next time, I'll adjust the decreases so that they are actually in the center of the hood.

I used almost every bit of five skeins of Cascade, which was really quite amazing, in my opinion. That included a swatch (which thankfully gave me spot-on gauge on the first attempt) and yarn for seaming; there's a little left over for repairs or reinforcement if needed in the future. Once again, it proved to be the perfect yarn -- great color, great yardage, great stitch definition. I still have five more skeins of this same color in my stash, along with five skeins of a shocking pink that was in the same WEBS order.

I used six buttons, all sewn on with sewing thread and then covered with a bit of yarn (somehow I must've had the subconscious foresight to buy buttons with extra-large holes).

This sweater marks an important step in my sweater-knitting career: With this sweater, I officially conquered my fear of the set-in sleeve. These sleeves were the easiest to sew in of all the sweaters I've knit so far, but getting them in perfectly on the first try was a huge confidence boost. I swear that from this moment forward, I will not be scared of sweaters with set-in sleeves!

Now that this is finished, I will turn my attention to The Mister's sweater, which has been languishing for quite some time. It might not be as fun a knit as the CPH, but at least there will be no seaming to deal with at the end. And finishing his sweater means I'll allow myself to cast on for the next sweater for me!

12 comments:

  1. I am officially infatuated with the CPH. I liked both yours and Jenn's and want one of my own! Maybe once I clear some of the sweater finishing backlog, that will be my next sweater project. Just wish I could use my O-Wool Balance for it, but i don't have enough of one color to do that. *le sigh!*

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  2. Gorgeous, and it looks fab on you! And yay for conquering the set-in sleeve, woot! :)

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  3. Anonymous8:46 AM

    Beautiful cardigan Sarah - and nice job on those sleeves! I love hoodies!

    I have 3 skeins of the exact same color Cascade 220 that I bought from Webs for a baby sweater (which I never made!)Wonderful bright limey color!

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  4. Anonymous8:55 AM

    A great FO! It looks like a really nice sweater..maybe I'd knit one. The only problem is I don't like hoods - I avoid them like the plague, except for my big winter bubble coat (and even then I don't use it). I wonder if I could get over this weird hatred.

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  5. Your CPH looks great! It is nice to know when a pattern is nice enough that someone would knit it again, and soon.

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  6. Rock it, girl!! That green looks great on you!

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  7. I removed the CPH from my Ravelry queue last night, but now that I've seen yours, I'm going to have to put it back!!

    It looks FANTASTIC!! Nice knitting and thanks for the notes on the hood decreases.

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  8. Ooo! It's beautiful! ...and I think your buttons look great. Fabulous job!

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  9. I really love the color of the yarn you used, I think that if I make it again, I'll go a little more funky!

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  10. Your CPH looks great. I love the color too. I know when I knit mine I would have preferred a looser fit too and a bit longer in the length.

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  11. Anonymous6:46 PM

    Beautiful! You did a wonderful job; it looks great on you!

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  12. That looks so great! I'm really tempted to give it a try!

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