SPAKALed

It is done!

Pattern: Goodale by Cecily Glowik MacDonald

Yarn: my handspun, 100% superwash merino spun from Crown Mountain Farms fiber

Needles: US 6 (4.0 mm) Addi Turbos

Started/Completed: September 11/November 21

Mods: added length to the body and the sleeves and worked several more rows of garter stitch on the neckline

I did manage to finish this in time to wear it to Thanksgiving dinner; I wore it with a very thin t-shirt underneath because it was in the 60s that day! I should add that I wouldn't normally wear it with a green shirt underneath -- this is just what I happened to be wearing when the Mister was able to snap a few photos and we had some good light!

I followed the pattern pretty much as written, but I added a significant amount of length (about four inches) to the body because, as written, the sweater would have hit just about at the bottom of my ribcage. After I finished the body, I realized I had a lot of yarn leftover, so I lengthened the sleeves as well so that they'd hit just above the elbow. My final modification was to add three or four additional rows to the neckline, because I didn't want it to be too floppy.

The closure is something different: a figure eight-shaped loop of I-cord that wraps around two buttons. It works well when the sweater's on, but I have to double check that it didn't fall off when I take the sweater off and put it away.

Overall, I think this was a success. I'm not completely wild about the fit of the sweater (though that may improve with another blocking), but I love that I spun all the yarn for it and love how the fabric looks. It was a great stash-busting project, too, as I'd had that fiber in my stash for at least a couple years with no other real plans for what to do with it. This sweater is going to be a great transition piece for those days when there's just a little chill in the air and I need an extra layer.

I certainly hope the Knitmore Girls do the SPAKAL again next year -- it was a lot of fun!