A Friday FO

Let's get the weekend started early with a new sweater!

Pattern: Shoulder Season by Shana Cohen, 36" bust
Yarn: Stranded Dyeworks merino/nylon, colorway Four Two Two Four, 1.89 skeins
Needles: US 4 (3.5 mm) and US 3 (3.25 mm)
Started/Completed: April 24/June 8

This sweater was knit as part of the SSK knitalong. Shana was the featured designer for April, and even though I knew I would never finish the sweater that month, I also knew I'd still get credit for it if I finished it in June. And I'd been wanting to knit this design for a while, so it was a win all around.

This is a modular knit and can be done with a contrasting color for the shoulders, but I decided to do it all in one color. The colorway of the yarn is a reference to the distance between where Jude (the dyer behind Stranded Dyeworks) lives and Nashville, where SSK is held, so it felt very appropriate to the project. I did alternate skeins for most of the knitting, but there are a few spots where I did not, and I honestly don't think you can tell. The design itself is absolutely genius -- you can tell that Shana is an architect by how she puts garments together! My favorite feature is the column of slipped stitches on each side and how it gradually angles toward the front.

That vertical line is just where the sweater was folded while drying

My only modification, if you can even call it that, is to work a couple of set-up rounds before the tubular bind-offs for all the ribbing. I don't know if those rounds are strictly necessary, but I like the effect you get from essentially creating a tube at the edge of your fabric. And the bind-off is quite time intensive, but in my view, it's totally worth it.

As predicted, the sweater grew quite a bit in blocking, and whereas fresh off the needles it was cropped, it's now hitting right at my hips, as I wanted. I can wear this over a tank or on its own, and I predict it'll get a lot of wear this summer. I'll be taking it to show off at SSK of course!