pattern: hooded pullover #28, vogue knitting fall 2008
yarn: jo sharp silk road ultra, nero, 20 balls
needles: 8mm circs and 7.5mm hook
date started: 8.14.08
date finished: 8.23.08

three months after finishing it and about one month of use, I finally get to blog about the hooded pullover and the complicated love/hate relationship we've endured so far. don't get me wrong, I loved this pattern and would definitely knit it again...just in another yarn. how could you not love a cabled sweater that knits in just over a week? especially one as soft and warm as this one. the cables are gorgeous and I love how they seem to just pop off the sweater.

I followed the pattern pretty must as written, except when it comes time to join the sleeves and the placket. there seem to be some errors in this pattern that haven't been updated in the vogue site. because you first join the sleeves and body in the round and then begin working back and forth in the middle of the next round, the sleeves rows wouldn't be matched up anymore forcing you to work two ws rows on the left sleeve. also, when the pattern states "4th row rep of chart" for the sleeve it really means 4 chart reps total. during the hood turning the pattern seems to break down and the ribbing isn't maintained - you just need to follow your instinct in this section.

as much as I love wearing this hoodie, there are a few things that really irk me. it might just be the nature of the beast but it always feels like the sweater just wants to fall. I'm constantly readjusting. do you see how on the left of the picture (my right shoulder) the sweater looks like it's sliding down? it does this all the time. I'm not sure if it's just the weight of the yarn combined with the hood that's dragging it down or if I should have done more raglan decreases to fit my shoulders better. I also wish I hadn't done the hood increases since, as is, the hood is way too wide on me and ends up looking like a jedi robe.

the thing that irks me the most? this yarn! I don't think I'll ever be buying silkroad ultra ever again. not only does it pill like crazy, I'm talking malabrigo proportions here, but each ball had a knot or two in it. after using 20 balls for this sweater, the amount of ends to weave in was insane. I could have lived with the knots if the yarn still looked as lux as it did when I started, but my poor sweater looks used and abused. I think we're beyond a sweater shaver since it seems to make it worse. if this yarn had been plied differently I think it could've survived. I still wear it out, but I can see this becoming a house-only sweater soon.

Posted by bitter purl at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (20)

I was originally going to blame my delay in blogging on all the freaking ends I had to weave in for the hooded pullover. trust me, there were a lot! then it got really hot and the desire to wear a bulky, black sweater, even for a few minutes, was out the door. the poor thing has just been sitting on my desk for almost a month waiting for some attention.

then this little guy came into our world and, well, most of my knitting and internet time disappeared. things are slowly getting back to normal- I figured out that he doesn't mind me knitting while he sleeps on my lap and it seems fall is making a comeback. maybe I'll actually get to take pics of the pullover without passing out this week! in the meantime, I've been trying to work on the pentagon aran cardi full time (and ignoring my turbulence u-neck that needs to be seemed) . I'm hoping to finish it before we go on vacation next month. at this point, it really looks like all I have is hope.

Posted by bitter purl at 03:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (22)

I've totally forsaken my other projects in favor of the hooded pullover. guilt will probably set in later, but for now I'm just enjoying the ride. I didn't get as much knitting done as I had hoped this weekend, but this yarn knits up so fast that it didn't really seem to matter. I finished the second sleeve today and don't they make a lovely pair? I probably won't get to join them to the body tonight, but hopefully tomorrow I'll be working my way to the hood. there is one little problem though. I'm already eyeing up another sweater. thankfully I don't have any yarn for it and none of the swatches I have match up, so it'll be a while until I can cast on.

eta: ack!! yet another sweater I covet! all those cables are so gorgeous.

Posted by bitter purl at 06:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (17)

something hit me all of a sudden a few weeks ago. I just HAD to knit something, anything, everything. I barely touched the needles while I was away, only working on a linen cardi from time to time. when I got back, I tried to finish it only to realize the sleeves were too small and that really I don't like working with spring/summer yarns. I needed some wool on my needles.

I had some red cashsilk in my stash begging to be knit up. I've wanted to knit the turbulence u-neck top since knitting nature came out, but either didn't have the time or the yarn. finally I had both and quickly got through the body and most of the sleeves. unfortunately I ran out of yarn before finishing the sleeves. I was able to order a few balls in the same dye lot, but while I waited I started

the pentagon aran cardigan, from knitting nature, for Tom. I've been wanting to knit him something besides hat for a while and he finally agreed when I showed him the picture from the book. I didn't have anything in my stash to swatch, so I just ordered the recommended yarn. this is my first time using jo sharp silkroad aran tweed and I love it. the color I'm using is 'brindle' and it's a greyish brown with little blips of beige, brown, grey, purple, and, once every million stitches, aqua. I started with the sleeves to get them over with and because they're just stockinette. I have the back done and started the left front but I sorta stalled because, to be honest, I wanted to knit for me.

I picked up this grey yarn at school products a couple of years ago and it's sat on my shelf taunting me since then. I've had no clue what to make with it since no where does it say how many yards are on the cone. I decided to go for it anyway and knit a little seed stitch jacket. I'm knitting it in one piece from the bottom up and 10 inches in it looks like I won't have enough yarn. I'll either have to search the world for another cone of this yarn or just suck it up and rip. really, let's just pretend this one doesn't exist for now.

of course, that means that I get to start something else while I decide. as soon as I saw vouge's fall preview I knew I had to knit the hooded pullover and started searching for the right yarn. I ended up finding jo sharp silkroad ultra in a crazy sale that I couldn't pass up. I started working on the hoodie last night during the olympics and I'm already done with the body. I forgot how bulky knits make you feel like a super fast badass! I'll probably start the sleeves tonight while I stay up late watching the olympics again (please no more volleyball!!)

I've obviously broken my 'one project at a time' rule and that whole 'no yarn buying' concept I had going for a while so I won't even show you my collection of swatches and sweater yarn I've picked up. there are already lots of patterns I'm eyeing up. I guess I'm going to be busy knitting this fall!

Posted by bitter purl at 03:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (15)