Fire

Not originally intended for Project Spectrum but the color fits the Fire theme and I did finish it before the end of the month, so I guess I'm playing.


Pattern: Buttony sweater, by Katie Marcus
Yarn: Handpaintedyarn.com Merino Bulky in Wine Red (4 skeins)
Needles: 6.5 mm
Size: custom
Notes: CO 82 stitches, divided as following: 6 rib + 10 sleeve + 26 back + 10 sleeve + 24 front + 6 rib. Button holes were made every 12 rows (more details on ravelry)




The good things:
. I love top down sweaters and this one is entirely seamless which makes it even better. And it's very easy to incorporate small changes, like waist shaping, to make it a custom fit
. The yarn was very nice to work with and I used the exact 4 skeins that I had purchased which was great (I hate leftovers)
. This pattern knits up very, very fast

The bad things:
. I didn't swatch (didn't think I could spare the yarn to) and when I hand washed it the first time - and I did it right, no wringing and laid it down flat to dry - it stretched. Immensely. I was already thinking I had to reknit it when I decided to machine wash it (at 30C in the wool program). To my relief, it came out nearly perfect (it stretched a bit anyway, but considerably less).



Finishing this sweater reminded me of these socks, which were started last year and then forgotten. The colorway is somewhat similar. So I've picked them up again and I'm s-l-o-w-l-y making some progress but I can't help thinking that it's funny I take longer to knit a sock than a whole sweater.