Knit Project: Color-Work Cropped Sweater

Yeah, I know, it's a little late in the season to be knitting a sweater. But this hand-spun alpaca was calling to me from my stash. Besides, it's still snowing outside and this little number will be a staple of my wardrobe next fall.

 Have a look...

I used intarsia and stranded color work to make the little floral motif. The jacquard daisy design is from  this color chart by Jessica Tromp. Her Site ( http://www.jessica-tromp.nl ) is full of free knitting charts and patterns. I have never met her or anything but I'm pretty sure she's an angel.

Obviously, this was my first time doing stranded color work. If you compare the bottom of the panel to the top you can tell my technique improved as I got the hang of it.






The shape of the sweater is based on  Elizabeth Zimmerman's  Norwegian yoke sweater with a couple of tweaks . I shortened the body and sleeves. Obviously, instead of increasing the sleeves gradually, I increased to the total number of stitches on the first row after the ribbing. I also took advantage of the natural stretch of knit fabric and used negative ease for a nice tight but comfortable fit.  I also improvised a little with the shoulder shaping because I wanted a boat neck.






So that's what I've been up to for the past week or so. There is something very comforting about knitting in front of a fire, and that's pretty much all I've been doing lately (I have a gas fireplace. That counts right?). Oh, I have also been working on my ribbon embroidery skills for an upcoming Craft Social event (more on that later.)


Anyone else out there have any interesting projects in the works? Feel free to link. I would love to check them out.


xo
D