Finished!

I actually finished this earlier in the week, but it took a couple of tries in different light to get the color to come through accurately. As you can see, I modified the neckline (though I see that didn't keep my bra strap from showing!). I also only did side slits, no buttons. I did a lot of waist shaping, so much so that when it is off of me, the shaping looks oddly exaggerated. I mostly worked to the smallest size, but did the next size up for the arm openings. I then stayed with 40 stitches for the sleeve until below the second section of purls, then added 4 stitches over 4 rows, rather than decreasing in the top section. That wouldn't have fit my arms at all.   I thank so many of you for sharing how you made many of the modifications, that helped a great deal. This is the first project on which I deviated so far from the pattern, and I must have tried it on 30 times as I was working on it.

The yarn is Adrienne Vittadini Donata (70% alpaca, 30% acrylic), and the sweater feels a bit scratchy on. I am hoping that washing will take care of that. I've also read that soaking an itchy garment in a tablespoon of  hair conditioner before washing really helps. The garment looks a bit see-through in the box stitch section, though I didn't notice it looking that way when I tried it on. Maybe the flash had something to do with it. I am still puzzling over how much yarn I had left. Based on the yardage, I needed 11 full balls of this yarn. Since I bought it at an out-of-town store, I got 12 balls, just to be safe. And in the end, would you believe I only used 6?!?  (73 yards per ball).

I am taking a short break from bigger garments, making the convertible hat/neck warmer Sugar on Snow from knitty.com, but I think I'll make the cropped cardigan with leaf ties next. Though the weather here in upstate NY is getting so chilly so quickly I might not be able to wear the cropped cardigan till next spring.

Comments

[Thalia]

I love the color! Usually the flash can bring out undergarments that are usually hidden. :) A friend of mine did the alpaca-garment-with-conditioner thing, and it worked very well.