Behold! My finished Orange Pop! I am so so excited about this knit that I was willing to spend in hour or so outside in 80 degree weather fully covered in alpaca and wool in order to photograph it and post about it. Let's just say that despite the fact that Chicago looks very autumnal at the moment, there was a lot of wiping sweat off my neck.
Strangely enough, this was the first Norah Gaughan design I've ever knit. I wasn't exactly a skeptic before, but I am now fully aboard the NG fan-wagon. This one is really clever. The body of the sweater just flew by (worsted weight! stockinette in the round! wheeee!) and then you turn your knitting inside out to work the yoke, which for this project was exactly the right amount of interest for me. I love the idea of a stranded design where the floats are meant to stay outside the work, and this motif works especially well that way. The stranded side blurs the colors together in a nice way; the "regular" side just looks like some boring old zig zags. This project is pretty much an all-around winner as far as I'm concerned. I'm especially happy with the fit, most especially how the colorwork across my shoulders balances out the way I carry my weight (see Amy's Herzog's brilliant Fit to Flatter series if you're wondering what I'm talking about here).
As I mentioned in an earlier blog entry, I knit this project as part of an informal yoke-along with Chawne and Phoe. When we all started I definitely didn't think I'd finish my sweater so quickly because the few I've made before always took *months*. I had a bit of a breakthrough recently, however, when I discovered that I can now knit stockinette in the round while reading. This was something I worked at for a while (using a book stand, and only the easiest reading and knitting, moving very slowly at both), but now it's gotten to the point where knitting plain stockinette while reading really helps me focus. So prepare yourselves for project after project of stockinette in the round while I read for my dissertation. :)
Oh, and for those of you wondering about the colorful background of my two close-up pics, it sure was nice of our neighbors to paint this awesome mural in colors that match my new sweater, right?
Next up: I'm planning a series of posts on a bunch of crocheted squares I made for part of a store sample at Loopy Yarns. I've learned a TON from that project and I'm eager to talk about it.
OMG it looks so freaking amazing! Hooray for yoked sweaters! (And I totally sympathize on the “looks autumnal but is actually sweat-inducing” weather front.)
Lovely! And yeah, I’d look like a linebacker in that. (Is that the right football player reference?) Thank heavens for Amy’s series, saving me from mistakes like this.
You are a rockstar! I love your new sweater,and it really does fit you amazingly well. That’s something I’m still working on, myself. Yay you!!
Whoa, that’s badass! Nice job on the matching mural, too.
You look FABULOUS. Fabbityfabfabfab. I’m very jealous.
And isn’t Amy’s series lovely? So useful.
Wow! That sweater is awesome! I was staring at the pictures trying to figure out how you got the stitches to look like that. Then I read the post. So now I get it! Ha!
Stun. Ning.
I am a devout Norah Gaughan lover, as you know, so I’m pleased that you have seen the light as well.
It is one of your most successful sweaters to date, my friend. Such a great job.
Holy fucking shit, how good does this look on you?! Amazeballs!
so full of perfection
It looks amazing and the background couldn’t be better! Very considerate of your neighbours!
This turned out super duper awesome!!
i love this sweater. and although i’ve never knit a norah gaughan sweater i love her designs so much.
That’s just stunning! You know, I think I might have seen you in HP wearing this sweater?!?! I noticed the sweater b/c it was so gorgeous — I wondered if it was handknit, but then decided it was so perfect that it couldn’t be! Small world if that’s the case…
GORGEOUS.
OMFG! That looks so fantastic on you! Well done.
Hey, it’s beautiful! And absolutely flatters you.
I am wondering if you did bust darts or shortrows as mentioned in your last post?
Oh oops, I totally forgot to follow up on that!! I’m glad you asked.
So I ended up now doing any bust darts or short rows since I figured out the sweater was going to have a relatively loose fit, and I’m really pleased with that decision in the end. I think for something more snug I would like to try darts, but in this case it would have added too much extra volume around my chest.
Yeah, I didn’t believe that you didn’t have a post of much of interest to point me back to…I almost missed this fabulous sweater?!?
It’s so pretty and such a great photoshoot for it! I LOVE that the yoke is inside out…I think it makes the sweater (I have one sweater I bought commercially done that way for the whole sweater and though it confused me at first as to why it was done that way [I thought it was a factory error actually!!], now I love the look of it!)
Well done!
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