I decided I really needed to knit this sweater after seeing the finished product by Stacey over at knitting help. It comes from sweaterbabe.com and is a very well written and easy to follow pattern. It was nice to knit a sweater from a pattern…knitting along told what to do at every turn. Since the last couple I have knit have been of my own design this was a good change. I do like designing my own stuff, but I feel like it slows down my knitting. Too many stops to take notes, make revisions, etc.

My only first complaint about the pattern is reversing the shaping instructions for the right side. I know, I know, it’s not difficult but just a pain. The second minor issue is the shoulder seams. I really don’t like the look of a seam that uses two already bound off edges. I would much rather do a three needle bind off…which I will when I knit this pattern again. Some people have complained that the sweater is a little short. Personally, I like my sweaters shorter rather than longer, so I didn’t think this would be much of a problem. Next time I would add 1-2″ to the bottom. Although it only is written in one size it would be easy to modify for anyone who isn’t exactly a “medium”.

This is the first time I have knit with this yarn. I’ve been petting it for a while now so I was excited to discover the gauge for this pattern was compatible. The pattern took five skeins of Catalina Baby Alpaca Chunky color 106. The resulting fabric is soft and very warm while lightweight at the same time. This yarn gets two thumbs up with a twist! Unfortunately, the color is very difficult to capture in pictures. In person it is really stunning. Two shades ofyarn blended together to make a really interesting blend of color. The left picture here is with no enhancement, the right one doesn’t show the color exactly but you can see the highlights and shadows of the different colors better.

I really like the look of the lace more BEFORE blocking. The waves created in the fabric are just so pretty. It has flattened a bit now that it has been wet blocked. Which leads me to a question…why do I always insist on a wet block? I guess I figure no matter what happens a sweater will get completely wet eventually. I remember being a kid and getting caught in the rain with a sweater on. By the time I got home the sleeves and body were down to my knees. I think I’d rather know that about a sweater ahead of time than being surprised down the road. Like with the red sweater I recently knit…I knew it was going to get longer with blocking and I still almost made it too long before blocking. Had I knit that sweater a “normal” length to start with, I’d have a dress!

All that’s left is to find some nice buttons. I pinned it for the pictures since I didn’t have any success finding buttons worthy of this great design.