icestormandbarndoor
Originally uploaded by kerner

At long last…  after all the build-up…. here it is! 

the long awaited Ice Storm Sweater.  I want to thank Kate for taking the pictures for me.  She's an awesome photographer.  All of my fabulous backdrops were conveniently located behind One City Market, the yarn shop in Rogersville, MO, where Tammy, Kate, and I went to knit & shop last Saturday.

Project Details:

Pattern: Incredible, Custom-fit Raglan Sweater, by Pamela Costello

Yarn: Queensland Collection, Kathamandu DK Tweed, Color 417, 8 skeins (recycled from the Cutaway sweater, originally finished in March 2006 and worn once, I think)

Needle Size: Size 6 Denise circular needles, various lengths

icestormhem
Originally uploaded by kerner

Pattern Modifications: This pattern leaves a lot of the decisions up to the knitter.  However, it does give you enough information to make the sweater you want. 

This is a top-down raglan knit in the round, and I followed the pattern pretty closely down to the armholes.  I added some waist shaping and made the sweater a little longer than most.  I also did most of the arm shaping above the elbow, so the bottom half of the sleeve has a slight bell shape. 

All the finishing details of the sweater are left up to the knitter's imagination.  I originally did the neck and hems with a simple reverse stockinette edge that rolled back and made a nice rounded edge.  However, the bottom hem was still rolling up quite a bit, so I ripped back and knitted a turned hem in a contrast color of the same yarn.  I used a three-needle bind-off to close up the folded-under hems, which I think is worth the fiddly-ness of getting the sleeve stitches on another needle from the back side.  (I "unvented" this method of binding off knitted hems, although I'm sure I'm not the first.)

icestormandpumpkin
Originally uploaded by kerner

Time to knit: January 2007 – October 2007.  Ahem… it's not like this is a really complicated sweataer or anything.  I knit the whole body of it in January (mostly during the ice storm that knocked power out at my house for TEN days!), then I didn't pick it up again until this fall.  

Final impressions: I love this sweater.  Now that the weather has gotten cool, I wear it almost everyday.  I haven't turned the heat on in my house yet, so I always pull on a sweater and some warm socks while I'm getting ready in the morning.  It fits like a sweatshirt without the annoying elastic at the hem.  

I also really like the fact that this pattern is simply enough to show off the pretty yarn.  I will definitely use this pattern again if I'm looking for a basic raglan.