A Wicked End to Winter

(did you hear that winter? END.)

So it’s been snowing for 4 days now…. But that’s ok b/c I have a nice, new, alpaca sweater to keep me warm:

Pattern: Wicked from Zephyr Style
Needles: size 7 Knitpicks options and Denise Interchangeable needles
Yarn: 4.75 skeins of Berrocco Ultra Alpaca – 215 yards per skein of 50% alpaca, 50% wool.

Modifications: I knit a size larger than I needed but at a smaller gauge b/c my gauge swatch lied to me… also I added 11 short rows for bust shaping. In retrospect that was about 5 rows too many – I used that number when I made the green gable but that was at an even smaller gauge… bigger gauge = less short rows. Silly me. But now I know. I was able to block out the weird pouching it made, though and now the sweater fits me really well. Oh I also left off the pocket, added in waist shaping, and used the same cabled band from the top on the bottom. I also added in decreases on the sleeves (k2tog once every 4 rows).

Timeline: March 1stish – April 7. So just over 1 month. Not bad to knit an entire sweater!

And it’s nice to have sleeves that actually fit me without having to fold them over (although I really don't know why I'm all hunched over in all of these pictures... I was probably just cold):

The yarn is wonderful… slightly itchy but if I wear a camisole underneath it’s not a problem. After our little photo shoot outside I wasn’t wet at all thanks to the wonderfulness that is alpaca.

It even held up to the snowballs thrown at me because I wasn’t “frolicking” enough. I don’t frolick.

Now that this sweater is done I’m really ready for spring. Luckily it’s supposed to keep snowing through tomorrow… boo to that.