This worked

Well, the picture's a little blurry, but the sweater's lovely.  It's my cardiganized version of the Sayuri Sweater, from Sensual Knits.  (And how about that, that's pretty much the whole pattern, just without pictures.  Google books, you are crazy.)

I really liked the look of this sweater, and thought it would be a perfect way to use this gorgeous yarn I got from Textiles a Mano before leaving Colorado.  Three years ago.  Yes.  Ahem.  Basically, the stitch pattern is quite simple, so it wouldn't war against the variation in the yarn.  But it's an interesting enough construction to keep me from being bored knitting it.

I also knew I just don't wear pullovers much anymore, and so I wanted to make it into a cardigan.

Given that I was making a few changes, I also made some changes in how I knit the thing.  The pattern has you cast on provisionally for the back essentially right above the linen stitch band, knit an inch or so, then cast on additional stitches for the sleeves, knit in one piece up to the shoulders, then split for the fronts, knit down, cast off the sleeves, and knit down an inch or so before joining.  This made no sense to me.  Why have little one inch seams under the arms?  No clue.  So I provisionally cast on for the sleeves and back all at once, knit up and over the shoulders, splitting for the front, did a three needle bind off to finish the sleeves, and then joined up immediately.  I picked up a few extra stitches in the armpits to close the hole that would be created without them, and decreased them over the next few rows.

The result?  No seams, except for this one.

That's a sewn down turned hem.  I.e., I knit the sweater as long as I wanted it to be, did a row of wrong side knit to make a bottom edge, then knit in stockinette for an inch or so before binding off.  Then I folded the edge over and sewed it to the back of the sweater.  A pain for someone who doesn't much like to sew, but very worth it in terms of a nice edge.

I also very much like the way the linen stitch adds just a bit of interest but without really vying with the colors of the yarn.  Sometimes I feel like it's not very visible, but then it's been commented on, so I guess it is actually visible.

You can also just barely see the way I finished the sweater here, too.  After I sewed the hem, I picked up stitches all along the fronts and neck, and then did a four stitch applied i-cord edging. 

I am, in short, exceedingly pleased with this sweater.  It's an excellent last knit for 2009--and it probably will be my last finished knit for the year unless I get the motivation up to frog and reknit a hat--a HAT!--for the third time--THIRD!!--because it's still too big.  Argh.