There was something so lovely about spending the last day of the year with this sweater in my lap, seaming the last of the seams, weaving in the final ends. Starting off a new year with a sweater I’ve wanted and needed for such a long time. When I think about how many grey sweaters I used to own (B.K., before knitting) and how long it took for me to make myself just one simple grey pullover … well, all I can think is I put too much pressure on the decision. Changed my mind too many times. Spent too long arguing with myself about what exactly the one perfect grey sweater would be, as if I’ll never be allowed another one. Thankfully I got over it and cast on this little gem in my treasured Junegrass, because baby it’s cold outside and this thing is A) cozy and B) versatile enough to wear every day if I want. And I do.
You’ll recall from when I tried on Christine’s that the sleeves were much too short for me and I didn’t love how the wide neck looked on my frame, so those are the only changes I made. To bring the neck in a little, all I did was pick up fewer stitches; and instead of doing the folded neckband as written (from live stitches), I finished it with my beloved folded neckband join. I’ll do a Details post tomorrow about what all I did with the sleeves. But other than that, this is straight off Julie’s fantastic pattern.
I had seen a number of comments from people who’ve knitted this about how the raglans are seamed and that it’s worth it to do it as written. And I 100% agree. I was dubious about the backstitch at first (and could not make that look good on the shoulder seams, so did a standard head-to-head graft there) but once I got started on those long backstitched raglan seams, I didn’t want it to end. Not only does it look good, it was really pleasant to do!
As I was knitting this sweater, I kept thinking “I better love this garment, because the fabric is a dream come true.” As in, the sweater better be worthy of the yarn. Thankfully, in the end, they’re a match made in heaven.
Pattern: Cline by Julie Hoover
Yarn: Junegrass Batch One from Fancy Tiger Crafts (no longer available, see Batch Two)
Pictured with: black silk gauze shell and natural wool pants
Leather tool pouch and army Porter Bin from Fringe Supply Co. You can see all of my posts on this sweater here, Instagram posts here, and please like it at Ravelry if you do!
.
PREVIOUSLY in FOs: Wool muscle tee
It reminds me of my big brother’s sweatshirt that I used to wear when I was 12. I’ve spent a lifetime trying to recapture the way I felt when I wore that sweatshirt!
It is the dream deluxe sweatshirt for sure.
Gorgeous! I would wear it every day. (I love wearing the same thing everyday and I don’t give a hoot who knows it!)
Amen.
What Maureen said. Like a beloved sweatshirt, but in lux fabric. And IMHO, it doesn’t get much better than that. Beautiful work, Karen!
Thanks, Clare!
This is so beautiful. And they way you have it styled is just perfect.
Thank you, Francis. Days of head-to-ankle me-made make me grin. (Someday I’ll get all the way head-to-toe!)
It’s so beautiful! How much ease do you have? The fit on you is perfect. and i love the smaller neck.
It’s about 13″ on me — I’m a 34.5 bust, last I checked.
This sweater is so so gorgeous and I love your layering!
Good morning…thought I was the only one to wake up early. Why did u knit this cline sweater as opposed to knitting your own topdown improv sweater?
By the way, I have not been able to find out, amongst your kal blogs, if anyone blocked their pieces before joining for yoke. Do u remember
On Tue, Jan 9, 2018 at 6:05 AM Fringe Association wrote:
> Karen Templer posted: ” There was something so lovely about spending the > last day of the year with this sweater in my lap, seaming the last of the > seams, weaving in the final ends. Starting off a new year with a sweater > I’ve wanted and needed for such a long time. When I thi” >
I like to try different things and knit from people’s patterns — there’s always so much to be learned — and was intrigued by the construction on this one.
I’m not sure if anyone blocked their Amanda pieces before joining them. I don’t believe I did. But I would have blocked it before doing any of the seaming.
Absolute perfection! And ditto on the styling. <3
Your Cline should have been in Martha Stewart’s Jan/Feb 2018 issue. There is a 6-page spread of yarn featuring lovely photography and the Cline sweater as well as a Loopy Mango one. Seems to be the go-to craft for 2018:)
Yes, I’m so please for Julie that it’s in Martha! Planning to track down a copy.
This is lovely. Simple, and beautiful. Makes me want to knit a sweatershirt-y, comfy-style sweater. And, like a typical knitter, I love the details – I want to see your backstitched seams :-D
I’ve had such a hard time “getting” this sweater, but your smaller neckline and the the brilliant comments above about old sweatshirts made it finally click for me!
Also really happy to see backstitched seaming getting some attention. Nothing against mattress stitch, but so often discussion of seaming methods starts and ends there, and much like with cast-ons, buttonbands, etc., more tools make for a finer finish! Curious to know what went wrong for you with backstitiching the shoulder tops (was it because they slant? Do they slant?)? Shoulder tops are one of my personal favorite spots for backstitch, since it’s so sturdy. (For shoulder tops, I think my order of preference goes backstitch > mattress stitch > 3-needle bind-off > graft)
The shoulders are slightly sloped, yeah, but I don’t know, I just couldn’t get backstitch to look good with essentially head-to head stitches.
That looks great, and perhaps deceptively simple–I’d love a stack of sweaters like that and am simply too lazy/busy/ill to get to it. Oh, and too discouraged when I do nice work and then find moths have gotten into it–that discourages me more than most things, I think. I don’t want to use chemical deterents, and have tried cedar shavings, which work semiwell; bay leaves, which provide feasts for bugs; and clove, which simply to me smells nice. Any insider tips on keeping the moths and bugs away without poisoning my fragile body and household…? Thanks, and happy new year!
I use a repellant I get from a woman at Rhinebeck every year. It has a variety of things, but its main base is pennyroyal. Smells delicious (I prefer it to cedar by far) and I haven’t had moth problems since I started using it. I haven’t tried yet, but I think pennyroyal is easy to grow yourself. It’s not an herb you want to eat, but I don’t know of any side effects of the aroma.
Thanks–I know that it was cautioned as a possible abortifacient if ingested, but the smell is unlikely to make me, not in that condition at all, have bad effects. I will research it more, but thanks very much for the tip. We actually moved quite close to Rhinebeck this year but were unable to make the show this year due to work commitments. Maybe next year!
I would love to know the name of the product & vendor.
I’ve had success putting my precious woolies into air tight plastic bags and tucking them in the freezer for a week. Then I store them in a box still in the sealed bags. I also have heard putting them away clean helps.
My mom swore that putting the totally dry sweaters in a hot dryer for 15minutes twice a year would kill moths and the larvae. No science behind this, but it seemed to work. If the sweater is dry, the heat shouldn’t shrink it felt it.
I am a prevention-not-killing type, since I want to avoid killing, and also since I would fear the moths and larvae would still be on a chair or something if they get around. I know that freezing is supposed to do something similar and we have a freezer full of treasured old things from my family that didn’t seem to have actual like moths on them. I think I will have to use some sort of combination of methods to make them want to avoid the fabrics and knits and then hope winter takes care of the rest!
The sleeves look so polished, and those pants are fantastic on you!
As I consider the things I want to make this year (and potentially already have the supplies for), I’m inspired by how your makes really fit your style (as we see it manifest here). The Cline looks great on you; it’s in my favourites, but I’m trying not to overwhelm my queue…
What a wonderful start to a new year of knitting! I love, love, love that you pay so much attention to getting the right fit for your frame. And the fabric created with that yarn looks a dream!
Looks terrific!
It look so lovely – congrats! And I totally agree re: following the directions re: finishing on this sweater. This was one pattern where I thought I knew better than Julie a few times, and each time, I ended up ripping back and doing things her way. I’m so glad I did with this one!
That double-decrease on the sleeves was new to me and fascinating, and I hated doing it! But it looks so good.
So lovely! There’s something daunting, in its own way, about a sea of grey stockinette.
It put me to sleep more than once. So soft, so pretty, so montonous …
Fabulous ensemble, the fit is so perfect. I love it! I am intrigued with the seaming discussion. I have a nebulous idea of assembling a folio of technique samples for reference. This would be a good place to start.
that’s a beautiful sweater. the perfect gray one, as you say.
The perfect layering piece, a true classic. Bravo!
Pingback: The Details: Sleeve length | Fringe Association
Pingback: Deep Winter wardrobe: Closet inventory | Fringe Association
Pingback: Glorious grey mitts (2018 FO-2) | Fringe Association
Pingback: Queue Check — March 2018 | Fringe Association
Pingback: The sweatshirt vest (2018 FO-13) | Fringe Association
Pingback: Sweater inventory, part 3: The pullovers | Fringe Association
Pingback: Q for You: What sells you on a pattern? | Fringe Association