Best Sweater Ever

I have been sewing and knitting over Christmas, but I'm working on a couple Super Secret Projects that I'm keeping under wraps for the moment.

Contrary to every expression I make in project photos, I am not this grumpy!

Pattern: Beauty School Pullover from Poison Grrls (aka Amy Appel)

Yarn: Cascade 220 fingering weight (not entirely sure what color, this was originally for another sweater and I lost the bands ages ago!)

Size: M (ish, see below)

Notes: LOVE this FO. It's seriously the only genuinely flattering sweater I've ever made (which is not to say I dislike my other many hand knit sweaters, I just mainly love them for their coziness.) I'm all about the vintage vibe that doesn't lean toward costume and this fits perfectly. I also love the color which is kind of between a dark olive and a forest green in real life.

2018 was the year of discovering that cropped lengths are where it's at for me. And the year of leather pants becoming a wardrobe staple, so really this outfit is just an encapsulation of the good things of 2018 on the style and making front.

I call this pose "MMMM THAT KITCHNER STITCH THOUGH"

I didn't make many real changes to the pattern except using a sewn tubular bind off on all the ribbing for a neat, stretchy finish. The sweater is knit from the neck down so making changes and trying it on as you go is really easy. I generally dislike making sweaters this way, I think it gets kind of unwieldy to work on toward the end, but for a fitted sweater like this it's perfect because you can more easily tweak as you go. My gauge was also slightly different from the pattern's so with the top down construction I didn't have to do a lot of math to compensate, just increase until it fits right and go! Because of that I knit a size medium but ended up ripping out several rows of increases because it turned out too large. I still knit back to the correct length so the armholes where long enough but other than that I proceeded with the pattern as written, just with fewer stitches on the main body which turned out just right for me.

If (when) I make this again I might convert it to be a bottom up construction so I can knit the pieces individually and seam them at the armholes. Now that I know the size I like it will be easy enough!

Also, a Trello update, I've been loving this as a way to stay organized, especially for knitting while traveling over the holidays. I attached the PDF pattern with notes about my size to the project card on my fall/winter projects board so I could access it wherever/whenever I needed it. It's especially helpful to have notes about sizing and changes there because I tend to assume I'll just remember... and inevitably don't.