I received this yarn as a wonderful surprise from my boyfriend’s mom and immediately thought: colorwork! When I stumbled upon Epistrophy I knew I had to make it :) It has taken me FOREVER to knit this sweater, not because it’s complicated or poorly written (it is actually rather simple and SUPER WELL written) but because life has just dealt me a series of super busy cards and I’ve had very little time to knit. Anyway, I meticulously documented my long-a$$ knitting process.

Mods:
I knit the yoke and body separately and then grafted them together later. I probably wouldn’t do this again just because I think it made me procrastinate more… but it does fit very well now. (I would have provisionally cast on the yoke and then picked up the body later if I knit this again.) I also picked up the arm stitches at the yoke and knit them from the top down. I recommend doing this last (after steeking and button bands, etc.) so that you can accurately measure how long the sleeves should be.

Feb 1: Cast on using size 3 needles. Got a little confused about the beaded rib pattern which called for a round 2 of K3, p3, k2. Fixed it by doing K3, p2, k3. Need to check if the pattern has errata.

Feb 8: On to bust shaping now. I’m quite small so I’m a wee bit concerned that the sweater is going to be too big, even though I’m making the smallest size and my gauge is correct. Oh well!

Feb 9: Finished the body last night. Kind of wish that I had provisionally cast on the entire yoke, finished that, and then picked up and knit the body so that it would fit properly. Oh well! My body is 13 inches from the cast on edge right now but I’m worried it will look too short. Hmmm. My plan is to provisionally cast on the sleeves (taking a cue from the Craft Sessions), join the provisional sleeves to the body and do the yoke. Then I’ll be able to knit the sleeves to the desired width and length from the top down. If the body turns out two short I’ll just cut off the bottom ribbing (but measure it first!), add however much I need, and finish the ribbing. Plan? Plan! I’m excited!

Feb 10: Decided to do a provisional cast on for the sleeves and body and get started on the yoke. Later I’ll graft the body I already knit to the live stitches and pick up and knit the sleeves. This is my first time doing any of this and I’m excited/terrified! I hope it works!

Feb 15: Was two rows away from finishing the colorwork when I decided to start over. The floats on the first 2/3 were just too tight and when I finally started knitting more loosely (the last 1/3), the difference was too dramatic. So I ripped it all out and started again! This time I’m giving the floats plenty of length. 5 rows down and very much improved!

Mar 1: Just cast off the yoke! The neckband is pretty loosey goosey and I’m not sure if that will be fixed when i do the button bands or not… I might pull the ribbing out and add a few decreases. Also, I began the process of grafting to the body to the yoke and it is smooth sailing so far! Used the technique shown in this video.

April 5: Still working on the sleeves. I’ve decided that I firmly dislike knitting them (but that’s really how I feel about all sleeves). I’m using the magic loop method. I suppose it’s making things go faster but since I’m knitting so rarely these days I can barely tell.

April 9: Cut the steek today! I was a little nervous that my crocheted edge wouldn’t hold…but it did! Hurray! I used this video and this tutorial from Kate Davies for guidance. I will need to lengthen the sleeves by a couple inches once the button bands are on. I’m really glad I knit them from the top down now!

April 12: Started the button bands!

April 20: Finished the button bands! Added a line of crochet around the neckline to cinch it up a bit. I’m also lengthening the sleeves. Oh I want to be done so bad! Also, I ordered this adorable ribbon for the steek edges.

May 1: Blocking has commenced and the ribbon has arrived! The end is nigh!

May 23: Still need more buttons but it’s basically complete! Pulled out the line of crochet around the neckline. After blocking it no longer needs it. Woohoo!