I started the back of the sweater sometime in the Fall of 2019, but completely forgot to add this project to Ravelry. Was hoping to have this sweater done for her by Christmas 2019, but I ran out of this gorgeous yarn. :(

A few months later in 2020 when I was cleaning out my stash during quarantine, I found a skein of Lion Brand Homespun (not the same as the original yarn, but very comparable), so I decided to make the front out of the Homespun. I figured the yarns would be close enough to work. I then decided to make the sleeves in a different color too (totally constructing a calico sweater) because the original colorway has been out of stock since quarantine started (March 2020).

Back of sweater - CO 62 stitches. Simple K1, P1 seed stitch pattern.

Started front of sweater 6-8-2020. Frogged in August (too wide because of difference in yarn weight). CO 54 stitches and restarted front of sweater 8-31-2020.

Started the first sleeve sometime in October, 2020 with the Beachside Stripes colorway. CO 30 stitches for ribbing for cuff. 2x2 Rib for 1” then seed stitch for the sleeve. Made the mistake on this first sleeve of not understanding that the number of stitches for the forearms needed to be reduced (I didn’t want bell-shaped forearms). So the forearms are very loose and floppy, and the upper arm is the right width.

At approximately 9” from cuff, I started gradually increasing 2 stitches every 7 rows (K1M1 at beginning of RS row and again at beginning of following WS row) to allow for increase in upper arm measurement (3 increases).

At approximately 17” from cuff, I started reducing the number of stitches every 2 rows (K2tog at beg. and end of each row) to create the bell curve for the top of the sleeve. When top measures 10 stitches, bind off.

Finished first sleeve sometime before Christmas and started the second sleeve right away. CO 30 stitches. 2x2 ribbing for 1”. For the first 4 rows of seed stitch, K2 tog at beginning of each RS and WS row to tighten the forearm measurement. When I reached 9” from cuff, I started adding stitches back in (K1M1 at beginning of RS and WS row) every 5 rows to make sure I could match the upper arm measurements.

Got most of second sleeve done in February, 2021, but ran out of yarn with just a few inches to go. Bought another skein and finished all the pieces. Seamed them all together and completed this lovely calico sweater Feb. 28, 2021.

She couldn’t wait to try it on. She absolutely loves it. I was slightly disappointed that the sleeves are a couple inches too long, but thanks to the ribbing, she can always roll them back (although she said she really likes that they are too long).

Very happy with how my first sweater turned out.