I’m Starting at the Top!

I do not have enough sweaters. Seems like I knit a lot, but still, when the cold weather hits I find myself slipping into my old workhorse of a pullover. I made it a couple of years ago from Cascade 220 in a shade of orange so bright that I couldn’t be mistaken for a human much less a dear. I love it but a girl can’t wear orange every day. Because I’m a bit of a technique freak, I tend to knit a lot of small projects like socks, hats and mittens just for the fun of trying out new and intriguing methods. In many ways that’s a good thing but still…I need sweaters!

I’ve seen some gorgeous sweaters cruising around the web lately and so many of them are worked from the top down. While I was over at Loaves and Stitches, drooling over her WIPs I clicked on a link to the book “The Knitter’s Handy Book of Top-Down Sweaters”. Now, I’m not new to the top-down method (although it has been quite some time since I’ve used it) but I’d forgotten what a gem of a system it is. It is tremendously fast, allows for easy shaping modifications and doesn’t require seaming. I decided to jump in and cast on two, determined to only use yarn that was already in my stash.

I picked up some City Tweed a while back when they put two weird-ish shades on sale. This color is called “Kitten”. It’s not bad, very neutral, not quite grey, not quite beige. The pattern is one I’ve had in mind for a long time. It’s the Hepburn pullover and was published in Interweave Knits back in Fall 2012. (Procrastinate? Who, Me???)

I was attracted to this pattern mostly because of the shape. I’d like to have something a little boxy in my closet so I know I’ll wear it. Granted, it’s been a bit of a snore to knit but it’s about time I had a stitch-count template for a sweater of that shape at 5 stitches to the inch just in case I want to knit it again with cables or color work or something. I’m a little disappointed that the traveling cables don’t show up; there are a ton of nebs in this yarn. Mostly, I’m amazed at how fast it has worked up.

The second pattern is one that was first released as a Mystery Knit-Along by Mrs. Hudson’s Yarns and Teas called “The Aspen Sweater”. It’s a very basic sweater with a stranded yoke and cuffs. I’m really enjoying it because it is a very bare-bones pattern. There is no extraneous information, so I can really concentrate on the top-down construction method. This will also be a great pattern for color and motif mods.

I said earlier that a girl can’t wear orange every day. Maybe. Maybe not.

On a side note, I can’t believe I’ve lived this long without one of these:

LOVE it!