Drops Swing Cardigan!!!

Voila, the Drops Swing Cardigan! I'm really happy with the way this came out. When I first tried it on I thought it was a bit big, but after seeing the photos I don't think it looks as tentlike as I feared.

Project Stats: Drops Swing Cardigan

Pattern: DROPS Jacket w/ A-line shape and 3/4 sleeves (103-1). I made the worsted weight version, not the bulky.

Yarn: Rowanspun Aran (sadly discontinued, but I have a lot in the stash), dusky blue (SH964). I used about four skeins (~800 meters). The yarn was purchased at Cucumberpatch UK (Ebay).

Size: Medium (36.4"). I was torn about this because I was between sizes, but I went with the larger size since this isn't really meant to be a fitted sweater. Plus my gauge was slightly off, so I think my finished sweater is a tad smaller than 36" and fits quite nicely.

Modifications: I didn't do as many sleeve increases as the pattern called for because the sleeves were already looking really wide. I was worried that would cause trouble when it came time to set in the sleeves, but it was fine. I should have made the sleeves shorter - I was going for the 3/4-length option but with them uncuffed they're to my wrists and just look like they're too short. But I like them better cuffed anyway, so it's fine.

Needles: Size 8 Clover bamboo.

Time on the Needles: September 11, 2007-January 18, 2008. I was actually pretty dedicated to this aside from when I had to deal with the Christmas knitting. There was probably a month in there where I didn't touch it at all, but when I was working on it, progress was fast.

Impressions: I'm really happy with this, my first completed sweater that wasn't made in one piece! I had to seam! I didn't screw it up! It doesn't look handmade in a bad way! I did a few things that aided a lot in my finishing of this project in a moderately timely fashion. First, I seamed the shoulders as soon as the back and both fronts were finished, to get it out of the way, and I joined them with the three-needle bind-off so they look perfect. Then, I knit both sleeves at the same time to avoid second-sleeve syndrome (sss). And, I didn't procrastinate on the seaming, I just leapt right into it as soon as the sleeves were finished. I had slipped the first stitch of every row on all the pieces, which made the seaming a piece of cake. I also think the slight slubbiness of the yarn aided in the sleeve-setting-in process because it hides some minor issues, but overall the seaming wasn't as bad as I feared. The blocking was easy, but I was stymied for a couple of days by a lack of buttons, and then by a lack of daylight, which is why this is just getting posted now even though I attached the buttons on Thursday.I call this one a great success!