This is my Gathered Pullover

Ladies and gentlemen...this is my Gathered Pullover.



This is the sleeve that I cast on in January and knit in the movie theater while watching Singing in the Rain. I kept knitting in March on the bus on the way to hockey playoffs, and I cast off the first sleeve in Princeton, NJ.



This is the body that I cast on in May during breaks, whilst my friends and I wrote/filmed/starred in/edited/premiered a movie in twelve days (really).

And that I kept knitting on the metro all around Washington DC.



This is the cable that I cabled while watching Season 3 on DVD.



(I would also like to take the oppurtunity to point out that I think my new sweater looks quite nice with my new necklace, purchased at Eastern Market this past weekend.

This is the back and its pretty spectacular pooling. I think it looks sort of cool, though, and the color difference is subtle enough that it doesn't immediately scream HEY LOOK I'VE GOT A LIGHTNING BOLT ON MY BACK. Well, I hope not. And can't you see where I used another (darker) skein for the top of the back? Oh, the joys of handdyed yarn.



This is the shoulder that I finished while watching Season 4 online.

This is also the seam that I sewed while talking to my friend Chris on the phone.



Yes, this is it...this is, finally, at long last, my Gathered Pullover!



Ta-dah!

Project Specs:
Pattern: Gathered Pullover, by Hana Jason, Winter 2007 Interweave Knits. 36" (second-smallest) size.

Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport in "Denim," 4.5 skeins. I LOVED this yarn! While I was knitting I was a little worried because it just seemed so slippery. The more I looked at finished GPs elsewhere, the more I became convinced that this sweater needs a fuzzy yarn, not a slick one. When I finished the knitting, though, I tossed it in the washer and dryer (gulp) and--miraculously--it fuzzed right up! It didn't felt, obviously (hooray for superwash), but the fibers are just the tiniest bit stuck together and there's a little bit of a halo. And it is oh, so unbelievably soft. There was a little bit (/a lot) of a pooling issue, but I'm pretty easygoing about that sort of thing. If I were more uptight (and let's face it, less lazy) I would have knit alternating from two separate skeins, but hey.

Needles: Clover bamboo DPNs, size 8, for the sleeves, and mystery metal size 8 circ (inherited from my grandmother, so maybe Susan Bates) for the body.

Start date: January 20 (ish)
Finish date: July 27 (yyyyeah, I know.)

Modifications: Made the sleeves two inches longer than the pattern called for, mostly by accident (I was watching a movie, I got distracted...) When I tried them on, they were (surprise surprise) far too long, so then I ripped out three inches and now they're good. Sheesh. Made the body two inches longer, this time on purpose. Sewed together the seam at the front neckline, like many other have.

Verdict: I love it! Oh man, I love it! I think this is the best sweater I've ever made (not that some other sweaters were particularly hard acts to follow, you say. Shut up.) I love how light it is, and I love the plunging-yet-classy neckline and I love the cable detail. All that stockinette in the round was a little bit of a slog, and partly the reason it took so long--it was boring enough that I wanted to save it for when I was movie-watching/metro-riding/etc, which during the busy semester is not that often.

But in the end?

Totally, totally worth it.