I know, I know. Two posts in two days! But I finally finished this, and I just couldn’t wait to show you all.
Pattern: Tomten Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmerman
Yarn: Sundara sock yarn, “Bronzed Forest” and “Mossy” (both from Autumn Seasons Collection I)
Time Elapsed: I finished the knitting in around a month of “work time”, but waited ages when I ran out of yarn and then again (for a whole month!) before putting the zipper in the finished product.
Notes/Modifications: I used a smaller gauge than she recommends–fortunately, the pattern is modular. For those interested in the numbers, I cast on 168 stitches and wound up with a 6-12 month size jacket. I lengthened both the body and the sleeves to make it a larger jacket-style sweater.
There is something to be said for writing up a FO entry as soon as you finish a project–I’ve mostly forgotten all of the in-progress stuff for this sweater!
I used two different colors of sock yarn, both from the “Autumn” season of Sundara’s first Season’s Collection. Convinced I’d run out of yarn well before starting the hood, I begged and bought and traded my way through several other hanks of these colors before finding two from the same dye lots. In the end, I needn’t have worried–the sleeves went extremely quickly and I’m sure I would have had enough yarn for the sweater with a mandarin-style collar.
All’s well that ends well, though–with the extras, I’ve already knit Jacob some socks and I have plenty more left. The yarns look gorgeous blended together (I did 2 rows of each and avoided all end-weaving–thanks, Ms. Monster Yarn, for the suggestion!
When I finished the sweater, I knew it needed a zipper. Nothing else would tame Daniel’s adorable pudgy belly so nicely, and nothing else would be half as quick to get on him. Poor Tomten sat for over a month, waiting for its zipper. I finally screwed up my courage last night, and it was far, far easier than I thought it would be to put in.
I guess the only downside to the whole project is that I feel like the shape of the arms is weird when laid out flat. This might be me–looking at the finished product, it seems to me that I should have decreased on the underside of the sleeve instead of the top. But I’m too lazy to check, because it looks just fine when worn.
All in all, this is a very successful first hand-knit for the new addition to our family.
Well, I think so, anyway. And Daniel can’t talk to argue.
Amy Herzog Designs