After a tedious project, in my case, referring to this, I am all about looking for a fast knit as the next thing for my needles. Keep in mind, I am a one-project girl. I actually scan my queue (I am very true to my queue as it keeps me focused) looking for a big needled, bulky yarn, project. Doing just that, I decided to work up this very oversized, boxy, traditional styling piece. The pattern calls for yarn called Columbia, from Imperial Yarn. The fiber is aran weight and is full of body meaning the yarn itself can almost stand up on its own, perfect for this project. The only thing I was hesitant about was the color I chose. Grey as seen on the original is lovely but I do love color so I took this gamble of peach blossom. I was almost liberated when a blog I follow on fashion posted THIS! I’ve been in love with this pattern since first laying eyes on it back in Fall, Vogue Knitting 2011 and thinking knitting it should be a snap, away I went. And, it was.

First, the body was knitted. Very straight forward leaving this great gap for the inset. The inset is then knitted separately. I will admit, the directions are a bit skimpy, but corrections were made and are easily found following this link, Vogue Knitting, for pattern #25 and are accurate. I found the biggest tip is to mark the right side of the inset. The front and the back of the inset look the same due to its stitch pattern yet the piece is shaped differently along the sides, so marking the right side proves to be very helpful. Sewing in the inset was fairly easy using the whip stitch. I was very impressed how perfectly the inset fit into the gap. I sewed this having both the body of the sweater as well as the inset facing up. This insured the seam I was creating was the way I wanted.

Sewing the pockets down was next. Pretty straight forward, working with the right side facing up and again using the whip stitch, one side of the pocket was sewn on top of the knitted fabric while the other side gets caught in when sewing up the side seam.

Here are the details I was originally attracted to . . . the little tab with button at the very oversized sleeve as well as the simple band around the neck, all done in ridge stitch (knit every row). I did add functional 1-row buttonholes to the tabs and front band so I could manage sewing on the buttons. I split the yarn to be able to feed it through the buttonholes. The pictures are outside with very outgrown hair.

Here is a second photo shoot I did inside (remember, we are in the middle of a pandemic) after a haircut that, in these photos is shorter than I would have liked (is there no satisfying me?), but you do get the idea of this very wearable sweatshirt-like pull that I cannot wait to wear when the world becomes a happier place.