Thursday, August 09, 2007

Central Park Hoodie

Pattern: Central Park Hoodie from Fall 2006 Knitscene
Yarn: Black Water Abbey 2-ply worsted weight in Pippin - 7 skeins
Needles: US 7 and 8
Size: 48"
Mods: Knit the band as one piece, omitted buttons
Cast on: March '07 Finished: August '07
Rating: 3 out of 5 frogs

Waaaay back in January '06, the members of my knitting group gave their resolutions for the year. Mine was to knit six sweaters. (6 in '06 - catchy, isn't it?) Hearing my grandiose plans, the knitting goddess smacked me down and good; each of the six patterns I attempted led to naught. Proclaiming that I was under a Great Sweater Curse (GSC), I finally gave up mid-year and knit a bunch of other stuff.

2007 rolled around, and I wondered if maybe it was safe to try another sweater. I bought some BWA at Stitches West, and cast on for CPH in March. And today, today I broke the Great Sweater Curse. Whew. It's been a long time coming.

Pros
+ Cute, simple pattern.
+ CPH is the second adult sweater I've knit in my life.
+ As the breaker of the GSC, it's a success.
+ It fits. Kinda.
+ Love the color.
+ I'm satisfied with my finishing job.

Cons
+ The yarn. It hurt my hands. A lot. (I still have a yarn burn scar from it on my index finger.) The BWA is so tightly wound that I couldn't manipulate it well; the loose purls in and wonky stitches to the right of each cable panel horrify me. If I hadn't been so stubborn about breaking the GSC, I would have frogged and used a different yarn. But I was, and I didn't, making this an excellent lesson on how yarn can make or break a project.
+ The sleeves are super long. I'd read about this problem on the KAL, but blithely didn't modify mine. Now I have gorilla sleeves. Whatever.
+ The pattern does run small. I'm a big girl, and wanted it a little roomy, so went with the largest size. It fits, but is still very open in front.

Thanks to Liz for her killer cable advice; to Seattle Marie, Marie and Mary for knitting along with me; and to all our fellow CPH KALers.

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

Woohoo! Congrats on breaking the GSC, and with a fabulous sweater too!

Anonymous said...

YAY, GSC broken. Congrats, the sweater looks great too.

There will be a celebratory skein of yarn making it's way to you at some point in the next week or 2, depending on when I can get to the post office.

Anonymous said...

OMG!! Your CPH looks AWESOME!! I love the color and it looks great on you. I'm so inspired! Glad to hear the GSC is over.

Anonymous said...

Wow! Absolutely wow - and wohoooo for finishing your CPH! It turned out absolutely and totally awesome! The color is fantastic, you knit it up totally professionally, and it looks stunning on you! This is certainly a winner that you can be very proud of! Congrats!

Curly Cable said...

Wow, your CPH is just so fabulous, it looks super and is a lovely colour, it really suits you.. Well done, all your patience and hard work has paid dividends. You must be very proud and your work is such an inspiration.

Liz K. said...

(Plug your ears because I'm screaming:)

OMG! Your sweater is finished! And it's YOU!!!! Madge pics! Wow!

I was going to say that it doesn't take a lot to get me excited, but man, that sweater is A LOT! Ding dong, the curse is DEAD!

(OK, now I'm exhausted.)

Annette said...

Woohoo! Hooray for breaking the sweater curse!!!! Your CPH is gorgeous. It looks fabulous on you. Stunning, really. :) I'm doing the happy dance over here!

jillian said...

Hooray!! It looks wonderful! When I saw your post, I said " oh my gosh, she finished it, she finished it!" The color is great on you and it's a great fit too! The arms can always be rolled up. The easiest thing to fix :) No more GSC for yoU!

Ellen Bloom said...

Au contraire, Dearest Madge....the sweater looks lovely on you. Just think, when the "winter" rolls around and you've got on a heavier top UNDER the CPH, it will be perfect. You will never need a coat again. This green wooly goodness should keep you warm wherever you go.
Looks like you did a great job of finishing too. LOVE those overhead photos!

LotusKnits said...

Awww it's Madge! Hi Madge! I'm so proud of that CPH! It's truly awesome. Congrats on finishing such a lovely sweater that looks amazing on you. Perfect color choice.

*happy dance*

Debi said...

The CPH is gorgeous, congrats on breaking the curse! Love the color and it looks great on you!

Now as a reward, head over to Webs, get yourself some Cashsoft DK and knit sweater #3 in a yarn that is so lovely to knit with it will make you cry with joy, not bleed with pain like the BWA!

CatBookMom said...

Oh frabjous day! Callooh, callay!!! It's done, it's done! Dancing going on here.

You did a great job, and you should be so proud of working through the GSC *and* the scratchy Black Abbey yarn. The color is so good on you, and OK, the sleeves can roll up.

The pictures from overhead are so cute; the first one is perfect to show the impish part of Madge. Girlfriend, you rock!!

Anonymous said...

Oh, Madge, I love it!! I'll be casting on for that soon, myself. I love the color!

Anonymous said...

it looks so nice and cozy. and it's a great color.

i've only knit 2 adult sweaters myself, and i've since pulled both of them out. so i have nothing so show for all that work :P.

Anonymous said...

Yay! Bravo! I was so excited (for you) to see that the CPH is finished! And, it looks great! I especially love that last picture. It makes me smile. :) (see?)

catmum said...

I love it! I'm so inspired, I've wanted to knit that for a long time, I have never knit an adult sweater, so terribly scared. I keep reading about people's mods, but I think I will just follow instructs exactly. I bought cascade 220 for it already, now finishing some UFOs to clear the decks...soon

Octopus Knits said...

Congratulations! It looks lovely! It's unfortunate that the yarn gave you troubles. It sure is pretty.

mehitabel said...

Squeeee! Finished! And I think it looks great on you, so you should definitely keep it! Give it a bath and a rinse in hair conditioner and it will soften up nicely. The color is wonderful!
Now, of course, I'm the very last tagalong of the Great CPH Knitalong...sigh. Ithink I just have a Great CPH Curse going...

Anonymous said...

Wow! Great color and a lovely sweater!

Nicole said...

I agree with Mehitabel - if you hand wash it, it will soften up. I'll add that the uneveness of the cables will disappear as the wool fills out.

It is beautiful!

KSee said...

WTG, sweater looks great. Know you will be on a roll the the GSC is broken.

mary said...

Be gone, Curse! Away with you! Hurray for Madgik! A new dawn has arrived. Can you see the hippos dancing with joy?

Red Sonja said...

That looks great! Are you glad you went with that size or do you wish you had gone down one? I'm getting ready to start and I'm a curvy girl myself so I'm trying to figure out what size to do.

mj said...

Yippee skipee!! It looks great.

RoxyK said...

Yeah - Congratulations!! You've done a fabulous job ;)

Can't believe it's only your 2nd sweater - the finishing looks great!