FO: Gathered Pullover

Posted on April 27, 2008 by knittingpatterns4you | 8 Comments

I did it! I made myself weave in those ends even though I really can't see myself getting much wear out of this one now that spring is here. Mind you, I'm not complaining about Spring, don't get me wrong! I really am ridiculously excited for spring, actually. But my project timing kind of sucks, honestly.

I knit this sweater in about a week, sewed it up, and then got distracted. It took a month to make me weave in the ends and block it, but now it's done, and I love it!

Even though it looks pretty true to the original, I actually made lots of modifications on this one. Having seen many a Gathered Pullover on Ravelry (there are 363 of them in progress there as I type this), I had noticed an unfortunate side effect of that cable panel between the boobs: on several people's FOs, the panel fell too low between the girls, resulting in (for those of us who are well-endowed on top) was a general saggyness that clearly didn't reflect the person's body accurately. I, being an odd bra size and a total bra-freak because of it, knew there was no way I would wear a sweater that made it look like I forgot to put my bra on in the morning! So I had to address that problem before it cropped its ugly head.

I ended up starting the cable 1.5" higher than the pattern directs, which moved its center to about the height of the armholes. Which brought about an interesting challenge: the front was a good 4" narrower than the back at this point, because the cable pulls in A LOT. I, and I'm confident all women, am bigger in the front than the back (I happen to be significantly bigger in the front, actually). So I knew there was no way I would knit a sweater where the back was wider than the front. I ended up moving the armholes back, so that the front had 2" more stitches than the back, to make the width equal. This meant all kinds of changes had to happen to the armholes, so that the front armholes are shaped completely differently than the back ones.

Moving the cable up also meant I had to move the v-neck start up, which was fine with me. I also omitted that weird decrease/increase in the center of the cable because I knew I didn't want the sweater to pull tight over the girls (see, I told you I'm obsessed) and I couldn't see that it had any purpose whatsoever. In hindsight, I believe that row is meant to pull the cable pattern open more by distorting the neighboring stockinette . . . but I think you can see in the picture that the cable looks just fine without it.

I also changed the neckline decreases (had to since my v is shorter) and the neckline finishing. I tried to do the called-for edging but it looked dumb and made the v too shallow, so I went with one row of single crochet to finish the edge. Oh, I also added back neck shaping, although to be honest I didn't even read that part of the pattern since I knew I had to adapt it, so for all I know the pattern calls for it, too!

One modification I should have made but didn't was shortening the sleeves -- I can't explain why I didn't do it, since I knew they would be too long, but there you have it. They're too long. It's ok, I can roll them up like they are in the picture and it doesn't bother me one bit.

The yarn, Classic Elite Princess, is gorgeous by the way. It did grow a bit with blocking, so I would caution everyone to wash and block a swatch before they knit with it. I would absolutely knit with it again and am considering using it for a very big project I might take on after my wedding . . . and buying it from Webs makes it kind of a steal, so to me this is a win-win-win yarn. Soft, easy to knit, good stitch definition, amazing yardage, and not expensive! What's not to like?

I'm probably going to wear this sweater as a jacket this week, just so I can get some use out of it before summer hits! NYC springs are notoriously short, after all.

Project specs:
Pattern: Gathered Pullover from Winter 2007 Interweave Knits
Yarn: 7 skeins Classic Elite Princess, color 3403
Needles: US size 7
Started: March 24, 2008
Finished: April 27, 2008

Posted in Finished Knitting Projects, gathered pullover, knitting, pullover


8 Responses

Cass
Cass

May 09, 2008

Hi, I’m new to your blog. I just wanted to say well done on this. I have similar proportions and am encouraged by your adaptation of this piece. I may take it on myself.

Gina
Gina

April 27, 2008

It looks fantastic! A classic example of how modifying can really make a good pattern better suited to your body. Great job.

Jen
Jen

April 28, 2008

I love the Princess too! Such a great yarn. I stocked up on it during the webs sale. The sweater looks great with the mods!

Wanda
Wanda

April 29, 2008

Beautiful!

gleek
gleek

April 27, 2008

it does look great! and you still may be able to wear it on some cool nights instead of a jacket :)

Keatyn
Keatyn

April 27, 2008

It looks great.

Claire
Claire

April 27, 2008

That’s nice, the mods really make it work.

jess
jess

April 27, 2008

it looks great! I think your mods really made it fit you best! I love it!

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