Finished: Simple & SweetGeorgia Pullover

YAY!! This is finally finished!! Double yay that I have an FO from the (growing) pile of WIPs!

I managed to get the actual knitting and the sewing up completed a little over a week ago, and because it's been so cold here lately the pullover took about 4 days to dry in order for the blocking process to be done! This project definitely lived up to its' moniker of being "plain and simple", although a warning should be issued with the pattern that severe boredom may arise during the endless amounts of stockinette (in the round, no less!) and the neverending ribbing on the neck. I know a few people have deviated away from knitting this project up due to the fact that it is to be knit using fingering weight yarn and tiny needles. If I weren't such a product knitter, I think this would have deterred me too. Alas, as you can tell, it did not.

The last part of this project was quite tedious. Especially if you're an English-style knitter and not a fan of ribbing. I had picked up 177 stitches around the neck and no matter how hard I tried and how much I tried to fudge it, I couldn't pick up the 180 stitches called for in the pattern without causing unsightly holes and weird bunching. I don't think being 3 stitches less has affected the overall appearance of the pullover and if anything being 3 stitches less has made the ribbing more symmetrical and balanced. The ribbing seriously took me forever to do and at times felt like I was in a knitting black hole. I would spend hours knitting and would still be nowhere near the 7 inches I needed to be done with the neck. I swear, when I got to the 6 inch mark I was knitting up a storm and every time I measured my progress I was still at 6 inches! Just glad that the armhole ribbing was easy to pick up and were only an inch each!

I seriously loved how when I was finished, I was f-i-n-i-s-h-e-d. As in there was no seams to sew up, no individual pieces to block and then sew together. Just ends to weave in, sew on some buttons, and voila!! It's done, done, done! Man, you just gotta love seamless knits! I had weighed what was left of my yarn and had exactly 50g leftover. I had used a little over 2 and a half skeins for this pullover. Another reason to love this pattern!

You can't really tell in the photos, but the semi-tonal colours within the yarn really adds depth and interest to the garment. I think this pullover is quite versatile, makes a great layering piece, and think I'll be able to get a lot of wear out of it in the coming months. I would love to make another one in grey, but have way too many other sweaters in my queue that I want to knit before I could re-knit a pattern again.

When I picked out the yarn for this project I knew that I had wanted wooden buttons. I had originally thought dark wooden ones but once I was done knitting I didn't have the time or the energy to try to find the buttons that I had in mind. Not to mention that I haven't really been having much luck finding buttons that I truly love here in Victoria. Anyways, so I rooted around my button drawer trying to find any and all wooden buttons that I could possibly have. These are the only ones that I could find that were the right size. At first I wasn't sure if I liked them and thought maybe they were a bit too light in colour and contrasted too much against the darkness of the green. But after wearing this to knit night on Friday night Judy had attested that these buttons were not only the right choice, but a perfect match. Since the buttons were showcasing the neck and were acting as the main attraction on an otherwise overly plain pullover. Good point Judes! Thanks for the boost that I needed to hear!

Project details:

Pattern: Plain and Simple Pullover by Veera Välimäki

Yarn: 3 skeins of SweetGeorgia Tough Love Sock

Colour: English Ivy

Needles: HiyaHiya circular US 2 1/2 (3mm) and Knit Picks Nickel Plated circular US 1 1/2 (2.5mm)

My Ravelry link: MisoCraftyKnits' Simple & SweetGeorgia Pullover