Pixelated Pullover

I’m a little behind in blogging my knitted makes and so it took me till now to show you my first knitted pullover in 2016. I started the year (knittingwise) with continuing my  sock-yarn-leftovers-scarf, as well as my sock-yarn-leftovers-blanket, and I finished a pair of socks.  But all of that didn’t keep me long from pursuing my dream of having a closet full of handknit Cardigans and sweater! ;) And since my discovery of the Pixelated Pullover by Jennifer Beaumont I knew I needed to add another pullover to my collection!I had some difficulties picking the colors though. I needed 3 and they should be contrasting. okay! I knew that one of them had to be purple. because purple! In the end I decided to to pick turquoise as the contrasting color. Turquoise! Absolutely not my color and when the yarn arrived and I saw them next to each other I couldn’t imagine that those two colors could make a beautiful pullover.The third color I choose was a steel blue. The yarn I choose is Drops Merino Extra Fine.

I really liked the instructions. I got a little mixed up at the beginning but as I read farther everything became clear. The instructions are well written and very clear. I didn’t miss anything in the pattern, there are charts and lots of explanations. The sweater is knit seamless and top-down AND I even learned something new

I learned to knit contiguous set-in-sleeves. I didn’t know those before. They are a hybrid of raglan and set-in sleeves. The sleeves itself is knit a a regular raglan sleeve, every other round or row stitches are increased at the sides of the sleeves. But the front and back are knitted as if they were knit with set-in sleeves, which means that they are knit straight down without increases.

before the increasing of the sleeves start a shoulder seam is constructed with decreases too. That means that the front and back are not knitted separately but in one piece. And that means that you don’t have to pick up stitches. This is a really fun way to knit sleeves. Plus it it easier than knitting set- in sleeves, because you don’t need to knit short rows, which means that this a way better method to knit sleeves and colorwork. As I always had fitting issues with raglan sleeves I hoped that these sleeves would be a real alternative to regular set- in sleeves for me.

As it turned out those kind of sleeves also do not fit me right. You see those pleats above the bust and in the back at the sleeves? I don’t usually have those and I think they’re caused by too little fabric underneath my arms. Too bad.

Still those sleeves are an alternative to raglan sleeves for me. Especially when I’m knitting colorwork. But when I’m working in one color I prefer knitting the regular set-in sleeves.

The waist in- and decreases are knit in the front and back and not at the sides which gives a nice effect:

I knitted in size 32″, I have a 33″ bust, but the measurements are finished measurements and the pullover is meant to be worn with negative ease and I think the sweater fits me well (apart from the wrinkles). I used up 11 skeins (550g) of Drops Merino Extra Fine knitting with 4mm needles. § of tose were in turquoise color (number 29), 5 in steel blue (number14) and 5 in purple (number 21). I lengthened the sweater here and there and the sleeves turned out a bit too long, they grew a lot while blocking.

I think the sweater looks great when it lies in front of my. I’m not sure how I like it on my. I have very pale skin and I think the turquoise and steel blue make me look even paler. But maybe I’m just not used to those colors. However I still like this one!

I really really liked the pattern and instructions! They were well written and I think they’re totally suitable for beginners. The most difficult parts knitting the colorwork, but even that wasn’t that hard. There is a chart for the placement of the contrasting stitches but in the instructions it is said that iit is more important to make the contrasting stitches look randomly placed than following the chart. And so I just knitted loosely following the chart. There is no chance you can make mistakes with placing the stitches here.

I’m also pleased with the yarn. It is soft, warm and the colours are beautifully bright! Because I liked the combination I made a scarf from the leftover, you can have a look at it here! :)

You can also check out the sweater on Ravelry if you want!

I hope you’re having a fun week!

Macht’s gut!

Katharina