Yippee Yi Yea!! (or is that how it's spelled?)

I finished my Klaralund in a marathon evening of knitting last night, blocked her out during the night, set a fan on her this morning ... and seamed her up during naptime (which a certain 2-yr-old refused to do, but nevertheless remained in her crib) this afternoon.  Yea!

Here she is!




And, the details:

I made the 40" size, and used less than 10 balls of Silk Garden.  However, I cast on fewer stitches for the sleeves (for the 38" inch size), and followed those directions while also taking an inch off the length.  I don't really care for sleeves that are too long.  For the front/back, I made a side flap opening, which means that I extended the garter stitch up the sides, and left part of the bottom unseamed.  I extended the front/backs by 1/2", because I like a little length in tunic-style sweaters. 

Here's a close-up of the slit detail:



Overall, this was a very easy knit, good for a beginner.  I was very pleased with the knitting because I could take it to the park with my two kids, take it in the car, watch TV ... a mindless knit can go anywhere with me!  I would say that the sleeves still turned out a little longer than I would have liked ... and as I'm a 36", I would maybe next time shoot for a close-fitting version and knit about a size 36" (this, again, was 40").  But I intended a sweatshirt-type of sweater design here, and that's what I got!  The other thing I'd maybe do next time is think about matching the color stripes only on the last 9 rows of the sleeve, the part that frames the neck ... I think it'd be nice to simply have that be the same color.  Who cares about the rest!  I'll definitely enjoy this sweater this winter.

I also love the color I used, Silk Garden #74.  It's a perfect color for going-with-denim, and the style is very hippie-casual.  By the way, if you follow my auctions, you'll note that I have more of this in stock, and I also have 2 other colors of Silk Garden that have been discontinued ... which means I may have to dip into my stash to make either a Butterfly (from the Jane Ellison's Noro Knits Bk 2), or an Agnes (from the same designer's Simply Noro Book 1).  Hmmm ... so many decisions for a Noro addict like myself!  I'm telling myself to first finish my Debbie Bliss Knot Cable Cardigan ... which was going to come next after my Karlsro, but I got sidetracked with the fun Klaralund-along.