Wednesday 15 January 2014

FO: Classic Red Sweater and How to Add a Faux Seam

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Pattern: Oatmeal

Yarn: Cascade Eco + in 'Scarlet'

Needles: 5mm and 6 mm circulars (US 8  and 10)

Mods: Adjusted guage, added longer ribbing on the sleeves, and added faux seams on the body. My Ravlelry Project page can be found here.

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As part of my 5 Small Goals for Winter, I wanted to knit a cozy sweater for myself. I had also been craving a super-simple bright red sweater, so this checked all the right boxes for me! This is a wonderful top-down sweater pattern for a bulky weight pullover, and knits up really quickly- I probably would have finished this much faster if Christmas hadn't happened. I don't know if your holidays are anything like my holidays, but mine are pretty far from relaxing- usually really busy with lots of people to see, things to do, and food to eat (maybe I'd eat fewer dessert squares if I held my knitting more?). Anyway, it felt so good to knit a bulky weight sweater- it's cozy, super comfy, and I love Cascade Eco, so it was hitting all the right spots.

This is the second sweater in a row that I've put faux seams into, and I have to say, I'm really liking how it looks and works- it makes your knit look more finished, and helps give the sweater some of the stability that real seams would. You can see the faux seam in some of the photos below:

How to Add a Faux Seam
To put a faux seam into a sweater, I purl a stitch in the same spot on each side of the sweater. So if you are knitting from the bottom up, and you have (for example) 180 stitches around, then I'd knit 89 stitches, purl, knit another 89 stitches, and purl again. It's even easier if your sweater is top down (like this one!). When you get to join the body again after the underarms, purl the stitch in the middle of the stitches you cast on for the underarm. Usually, you will need to cast on a few stitches after you have separated the sleeves and are rejoining under the arm to work the body in the round. The middle stitch of those cast on stitches is where you put the purl stitch. And now you have a faux seam!

As a side note, I was trying out Commentluv to see if that would allow me to better respond to comments, but it was a bit of a gong show and I had to take it off. Blogger really doesn't allow you to interact with commenters as much as I'd like, so I'm considering migrating to Wordpress. Any advice?

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

Do you have a ravelry project page for this? I'd just been looking at Oatmeal the other day, but didn't like most people's versions of it. Yours with the negative ease and the longer sleeve ribbing really works.

Julie said...

I've now updated the blog post with my ravelry project page! Thanks for reminding me!

Allison said...

Looks great! That is such a classic color for a winter sweater.

Kara said...

Love the sweater!

As for Wordpress, I've been using it for my blog since at least 2008 & prefer it vastly over blogger (I write every few months on a blogger blog & it's the formatting that annoys me most there). Right now, I'm on the free wordpress.com sites & like it - there's a "reply" button that I can see when someone comments, so I can just comment from there. I'm bad about replying to comments, but it's easy to do when I remember. :)

Loulou said...

How gorgeous are you and this sweater? But the two together and you're off the charts. I love it.

Blithe Spirit said...

ooh, I picked up some Cascade Eco in my usual favourite shades of grey but am kicking myself for not getting the red. The sweater looks great. Simple and cozy. How many of those large skeins did you use?

Jane Richmond said...

Julie your pullover is absolutely stunning!!! I LOVE the faux seams and the colour is just perfection!

Michelle said...

Can I ask just WHERE you put those extra dessert squares? 'Cause mine are SHOWING!

Mandarine's said...

It's SO pretty Julie!
I would love to knit of these for myself in the exact same color!

Hilary said...

Julie, this is so beautiful! I'm also a fan of faux seams and totally agree that they make a knit look nice and finished. (Also great for hiding jogs in in-the-round colorwork patterns!)

Renee Anne said...

Gorgeous, as always! Someday, I hope to knit myself a sweater that doesn't look like cat puke. ::sigh::

Teresa said...

There's the perfect shade of red for everyone (so I hear), and it looks like you've found yours! I think it looks great. Also: it's always satisfying to make a list and then cross off items once achieved. Congratulations!

Maryse said...

This is another beautiful FO! You look stunning in it!

SewJillian said...

I adore this and thanks so much for adding instructions for a faux seam, I'm going to try that next time!

As for commenting platforms I have a Blogger blog and added Disqus commenting to it. I hated that when you reply to a commenter in Blogger comments they don't get notified directly of the response. It totally ruins the wonderful conversations that might take place. When I comment on other blogs I have to try and remember where I commented then go back (!) another time to see if I got a response. Tres annoying. I have adored Disqus, no problems with integrating with Blogger and my blogging relationships have blossomed as a result.

AngelaH said...

What a fantastic colour on you! This is gorgeous.

Voie de Vie said...

Great pullover - what an awesome color on you, and what's not to like about Cascade Eco+? :)

Anonymous said...

You look amazing in that colour and oh so cosy too!

Anonymous said...

That is a fabulous colour! The sweater looks simply divine, well done!

Unknown said...

this is so beautiful!! I made the Oatmeal sweater this winter too :)

Siga said...

Similar to SewJilian I also changed my commenting form and now I can reply directly on the blog page to comments. I find it really useful.

Anonymous said...

I don't know how I missed this until now. Gorgeous sweater and at 6mm I'm sure it must had been a really fun and quick knit! I moved from blogger to wordpress years ago and really love it. Not only is the comment/reply system easier to use, the page system is also very useful.

Tiffany said...

This is a great sweater, love the seams and the simplicity. I always have trouble making my sweaters look flattering instead of well.. unflattering haha. I have wordpress for my site and find it very useful/easy to go back and forth with my commenters. I DO use commentluv with it so they can add their latest post to their comments but it doesn't interfere with how I can communicate with them.

Sabrina said...

O wow! I just love this sweater! It's EXACTLY what I want. I will have to give it a try.

cm said...

I've made the smaller version of this sweater for my son and my niece. My turn next! Love the side seams and the colour - it's just stunning!!

Alli said...

Wow - how gorgeous Julie! You make me want to cast on for this, like right nao! As for blogging platforms, I use Squarespace and I love it!

Francesca said...

Love this, classic and chic...It's just so cool when you can knit items that are going to be wardrobe staples for years to come...

Anonymous said...
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Pam said...

Beautiful! A red sweater for winter just looks warmer - and this is a beautiful shade on you.

Unknown said...

You are so beautiful ))
I like your knitting very much~