We are in love with a new pattern. It is called Friday Again, designed by fallmasche on Ravelry.
It makes use of the new (to us) method of “contiguous sleeve” design. With this method, set in sleeves are added as you go in a seamless, top-down sweater. (It is similar to the more widely known method described in Barbara Walker’s Knitting from the Top Down, but it differs in a few important respects.) The sleeve cap is created with an ingenious method of frequent increases along the shoulder line. The resulting fit is fantastic.
Susan’s Friday
Yes, it’s me again!! I hate pictures of myself, but this design has to be seen on the wearer to appreciate the fit. I combined several sizes into one to get a perfect fit. I also added a little edge to the neckline, but it probably was unnecessary.
I used Berocco Ultra Alpaca Light in color Blueberry Crush. Gorgeous color. Gorgeous yarn. So delectably soft!! I love the finished result and plan on making a summery version as well.
Sally’s Friday
I had been looking for a pattern for some yarn since I bought it months ago. The yarn is Silky DK by Viola, a blend of silk and merino. The color: Nosferatu. I absolutely could not resist it.
This photo shows the sweater in progress before I divided for the sleeves. You can see how the sleeve and cap are created by the increases.
A few photos of it on Lucy:
Finally, a rare photo of me. I wore this when my daughter and I went out to dinner in Boulder for my birthday. This is a picture she took on her cell phone, so excuse the quality (and the model). Susan made me post it!
I love this sweater and I love the yarn with one caveat. It seems to want to pill. I may just need to cast on another Friday Again in a different yarn so I can throw it on no matter what day the calendar says it is.
Conclusion
We called this post “Simply Deceptive” instead of “Deceptively Simple,” which had been our first choice. The pattern has such a look of ease about it: stockinette in the round with a slip-stitch detail. What could be easier? However, the method is a bit different and fallmasche’s instructions might be difficult for some knitters to decipher in spots because instead of a more typical “narrative” form, much of the directions are provided in a table format. We called each other several times to double check our numbers. Others have sailed through it, and the technique is not difficult. We both recommend the pattern highly.
PS from Susan — where is the snow indeed!?! Last year we had over 60 inches by now and this year about 15. It is supposed to snow this week, however. Ugh for the commute time but great in other ways!
PS2 from Susan: Nancy asked what I did to the neckline: I picked up sts (stitch for stitch) from the WS through the cast on row and then bound off loosely as to knit (again, from the WS side row — I was working in the round).
PS3 from Susan: Sivani asked, “How did you find the back neck and its fit? Does the pattern include increases at the back neck and if so, did you follow the pattern or find that you had to make adjustments?” Short row shaping is done at the very beginning of the sweater to raise the back neck. It fits quite well, but it is straight across. I think it would be rather complicated to create a dip in the back neck if that is your preference. I’m sure it can be done, but it would be hard for me to wrap my brain around it!