Last week I finished knitting and blocked my turtleneck based on Hannah Fettig’s Lightweight Pullover pattern.  I then procrastinated for a week before weaving in the few ends.  Finally, this morning, I was able to wear it!

I love how this turned out.  The fit is perfect.  This might be because I tried it on every few inches and knit it to fit.

I mentioned in a previous post that I was considering making the seed stitch border at the hips a bit longer.  I ended up doing this, taking out the cast-off border and adding half an inch of seed stitch for a total of 2.5 inches.  The pattern calls for ribbing at the cuffs and hem, but I really like the look of the seed stitch; I think it gives the sweater a bit of a dressier line.

I knit this with Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light in Tart.  I wet blocked it, giving it a good soak.  I poured a cup of white vinegar in the water to help set the dye.  It definitely ran – if you are going to use Tart in colourwork I strongly recommend you wash all the dye out first.  I put it through a gentle spin cycle in the washer (inside a bag for delicate wash), and then laid it out to dry.  I didn’t need to pin it as the size was already perfect.  A warning, however, Tosh Merino Light does grow lengthwise after a soak – the sweater is two inches longer than pre-blocking.  Luckily, I was expecting this and the length came out perfectly.

I am particularly pleased with the fit in the shoulder and arm.  I mentioned in a previous post that I didn’t follow the numbers in the pattern, but just winged all of the math.  This method works well when knitting top-down in the round since you can try it on as you go.

Most knitters will alternate skeins every row when using hand dyed yarn to avoid pooling.  It turns out that I am terrible at doing this when knitting in the round; the join always looks messy.  Besides that, it is awkward and I hate doing it.  For this sweater, I only alternated for an inch or so every time I joined a new colour.  I was lucky and didn’t get much pooling.

I love the fact that this sweater is so versatile.  I wore it above with dressy navy slacks and heels.  Here it is with a skirt.  (It would look better with a navy,brown or black skirt, but you get the idea.)

Once I finished posing for the photos, however, how do you think I styled it?  Well, how else does one wear a jumper to go walking in the muddy English countryside?

Answer:

1. You put your hair in a ponytail.
2. You wear your wellies.  Wellies are essential; trust me.
3. You borrow your husband’s way-too-big-on-you coat.  Why?  Why have a husband if you can’t wear his clothes?

Now I’m off to find a muddy field to trek through….

(By the way, I asked Doug to look at this post and he said “You should have named it Tart in Turtleneck instead of Turtleneck in Tart”.  He deserves to have his clothes stolen!)