I just had to finish Oshima. I was thisclose,Β you guys. It was gnawing at me. After the endless Hugo sleeves, I just kept looking at my 3.5 inches of knitted Oshima collar and I really really wanted to finish the rest of it. It was all put together with ends woven in, aside from finishing the collar. That’s almost done! Then the snowy icy weather hit us, and I really wanted a new warm pullover to wear. So, I did it.oshima

We’re in love! I used Jo Sharp DK Wool Tweed. This isn’t even close to the yarn called for in the pattern (2 strands of Loft fingering weight yarn held together), but it got me gauge, and I got to use up most of this lovely yarn I’ve had stashed since 2007! It was soooo cold, so I only got a couple of shots outside, then I had to come in. Most of the shots made me look really cold and hunched, so I settled for some indoor ones.

oshima-2I love the details of the upper body on this sweater, especially the shaping on the back.

oshima-4I’m not used to this much positive ease on a sweater. This is the 38″ size. The recommended positive ease is 4-5″, so this seemed like the best size to make. I wish the back had a little less fabric. If I ever make this again, I’m going to use the 38″ front numbers and the 34″ numbers for the back. It is really comfy though. I’ve been living in it since I took it off the blocking board this morning. I like the long turned cuffs, and the cowl neck is perfect: extra warmth without being up against my chin.

oshima-3This yarn is also much softer than I expected. It doesn’t have a super soft hand when knitting it, but I’ve been wearing this with just a tank top underneath and it hasn’t made me itch even a tiny bit. I really like the yarn, but unfortunately I don’t think it’s distributed in the United States anymore. I ended up using 1,428 yards of the yarn. That’s a bit more than called for in the pattern, but I did add about 4 inches in length overall.

Now I can fully focus on finishing Hugo! I’m 10.5 inches into the front in about a day’s worth of knitting, so I think I’m in decent shape to finish on time in the next few nights! Thanks to timely shipping from WEBS, I will receive the last ball tomorrow, which I will definitely need. I’ll have more progress on that soon. Happy knitting!

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