sky sweater-3

Here is another sweater that I recently rescued from my UFO piles. It’s called the Sky Sweater. I started it in December 2011 after I fell in love with it in the premiere issue of knit.wear.  I remember working on it fairly monogamously last winter, but when it came to finishing the arm bands that connect to the arm buttons and blocking the beast, I lost interest. With my expanding pregnant belly last year, I knew I would not be wearing it until this winter.

sky sweater-2

I made the sweater in the exact yarn and color of the pattern sample. It seemed really classy in that color and this is the first grey sweater I’ve knitted. Normally I never shy from colors, even if those colors often end up being somewhat close to aqua or mustard. I do have my favorites.

This sweater has many construction techniques I had not used on previous sweaters. It was a mostly seamless piece from the top down. The shoulder shaping was done with short rows. I love the look of it, and I love avoiding set in sleeves at the same time.

sky sweater-4

I used the recommended Creative Focus Worsted in Charcoal. It’s a singly ply yarn that is 75% wool and 25% alpaca. It’s not the softest thing I’ve ever worn, but I think I’m slightly sensitive to alpaca. I anticipate always wearing a layering piece with this. The yarn is made by Rowan, but I believe it used to be made by Nashua at one time. I used it on a Treeline Cardigan years ago. It holds up pretty well, with a little felting at the armpits and an expected amount of pilling.

The sweater is meant to have several inches of positive ease in the arms and chest with feminine waist shaping. I made the 42.5″ bust size. I made this sweater as if I would be springing back to my pre-baby size in no time. I don’t think all of these expansions, especially the boobs (aka the milk factories) are going away just yet. Luckily, I still love the way that it fits and I feel like I should be sipping some hot cocoa at a ski lodge when I wear it.

sky sweater

On a more personal note, I really really try not to get down about my post-pregnancy body not snapping back into form as easily as I thought it would. I want to cultivate a more positive body image for myself, and also as a healthy example for my daughter. I know this sounds like I’m fishing for compliments or assurances. I’m not, but it does suck not to be able to wear most of my clothing. I’m trying to be patient with myself, assuage my voracious appetite, and get some exercise when I can. I just want to be honest about this process for other ladies out there that might be going through this or will in the future, because somewhere in my head I believed that all of the baby weight would fall away in a matter of months if I was breastfeeding. It’s more of a slow and very gradual loss. I feel like my shoulders belong to a football player in some outfits. Thank goodness knitting is so forgiving.

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