Favorites: Larch

I love knitting sweaters, but all too often I finish them and then never wear them.  Thankfully, they tend to fit my mom great!  After so many years of knitting (and a lot of trial and error) I am finally figuring out what seems to work best for my body type and style preferences. I have learned that I really prefer a tight knit fabric at a smaller gauge. Anything too bulky just makes me feel heavy when I try to wear it-especially if it is a longer sweater that goes over my hips. I think the most valuable key for me to get a fabric and drape that I like is knitting on small enough needles for my yarn choice. If I am using a worsted weight yarn, I prefer to use a needle size US 6 or smaller if I am knitting a sweater.

Larch taught me this. For the first time ever, I finished a sweater and absolutely loved how it fit. I still gave it away (it just wouldn't be right to deny a knit gift to the woman who taught you how to knit! Love you Grandma :)  But I knew even though it meant hours more of non-stop stockinette and picking up hundreds of stitches, that I would have to make another to keep for myself.

I love everything about the finished sweater, from the shawl collar, to the sweet little border details from binding off the ribbing stitches and then picking them all back up to knit the body and sleeves. I also learned how important it is to really watch your tension when transitioning from knitting in the round to knitting back and forth (i.e. the sleeves and their caps.)

I've worn the sweater layered over everything from tanks to thermals and flannels to dresses. The first Larch I knit I opted for wooden buttons placed as the pattern suggests, but with the second, I have quite the belly to work around and found a belt worked great!

 

I already want to make another one after seeing the incredibly sweet color work Sueja added to her Larch!