My Oversized Improv Sweater

Well, if you’ve been following along closely with me on Instagram, you might already know that this sweater ended up to be much more of an effort that I’d anticipated. I spent a long time dreaming up the idea, and I cast it on late last year, but I’ve only just got around to finishing it, which is quite unlike me.

It all went wrong around January time, when I was looking at my progress, and how much yarn I had left, and I was pretty sure I had a problem. There definitely wouldn’t be enough yarn to finish it. That realisation ended up halting my progress for quite some time, as I deliberated what to do. Basically, I was sulking because it wasn’t going to be exactly as I’d planned it to be, given it was impossible for me to find any more of the yarn anywhere.

One day, though, I frogged another project and decided in an instant that my newly-acquired yarn would make perfectly acceptable contrasting cuffs and neckband.

So I set to work once more, and it felt like progress was much faster than I’d remembered from all the time I’d spent on it pre-sulk. Before I knew it, the sleeves were done, and I worked up the cuffs and neckband over two evenings. All-in-all, a job well done.

Let me tell you a bit about this design. I’m a fan of a simple knit, but I was growing bored of stocking stitch so I wanted to mix it up a bit. Now, I know I’m not pushing the boat out with this, but I settled on the idea of twisted stocking stitch pretty quickly. I love the texture it adds to the knit, but I also love that it’s still an easy enough thing to work up.

I used a favourite store bought sweater as a guide, and noted down all of the measurements, and I set to work on my calculations.

Honestly, I think it turned out pretty well, but there is one thing I didn’t account for. I was planning a deep v-neck, and the sweater I was drafting from had a crew neck. I would only find out at the very end that this adjustment would change the fit fairly significantly, so I’ve just resigned myself to the fact that I’ve got a lot more jumper than I need around the underarms.

That deep v also came with another side effect, the forever falling off your shoulders issue, which I’m pretty sure someone else would have seen coming. Not one to be defeated, a whipped up an i-cord to sit across the shoulders and hold it together, and I’m happy with how it’s turned out.

This is definitely the kind of sweater to cosy up in when you don’t want to make too much effort, but still want to look sort of put-together. It’s loose and comfortable, but still kind of stylish, and I love it for all of those things.

I’m not sure how much wear I’ll get out of it right now since spring is upon us, but maybe I’m being a bit optimistic because the weather’s currently forecast to rain for the next week, and there’s definitely a chill in the air! Whatever way it works out, I hope this will become a staple jumper in my wardrobe for seasons to come!