Presenting Sgt Pepper

Sgt Pepper. Pattern by Anna.

I love this sweater. It's playful, but with very sophisticated tailoring details and colors that keep it from being at all costumey.

I followed the pattern pretty faithfully, with a few minor modifications. I tightened up the stitch gauge from 18 over 4" to 20 and made the second smallest size.  Luckily, that didn't change my row gauge, since a lot of the pattern is given in numbers of rows. I ended up needing one extra ball each of the black and the blue. I didn't make button loops, mostly because I don't really see myself wearing it closed and partly because I was so sick of all of that i-cord by the end. If I have trouble with it gaping open, I'll put a few hooks and eyes on. I bought the yarn and pattern as a birthday present for myself, so figure I started it around 2/16 and finished in the wee hours last night.

It's a fun one to knit and the fit is excellent. It may well become my standard cardigan pattern. The body is made in seven pieces with a lot of shaping, so the interest level throughout is high. I'd say I knit the sweater itself in two or three weeks. The embellishment was an exercise in keeping my eye on the prize and powering through. I certainly learned a lot from it and improved my handsewing by the end. Doing the finishing as I went along was good for both motivation and not being completely buried by it at the end.

I was very impressed with the detail and accuracy of the directions and will definitely be making more of Anna's designs. Gorgeous garments, both striking and wearable, with well-executed patterns. I want to make Bridie  for sure. And Holly.