I’ve finished my January Gansey sweater by Oliveknits. It took me longer than the 8 weeks that the Knit A Long ran but I’m OK with that.
Marie Greene
Marie Green is the woman behind Oliveknits. She is a knitwear designer with lots of sweater designs under her belt. She currently is touring the country doing talks and book signing for Seamless Sweaters in Two Weeks. I was lucky enough to get a spot during her stop here in Williamsburg.
Marie was hosted by one of the local yarns stores, Yarn Matters on March 26th. I had signed up for the talk and to purchase her new book, which I did get signed. Her talk was very interesting, she told how she came to be a knitter, taught by her grandma, knitting Barbie clothes for herself as a child. Marie also shared her phlosphy as a designer.
Marie also has another book with patterns for shawl and wraps, Knit Shawls & Wraps in 1 Week.
My January Gansey Sweater
As I previously mentioned I have finished my sweater, well, technically it’s finished. I made a few changes from the pattern. Overall I’m happy with my changes. But there is one particular one I think I’m going to redo. That change was with the sleeves. Until I’ve fixed this I can’t truly say I’m finished.
I was going for 3/4 length sleeves, as this is my preferred length. The sleeves ended up, as my friend Sarah said, to be 7/8 length sleeves. I will unravel 3 or 4 inches then redo the ribbing and cast off. This should then give me the 3/4 length I was planning. Once I’ve done this I will be properly done.
An additional change I made was to start the cable pattern later than the pattern called for. The pattern as you starting the cable pattern a few inches from the bottom of the sweater. I decided to start just under the bust leaving the main body of the sweater in stockinette stitch. The result of this change worked out perfectly.
Sweater Gusset Results
The January Gansey sweater has two different types of gussets. I talked in more specifics about these gussets on a previous post, you can read more about that here.
The shoulder gussets still seem a bit bigger than required. I feel could’ve been a couple increases less than called for so lay flat. I’m not bothered enough by this to take out the neck and redo them.
The underarm gussets seem perfect. I feel these gussets do a great job of keeping the sweater body in place when I raise my arms. Which is great, I very much appreciate this feature.
January Gansey Side Project
I have a half-baked plan for false sleeves. What is a false sleeve you ask? It is a cuff or wrist warmer. Similar to a leg warmer, but for your wrist. This will give me the option for a long sleeve for the sweater without the commitment. Since I have an entire skein of yarn leftover, there is more than enough to make this addition.
I plan to make the wrist warmers long enough to tuck under the sweater sleeve and cover the base of my hand. I need the math to determine how many stitches I need and how long I want to make them. Then I’ll finalize the design. Such as whether these will have matching cables or just ribbing. Not to mention I’ll have to actually knit them.
In C
I am happy with this sweater. Once I have tweaked the sleeves I will enjoy wearing this. We should still have enough cold mornings and nights to get some good use out of it.
I purchased some yarn already to make a sweater from Seamless Sweaters in Two Weeks. This sweater will be lighter weight, nice for Spring. I seriously doubt I can knit it in two weeks.
January Gansey Sweater Pin It for later
Happy Knitting.