Marsha

My Wonderful Wallaby…

…is finished. I cast off a few days ago and have been wearing it pretty much nonstop every since. I love this sweater.

You may recall that I had some issues with the sleeves at first. But I sorted those out and reknit them lickity split.

The body knit up quickly, too (gotta love that round-and-round mindless knitting)–not least because I did much of it while (re)watching one of the greatest television series ever made, Red Dwarf.

wallabyftf.jpg

The lesson I learned during Round One of the Sleeves was “trust the pattern.” (You’d think I’d have already known this, since I’ve knit three other Wallabies in the past…) For the most part, I followed the pattern exactly. Here are my mods:

    I extended the ribbing on the sleeves from 3″ to 5″. I also made the sleeves a few inches longer than the pattern specified. I did this because my arms are longer than average in relation to the rest of my body, and I really hate having too-short sleeves. The extra ribbing gives me the option of pulling the sleeve down over the palms of my hands or of folding them back over themselves to get them out of the way tidily.

    I wanted something that would contract a bit more than K1P1, so I used K2P2 ribbing around the wrists.

    Because I do not like sweaters than bind at the waist, I did not do the called-for ribbing at the beginning of the body. Instead, I started right in with the stockinette, figuring I could do something else with it later. Although I like the look of the rolled hem at the bottom, I don’t like how it feels–whenever I lean back or lie down, I feel a bump on my lower back. So I’ll be changing this to a tidier hem like the one I knit on Sylvia’s second Wallaby.

    Using a rolled hem instead of ribbing meant I needed to knit the body a bit longer (unless I wanted the bottom of the sweater to end at my belly button!).

    I’m also not a hood-wearer, so I opted to skip the hood and knit the garter collar instead. I very much like how this turned out!

So now my family has matching Wallabies! (Jan has one, and Sylvia has not one but two.) Yes, a family portrait is in order some time soon…

9 Responses to “My Wonderful Wallaby…”

  1. Katie Jon 28 Feb 2010 at 11:12 pm

    Fantastic job, Marsha! You’re inspiring me to get cracking on either Mike’s or mine.

  2. Shannahon 01 Mar 2010 at 10:29 am

    Just lovely! :)

  3. evelinon 01 Mar 2010 at 10:39 am

    I love it. But I do love the look of a rolled hem. However, I completely agree; as somebody with longer than “average” monkey arms, I HATE too short sleeves. And hoods? They get in the way.

    Nice photo, too.

  4. Ginaon 01 Mar 2010 at 12:52 pm

    I love how it turned out! That cocoa color is amazing too. The collar part came out perfectly; you’d never know that the pattern usually calls for a hood there. You wear it well too! :-)

  5. Marshaon 01 Mar 2010 at 7:09 pm

    Thanks, everyone!
    .
    Honestly, I think everyone should knit this pattern some time. It’s so well written–and the construction so not tear-your-hair-out-worthy–that every knitter should experience the joy of making a Wallaby.

  6. Chrison 01 Mar 2010 at 8:04 pm

    It looks great! And so do you. :)

    The wordiness of the pattern has always sent me running the opposite direction.

  7. Deborahon 01 Mar 2010 at 8:45 pm

    Love it! It looks like it would be the “Go To” sweater for me. I especially like that you added the length to the sleeves/cuff. I’m the type of person who like to pull their sleeves over the palms of my hands. Great job! Be proud!

  8. Ruth W.on 03 Mar 2010 at 12:07 pm

    Marsha,
    Nice job- I love it. I understand what you mean about the hem. Somewhere in my knitting journey, I learned to make a hem at the bottom of a sweater which is simply the stockinette st. turned under and knitted to the body of the sweater. I forget how to do it, but feel certain that some of our knitting buddies know this technique.

  9. Marshaon 03 Mar 2010 at 9:53 pm

    @Chris: I think of it as “chattiness” rather than “wordiness.” :) I actually find the friendly tone of the pattern rather appealing, but I can understand how some might not like it.
    .
    @Deborah: I can totally see you in this sweater. So when are you going to knit one? You’ll probably have it finished two days after you cast on, you speed demon!
    .
    @Ruth: Thanks! I did a hem like that (following notes/advice in one of my Elizabeth Zimmerman books) on Sylvia’s second Wallaby and loved how it turned out, so I think that’s what I will do on mine, too.