My first original sweater!

I hadn’t expected it to turn out (my last attempt at designing a sweater didn’t quite work out, as the Unidentified Purple Thing on my project page will attest), so I didn’t set out to write a formal pattern for it. I did, however, keep notes of the process and drew up a chart for the reversible rib cables in case someone wanted to knit something like it. Much of this was made up as I went along and I would hate to frustrate and disappoint a new knitter, so just keep in mind that that what follow are convoluted transcriptions of many scribbled little pieces of paper, and feel free to use the notes as you’d like!

I hope to knit a second Spinster someday so that I can actually test my notes and fix all of the quirks that bug me:

• I tried to play with waist shaping, but my alpaca blend yarn drapes so much that no shaping was visible in the end. It’s the same as if I’d just knit the body straight, which is what I’d recommend.

• I would make the collar wider. Much wider. In my head, extending the front side cable panels and linking them to the back of neck stitches would a collar make. But even after stretching the cabled collar as wide as I could during blocking, it’s still too narrow for my liking.

• I would have narrowed the sleeve gradually from upper arm to wrist.

• The cables at the sleeve cuffs are just ridiculous. I was making them up as I went along and this was a mistake. Next time I’ll plan something in advance and write it down!

You can view the notes here.