FO: The Jane Crossover Sweater/Stupid Knitter Tricks

Voila! The Jane Crossover Sweater.

I'm very pleased with it. I love the unusual construction -- worked in one piece, starting at the side of the back. The back is worked sideways, and the fronts and sleeves are just extensions from the back.

Of course, not being content to work something as is, I had to mess with it a bit. Definitely easier with a provisional cast-on. And I worked the sleeves in the round so that no sewing at all was necessary.

The Handmaiden and Fleece Artist designs frustrate me a bit. I've written about this before -- the designs are great, and their yarns are lovely, no question. And Perl Grey in particular thinks about garment construction in interesting ways -- simple twists on the traditional creates great new ideas.

But I really really really wish they'd hire a technical editor. The instructions are at best not very well written, and at worst mistake-ridden. No mistakes in this one, but it's not wildly clear in some places, and the construction could definitely be improved. Even if you leave the sleeves flat, a provisional cast-on would eliminate a lot of frustration.

That having been said, I will continue to recommend it as a good beginner project, but there's minimal shaping and minimal finishing, and it's actually pretty quick work.

I love the sleeve finishing -- a single round of purl and a cast-off both worked with a double strand of yarn. It makes a nice, non-curling edge, but it's not dominant visually so it doesn't break the simplicity.

It's also a good demonstration of how a yarn can make or break a project. The variable texture and slight variegation of the yarn elevates a simple shape to something much more interesting.

The other amusing thing about this is that as soon as the sleeves were done it became actually wearable - a sorta shruggy thing. I often knit through a class, but this week I taught a class actually wearing the sweater while working on it. Like so...

Stupid knitter trick of the week.