Finished! Burrard is officially a garment, and I am so, so happy with it.

I actually cast off two nights ago, but things never feel properly done until all the ends are woven in, which is what I did last night, as well as sewing on the buttons. I tried it on and it got the thumbs up from L’s sister, who’s staying with us, and it felt great. But. But, it didn’t feel quite right. The shawl collar was sitting funny and the buttons felt just a little out of proportion with the cables. This morning, I took off the buttons, and undid the cast off, and re-cast off with a larger needle and sewed on slightly smaller buttons (from the Wooden Artist) and yes, now it is finished (except the buttons bands need proper blocking, but there’s time for that).

This is only my second finished sweater, and my first with seams and set-in sleeves, and I was a little nervous. I did a lot of holding pieces up to my body and trying to determine how they would look at the end (which is pretty much a waste of time). Once I had it all seamed, I tried it on and was pretty glad it fit, although the fit was off since it didn’t have a collar or button bands, and thank goodness those worked out the way I thought they would.

I didn’t really change much about this pattern, to be honest. It was clearly written, with lots of pictures of various parts of the sweater that reassured me I was on the right track, and aside from the mis-crossed cable incident, and the ripping out and re-doing of the cast off, this was a knit without major incident. And I got to learn how to seam and set-in sleeves and do a shawl collar, and I love learning new things, so that is a major bonus to an already excellent experience.

One thing I will keep in mind when knitting future sweaters, though, is to add some length. I am tall and busty, and (mostly to do with the latter, I think) an extra inch or two in the torso would be good. I actually quite like the length of this cardigan, but it’s something to think about going forward. The sleeves, though, are perfect. They’re the right length and knit with about zero ease, which makes them fitted but not tight, and certainly roomy enough to let me wear long sleeves under this in the winter.

I didn’t quite make the ssKAL deadline, but I have a lovely new sweater to wear, and it’s finished before the cold sets in, so I don’t care. I pretty much have to turn to gift knitting now, but I’m already planning my next big knit (I’m thinking pullover), bolstered by the success of Burrard.

Details
Pattern: Burrard by Glenna C.
Yarn: Cascade 220 in Liberty Heather
Needles: 4mm and 4.5mm
Mods: I did two extra body increases above the waist, since my bust and hips are the same measurement. I decreased the extra stitches in the armhole, which also ensured I had a comfortable amount of ease at the top of the arm, where t-shirt sleeves tend to bunch up. My gauge was a little off, with my stitch gauge slightly tight and my row gauge slightly loose, so I did a little fiddling to make everything work out. I also added two additional rows to the button bands before the buttonholes, and then made six buttonholes to mitigate the pulling across my chest. All the details, etc. are ravelled here.