G thought I had lost my mind this morning when he saw me donning dark jeans, a turtleneck, and then a heavy alpaca sweater. If I had planned on wearing this outfit outside I would have said he was correct.
But I just wanted a photograph. Even in air-conditioned house, it is too warm now for heavy alpaca sweaters.
I am very happy with the way this has turned out. I knew I wanted the sweater to be a little more close-fitting than it is shown in the pattern (shown here, in yellow, scroll down the page) and I definitely did not want loose floppy sleeves. There was also a yarn issue, but that worked out okay. I have about half a skein left.
The Blue Sky Alpaca does not have the same depth of stitch definition as the Cascade yarn called for in the pattern. As it is alpaca, it will also probably grow somewhat with wear, hopefully not too much in the sleeve length though.
Pattern: #2 Cropped Turtleneck in Vogue Knitting Winter 2008/2009 designed by Leena Sullivan.
Besides narrowing the sleeves, I added three or four rows to the bottom ribbing. I definitely wanted a cropped length, but had a little trouble determining what was ideal. I think this worked out well. I almost made it longer, but I think I would have lost the effect. An inch or two longer and it would just look short, as if I didn't have enough yarn, whereas here it looks intentionally cropped.
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpaca Bulky Hand Dyes in color #1213, almost 10 skeins.
And now, back to more seasonable sweaters.