Salina Finished

What a delight - I've finished my Salina sweater and it's perfect.

I had knitted this pattern by Kim Hargreaves before ( in the dark days before I had discovered Ravelry!).  The original sweater was rather large across the shoulders and I'd knitted it in a disappointing green colour (I should steer well away from green but I never learn!).  I only wear it now for my early morning walks.  However, the pattern was one I always thought I would knit up again.

This time I reduced the number of stitches for both the front and back by 16!  The sweater is now a lovely fit.

I also knitted it in the round as seamlessly as possible.  This meant that most of the sleeve cap shaping was done seamlessly except the very top of the sleeve cap.  For the shoulders I did some short row shaping and a three needle bind off.

I think I've found what I was looking for in terms of a technique for seamless but well fitting.  The only change I would make would be to try to make the small seam at the top of the sleeve cap smaller and less visible.

My plan is to knit up a basic sweater using this technique (with some tweaking) and then I can use it as a basis for other patterns.  The maths for the sleeve shaping takes some sorting out and the notes I scribbled down whilst knitting Salina are already looking confusing.  But it will be worth it in the end.  I shall call it my Mary Poppins pattern - practically perfect in every way!  How exciting!

Details of the pattern, yarn and needles etc for my Salina sweater can be seen on my Ravelry page, here.