KNITTING || SKOGAFJALL WIP - THAT TIME I KNIT SLEEVES FIRST & FAST

Oh my gosh you guys - I literally kicked ass on the sleeves of my Skogafjall for Tolt Icelandic Wool Month. I knit these in 2 days! One sleeve during a tv binge and another at Beauty in the Beast (which we adored btw)! The fastest sleeves I've ever knit I tell you! 


Sleeve of my Skogafjall by Dianna Walla on VeryShannon.com

What I've now realized is that if I'm A) not doing two at a time I B) need to knit my sleeves before I knit the sweater. It was a big revelation for me. See I hate knitting sleeves. I've always hated it. But this time I rather enjoyed it! Could be that the sweater is bottom up and not top down (which I'm usually drawn to) and that they were easy and portable. I also realized that I much prefer knowing my row count for each increase instead of a measurement like say increase every 1" etc... I raced my darn row counter to increase ever 15 rounds and it was so fun! Who knew I could have fun knitting sleeves....lol. Thank you Dianna! 


Skogafjall by Dianna Walla on VeryShannon.com

I'm now onto the body of this pullover and need to work 18" of Stockinette on 196 sts.....do you hear me crying inside???? I'm not a person drawn to just knitting St st for miles. I never do it. But the thought of that gorgeous yoke just waiting for me is making me knit like the wind...sort of. I can't wait to get to the colorwork and have some fun. 

I already know I'm going to get a lot of wear out of this sweater this year and can't wait to add it to my handmade wardrobe. I've been loving watching all the other versions pop up on Instagram and I keep thinking of so many other color palettes I want after this one...lol. 

Now don't get me wrong about the above - I still am not drawn to sleeves and do still think I will two at a time those bad boys for almost every sweater I knit but for now this was a great experiment! And don't worry, a post on knitting sleeves two at a time with tips, links and more is in the works! I can't wait to chat more about that and my experience with it. 

So...now it's your turn! What's your relationship with sleeves? Love/hate? Do you knit them first or slog through them last?


PROJECT DETAILS

PATTERN: SKOGAFJALL by Dianna Walla

YARN: Istex Lettlopi in colorways 0051, 0085 and 0867