Nearly four and a half years after I started, it is, indeed, finally done. I wandered around the house while wearing this for about 20 minutes contemplating the idea of not having this unfinished project looming in the back on my mind somewhere. It was very bizarre. I felt like Frodo after the ring was destroyed in Mount Doom. To put it another way: I cast this on when George Bush was president, m-kay?
I don't hate it, but I don't love it either. I think the concept of knitting a giant circle with sleeves was intriguing to me at the time. I was a much less-experienced knitter then, and this project had no shaping, no seaming and it was knit on large-ish needles (size 9). Looking back, this really needs some shaping. Unless you have a perfectly proportioned body---and I don't mean like a gorgeous, photogenic body (though that would help), I mean mathematically perfect---this thing will not fit correctly. And I have neither of the aforementioned.
The yarn (Lion Brand Cotton-Ease) was great to work with. It's very soft and the end result is a very comfy sweater. BUT---there is always a but, isn't there?---it was not the best choice for this project. Because of the cotton content, and the vast amount of yarn required to make this, AND because there are no seams to help with the structuring of the garment (see, knitting a garment without seaming is truly a double-edged sword) this sweater is very heavy and a little droopy. I didn't block it because it doesn't need any help stretching out. Just picking it up from the shoulders I can feel it pulling down and stretching the knitting.
Another problem I have is with the sleeves. There doesn't seem to be a good, fool-proof method for making the sleeves for this sweater. I haven't revisited the pattern instructions for this area in years, but whatever method you use for making the sleeves, they are still done in between YOs, which causes giant holes at the shoulders and back of the armpit areas of the sleeves. I am actually wearing this sweater today. It was cool enough this morning to warrant something, so I figured, why not? It looks fine, but I am extremely peeved about the holes. As the day is progressing, I am noticing that the stockinette around the holes is expanding, probably due to the natural pulling of the garment down from my shoulders (and as I mentioned above, the yarn is helping this right along).
See? RAGE.
At first I thought it was because the sleeves were too tight, but they are actually pretty loose up there. I've got something like 3 inches of extra fabric around my arms. So that's not it. I don't even know what to do about this. Do I try to stitch it together somehow? Mattress stitch, maybe? Do I care? Meh. I'm totally open to your suggestions.
