Bohemian V - finished

Bohemian V-finished
Originally uploaded by cob_web

So I finished my "Bohemian V" just in time to wear it to my parents for New Year/Xmas2. I had wanted to wear it so my sister could see it as she was really interested in the pattern and wanted one for herself.

I had a nightmare with this pattern. It was (IMO) badly written, and I had to re-write sections myself so I could follow them while I was knitting and not keep thinking "WTF?".

The finished measurements were ENORMOUS and after a bit of internetting I decided to cast on for the size 8 (even though I measured up as a size 12). After a few rows I thought it was going to be too small, so frogged and cast on for the size 10. Posts on the web said that it was really long, and measuring against jumpers I like seemed to confirm this. So I made it 10cm shorter. I moved the v-neck up a bit to compensate, so had to re-calc how that would work.

As it is I think its a fraction too short, although as my aunt pointed out, things that sit on your hips tend to make you look wider, so short things are good. I can see her point, as I share her ample hips. However, I really dislike that gap you get between your trousers and your top when you sit down... ah well.

I wore it over a black shirt and I think it looked pretty good. My sister was impressed enough to place an order for one, and I got lots of compliments. Although everyone there was related to me...

No pics of it on as we were rather distracted by my parent's poor dog having to have surgery after being attacked (see my LJ). I was going to take pics today but realised I haven't washed my hair for 2 days...

I'm going to look for a sub for the Rowan Big Wool to see if I can make it any cheaper for my sister. But she does really like the colour, and I have a ball left over as I made mine shorter, so she'd only need 4 balls (if I can match the dye-lot). So if anyone knows of a good sub for Rowan Big Wool please shout! It is a bit pricey.

Picking up all the stitches for the v-neck border was hell, but as Alice predicted it all turned out OK. The combination of all those stitches bunched up on the needle and ribbing looking crap to begin with was to blame.

Details:
Pattern = Forever Green, Simply Knitting 35
Yarn = Rowan Big Wool in Bohemian, 4 balls
Needles = 10mm, 9mm for ribbing
Pattern Mods = made a size smaller than suggested. Shortened body by 10cm, moved start of v-neck up by 4 rows.

If anyone is interested in doing this pattern I can type up my re-written sections. Thought I'd better not post 'em here - probably against copyright or something.