o w l s in Flight

Pattern: o w l s by Kate Davies
Yarn: Jamieson's Chunky Shetland in "Eider Duck"
Needles: KnitPicks Harmony Interchangeables, US 11 and US 10.5

Originally, I was planning to post a book review today, but after sewing on all those button eyes over the weekend and giving the sweater a soak Monday night and finding it ready to wear on Tuesday morning, it was clear that the Owls were going to have their day earlier than planned. You might think that these pictures were taken by my regular photographer, but, lucky girl that I sometimes am, my dad is here in Chicago this week, and was able to sit in for this shoot.  My dad has been looking at me from behind a camera since before I can remember and I think he did a great job making both his daughter and the sweater look good.  And the Chicago weather helped out too by giving us a sunny (if cold) morning. 

This sweater marks two firsts: the first yoked sweater I've made for myself and the first sweater knit from the bottom up in the round.  I think that I will have to try out a few more yoked patterns, because the yoke, in combination with the waist shaping created a very flattering (I think) sweater for my body type.  Especially considering that this sweater is knit in a chunky weight yarn -- and heavy weight yarns rarely do much for me when it comes to being figure flattering. 

The design was meant to be form fitting and I chose the medium size (the third size) which has a bust measurement of 36".  I probably would have also been fine with the small size as well, but I wanted to make sure I could wear a turtleneck underneath the sweater because the yarn isn't quite soft enough for me to wear against my skin. 

When it comes to yarn, this sweater was incredibly economical.  I used just a little under 5 skeins of the Jamieson's Chunky Shetland, so it didn't even take 600 yards.  This is one of the few sweaters for which being short waisted is something of a benefit as I didn't have to knit must past the waist shaping before I was ready to put the body together with the sleeves and knit the yoke.   I will also say that, so far, after a day of wear, I am very happy with the yarn -- it softened up nicely after a warm bath and while there is a tiny bit of fuzzing in the areas that rub, it's not really pilling at all -- if it still behaves this way after a few more wearings, this will become one of those yarns that I continue to reach for when I want to make a quick winter sweaeter.   Not only did I use relatively little yarn, but this thing knit up very quickly once I got rolling.  If you want an instant gratification sweater, this one is right up there.

The owls are a real hoot to knit, a simple motif that keeps you knitting just so that you can see your owls come to life.  Putting on all those button eyes (36 of them!) seems like it would be a real trial, but those buttons create magic for those owls and I found that I just wanted to keep going until I had them all sewed on.

I only have one (minor) criticism of the sweater -- I think that there's probably one too many increases after the waist shaping -- at least for me -- and its a little gapey in the back.   I probably would have been better off evenly distributing those increases around the whole sweater instead of just at the back.   Of course, if I had done that, I would have had to make sure to position those increases so that they didn't change how the owls were centered on the front. 

I  loved wearing this sweater.  It's whimsical without being childish -- one of those garments that you just can't help smile at when you look down or see yourself in the mirror.  It's shaping and use of bulky yarn makes it flattering for those of us still dealing with a little more post-holiday  cushioning than we would like and it's just perfect for a cold day in Chicago.  With a heavier shirt underneath, I could almost have worn this outside with out a coat. 

The pattern itself is easy to follo,  but make sure that you get the latest version, as Kate, who kindly has made this wonderful pattern available for free, has updated it since she first released it into the wild.   I'm looking forward to the children's version.  Not only so that I can make a similar sweater for a small girl who loves owls, but also so that I can say thank you to Kate for her design with some actual cash.    I would happily have paid for this sweater, given the quality of the pattern and the results!