Neon 'pus

Completed April 2021.

I've been pining after the Embrace Octopus Sweater since my teens, when I first learned to knit, and I'm delighted to say I beat an instance of "hey this is cool and I would like to make it but likely never will" syndrome. Make no mistake, I will continue to catalogue stuff that will never be fully realized, but for the moment I can celebrate having conquered The Big One.

The sweater is knitted with Swish worsted in Highlighter Yellow (210 yards) from their Brights collection and straight Black (807 yards) on US 7 needles. I chose the pattern's large size to make up for the smaller gauge (it calls for bulky weight yarn on US 10s) and it fits somewhere between a small and medium for a standard top. I have some issues with the fit and design, but I'm happy with it! Especially because I found it difficult enough to challenge me but not enough to make me cry, overall.

My camera can't capture how neon the color is :(

I saw another person's project notes advising that novice knitters get some colorwork practice under their belt before starting, but I didn't listen and decided to make this one my first. The beginning, before I got into a groove, was hellish. I was juggling tangled bobbins EVERYWHERE and I didn't know what to do about tension discrepancies between color changes. I saved some of my sanity by converting the in-the-round construction into four flat, seamed pieces. Flat intarsia is much more manageable than carrying those floats all the way around AND it makes it so much more wearable. It even cuts the required yarn for the octopus graphic in half.

Intarsia innards.

I've partially changed my tune on seamed sweaters. This thing is HEAVY and it really benefits from having some structure at the seams to help bear the weight. It's superwash and prone to growing; the seams rectify that slightly. I still agree that seams are not comfortable against your body when your yarn is too bulky. That is especially true for this pattern; folks have said that the yoke is drafted too shallow so the already-tight underarms are exacerbated by bulky seams. I can mostly ignore the bulk at my underarms but it's not ideal. Comfort vs. durability: that's not a debate where I have a clear solution!

I don't think I can knit apparel in anything heavier than a worsted weight because I couldn't handle anything thicker! I don't live in a place that's particularly cold, but beyond warmth I just don't enjoy thick fabrics bunching between the crook of my elbow or in my armpits. It also has to do with how I tend to knit on smaller needles than recommended to achieve a denser, opaque fabric. This sweater is my upper limit of thickness and density. It's too bad, those chunky balloon sleeve handknit sweaters you see on the 'gram are so cute. I could knock one out in two or three days instead of the two and a half months I took to knit this.

Would I knit it again? Possibly. The charts are fun and keep you alert, never bored. For fun I might try it again the way it was designed, seamless and in-the-round, but that brings its own problems. Some folks on Ravelry don't like the decreases for the raglan yoke because it leaves gaps. And again, the weight of the sweater is troubling without any added support. Feels a bit like a journey vs. destination project!

If I do I won't be using Swish again. It's soft and comes in beautiful colors but it pills too easily for my liking and I haven't gone through a skein that didn't have knots in it >:(

I probably shouldn't be thinking about my next octopus sweater when I haven't even been able to wear this one. It hasn't been cold enough. I suppose that getting ahead of ourselves is what makers do best.