Hugo: a finished sweater

I almost can't believe it. I finished Hugo.

Well, actually I finished back in July and am just now blogging about it. But here's the update anyway.

Began July 2013, I have finally finished this epic sweater.

I hope you enjoy this sweater, little brother, 'cause I'm tempted to keep this handsome piece of knitting for myself. (And I might have to knit one for myself!)

And now for the details.

Yarn
I cannot compliment Mountain Meadow Wool enough for their fantastic yarn. The yarn knit up into a plush, dense, elastic fabric. I honestly felt like I was holding wool velvet. The yarn has excellent stitch definition. Unless you're knitting a loose gauge, don't expect drape. Expect a soft, moldable fabric with plenty of body.

It also blocks like a dream. Somehow it gets even softer without losing any stitch definition.

My forever favorites are the company's natural grey and cream shades. The dark grey has steel blue and brown tones in it. How the sheep grow wool like this, how Mountain Meadow knows how to blend it all together--what a thing of beauty.

Pattern
The pattern itself is delightful to knit and fairly simple to follow. I probably wouldn't recommend it as a first sweater project. The time commitment and amount of cabling could prove daunting. But if you know how to cable, don't mind learning tubular cast-on, and a couple hours of seaming, it's really a simple sweater to knit up.

Modifications
Used Mountain Meadow Wool's light grey wool in same weight as the main color (worsted) for the tubular cast-on waste yarn. I then left the waste yarn in, so there is a "bead" of contrasting color on edges of the cuffs and bottom hem. I think it's a small but sharp detail.

For the turtleneck section, I knit the garter-stitch placket in the light grey, and kept the rest of the neck in dark grey. Also, I bound-off the neck stitches in the light grey, so all of the edges had the light grey bead. I used Elizabeth Zimmerman's Sewn Bind Off for elasticity and stretch.

Worked the collar an extra 1" deep, so it was nice and tall. I skipped the snaps for the collar. I may add them later if my little brother wants them. The split turtleneck looks sharp enough on its own, I think.

...

You may be asking where the photos are.

Well. They're coming. Really! My brother will have some photos taken by a fab, snappy photographer once the weather cools down. (Who can blame him for not wanting to wear wool on a Nebraska summer's day?) I felt my own photography skills are too limited, except for the quickly snapped selfie I posted above.

To sum it up, Hugo has been one of the most lovely, satisfying projects I have ever knit.

Brooklyn Tweed Hugo - Progress: a back and a sleeve.

Progress continues with Brooklyn Tweed's delightful Hugo!

The back is now knit and ready for blocking. 

 I could write a thousand words saying how much I love knitting this sweater.

Moss stitch. Double seed stitch. I don't care what they call you. You're purdy!

(Oh, and the sun was truly perfect for photographing this woolen jumper.)

And now the first sleeve.

I had help, of course.

 My friend C is all finished with her Hugo. She is a fast knitter.

All photos taken and edited with VSCO and posted to instagram. Have you found me yet on instagram? You may follow me here:

http://instagram.com/keturahsyoung

Brooklyn Tweed Hugo: a knitalong

I am hopelessly smitten with this sweater! I mean, I did blow this photo up to full, original size for my blog.

the boy: my oh-so-sweet golden brother, who happens to enjoy wool sweaters and stylish togs. I'm the oldest sibling, he's the youngest. Yeah, I kind of like this kid. 

the pattern: Hugo by Veronik Avery, from BT: Men

the wool: I chose Mountain Meadow Wool's Laramie in Dark Gray. It's a lovely substitute for Brooklyn Tweed's Shelter. You really can't get a closer match for color! Dark Gray is nearly identical to Stormcloud. The big differences are

-Shelter has tiny tweed flecks of steel blue and cream; Laramie has no flecks.

-Laramie has no dye lot; Shelter has a dye lot.

Another difference is how the yarns react after knitting. My unblocked swatch of Laramie measured 4.5" w by 4.75" tall. After resting a few days, it had reduced to 4" w. This tells me Laramie has a lot of elasticity and energy. Most importantly, the stitch count was spot on after resting. My friend is using the suggested Shelter in Stormcloud. Her yarn did not shrink after it rested, nor did it have quite the same elasticity or plushness Laramie. SO...as always, swatch it, baby.

With that said, I probably should have blocked my swatch to see what it did to the yarn. I decided to be risky and just knit the thing! Knowing the yarn is so give-and-take, I felt good about my decision to use all three needle sizes as directed.

the needles: Dreamz and Symfonie Rose. They're basically the same thing, just a different cable and needle color.

This design has you use 3 sequential needle sizes, US 5, US 6, and US 7. Size 5 is for the twisted rib, 6 for the low back/waist portions, and 7 for the rest. The instructions are to use the size 6 if chest and waist measurements are several inches apart, thus reducing bagginess and excess material in the waist/high hip area. I think it's brilliant, since guys don't need waist shaping, but inevitably get the baggy sweater effect with fabric pooling around their stomachs.. Even though my brother's waist is only 3" smaller than his chest, I know he prefers a more fitted sweater. so I chose to use all needle sizes are originally directed.

the modifications: It may not be massively apparent, but I have quite the independent streak. Instructions for Tubular Cast-On read to use a lighter weight yarn for the waste yarn. I didn't. I used Laramie in Light Gray. AND I'm going to repeat it for Tubular Cast-On, as well as using it for the garter stitch placket on the turtleneck. Here's why.

My brother has a strong sense of American Boy-Next-Door, very Matt Damon-Joseph Gordon Levitt. Someone with that aesthetic style needs garments with graphic pop, whether that's strong color contrasts, bold graphic tees, or fun and unusual patterns. By using a high contrast monochromatic yarn for the cast-on, I'll achieve the necessary graphic edge (no pun intended) I'm looking for.

the progress: as of publication, I'm nearly finished with the back. I shall post photos as I finish each piece, and most definitely a full spread of photos after I seam and block this beautiful piece of cabled woolen eye candy.