Beautiful, beautiful Bohus

I finished my sweater last night. And y’all, I’m in love. I stayed up way too late weaving in ends, and maybe also putting it on and dancing around the house while singing a gleeful song about how I made a pretty pretty sweater. Maybe. Here are the stats:

Pattern: My own, inspired by Spun Out #5 (the “Bohus Yoke Pullover”) and the EPS. The yoke pattern was made up as I knit.
Yarn: Patons Classic Merino Wool, in a variety of colors.
Needles: size 5 and 7 Denise interchangeables, with size 5 and 7 Clover bamboo dpns for the sleeves.
Time to knit: Nov. 2nd – Dec. 14th 2007.

And now for more photo goodness! Here’s a closeup of the yoke patterning:

I ripped out and reknit the neckline 4 times before settling on the seed stitch. I absolutely love it. I did the last row of seed stitch in blue, and bound off in blue, so as to mirror the treatment at the bottom hem and sleeve cuffs. I think it ties the whole thing together really nicely; it’s got the texture of the yoke, but the colors of the hems. LOVE.

Just a bit ago I decided to brave the sub-20 temps and had my husband snap a few photos of me wearing it outside. It got dreary almost immediately after I took the first finished shots of it this morning, and while it’s better than trying to take a photo in our CFL-lit house, even the natural light outside really wasn’t enough (plus we were both cold and impatient!), so these aren’t the best pictures ever. C’est la vie. Here I am, looking very pleased with myself:

Here’s me, showing off my crazy long arms which necessitated 19.5″ inches of knitting up to the armpit (but hey, look how perfect those sleeves turned out! So worth it!):

And, for good measure, here’s a shot of the back, though my hair is in the way of most the yoke, and all you can really tell is that I do not even fill out my “tiny” jeans (still struggling to keep the weight on because of illness, oh well):

So, that’s it. I’m almost a little sad not to be knitting the Bohus anymore. It was such a wonderful project for me. It’s my first time successfully making up a pattern for a garment (with EZ as my guide, of course!) and having it actually fit so perfectly. It was also my first time making up a colorwork pattern as I knit, and I’m still somewhat astounded at the fact that it didn’t turn out a completely disorganized mess. I learned so much in the process of making this sweater, and got to put newfound skills (like directional M1s I learned on the sampler gansey, for the side shaping) to use, too. And I have loved being able to get feedback from everyone who has commented along the way. Thanks for all of the encouraging words! And cheers to all of you knitting your own Yoked Sweaters!