After my smaller experiments with stranded knitting, and my confidence from my first sweater experience, I was feeling the itch to combine the two: a stranded yoke sweater.

This was based on the Afmæli – 20-year Anniversary Sweater by Védís Jónsdóttir, and it was super fun to knit. It starts from the bottom up, and is knit entirely in the round (my favorite).

Despite everything that The Cat and Crow taught me about gauge during my first sweater, I still somehow messed it up here. I’m not sure what happened: either my math arithmetic was wrong or my gauge changed–I swear I swatched!

It was doubly my own fault, because I didn’t put the body on two cables to try on until I was already to the armpits. When I finally did, it was WAY too big. I decided not to make any rash decisions, and instead moved onto the sleeves, going down a needle size. That was working out perfectly (I was using the number of stitches for a Large, but my gauge was getting me the dimensions of a Small), so when I finished the sleeves, I decided to *UNRAVEL* the entire body and start over.

It was horrible.

But worth it.

Then I got to join it all together, and start the exciting part–the yoke! It was April at this point, and I was starting to feel a bit silly for continuing to knit a sweater into April when I wouldn’t even be able to wear it until next fall. Then, here in Wisconsin, we got a (typical) cold spell, and I saw my opening. I stayed up super late on Monday April 16th to finish the sweater (it was snowing), blocked it on Tuesday, and then wore it to work on Wednesday April 18th (also snowing). Then, on Thursday it was over 50 degrees, so I finished just in the nick of time!

I’m ecstatic about the finished product (the fit is perfect, and so worth the re-knit), and I can’t wait to wear it again next fall!

This was another really great sweater experience, and I’m already dreaming about my next one!