This year while at Rhinebeck, I looked up and found myself in the Green Mountain Spinnery booth.  Immediately I confirmed on Ravelry that a sweater pattern that I had been longing to knit called for the yarn I was standing in front of at the time.  I eagerly purchased 6 skeins of Weekend Wool in the Teal colorway.

When I got home, I purchased the pattern that I wanted to knit: Faro Pullover by Amy Christoffers.

It took me a few months to get around to casting on, but I did in early January, dreaming of my lovely Aran weight sweater that would be wonderful in the cold weather.

The Faro Pullover is knit from cuff to cuff, meaning that you start knitting at the cuff of one sleeve and continue to build your sweater across, increasing for the body, separating for the neck and then rejoining and decreasing for the opposite sleeve.  It was fun to knit a sweater this way – it’s something I haven’t done before.  My one concern in knitting the sweater in this manner was that I wouldn’t be able to try it on as I went.  However, I trusted in the pattern and kept knitting.

Last week I finished knitting the body of the sweater.  I washed and blocked it, and then seamed the sides, adding the hem last.

Overall, I’m pretty pleased with the sweater.  It’s fairly warm, and will be a casual piece that I’m excited to add to my wardrobe. The Weekend Wool was really nice to knit with. It’s a bit rustic, but it shows the cables and stitch details beautifully, and since I’ll be wearing a top underneath it (much like the modeled shot in the pattern shows) so I’m not worried about the itch factor.

My only real complaint with the finished sweater is that it’s a bit wide on me. While the sleeves and neckline fit well, I feel I could have knit a smaller size for the body and ended up with a bit less fabric on the sides. Finally, I feel like the seaming is a bit bulky.  The yarn is an Aran weight, and the stitch patterns mean that the sides aren’t quite a straight seam (the fabric ripples slightly where the cables and lace end).  This results in a slightly bulkier seam than I would prefer.  I contemplated ripping back to fix the body width issue, but ultimately decided that I would still wear the sweater as is and enjoy it.

Now I just need this abnormally warm February to send us a bit of a chill!