finished julia

Pattern: 'Best Friends Pullovers - Julia's Sweater' by Kristin Nicholas (in 'Color by Kristin')
Yarn: Nashua Handknits Julia (wool, mohair, alpaca) in 'magenta', 'squash', blue thyme', 'coleus', 'velvet  moss', and 'lady's mantle'

I've had the yarn in my stash for about a year with the intention of making this sweater, so I'm glad I finally set aside some time to do it. It only took a little over 2 weeks, while working on other stuff as well, so it was pretty fast. The worsted weight helped, too. And this yarn! Such loveliness in this fibre blend and the colours are saturated and gorgeous.

The pattern itself is great, too. The motifs in the charts are interesting and the embroidered embellishments are fun additions (there are also supposed to be French knot thingies on the tops of some of the flowers which I attempted and failed miserably at, so they're omitted).

I did find the collar needed decreases added to the corners or else it stood up awkwardly, then I shortened it so the opening wouldn't be too small. I also wish the sleeve openings were a touch longer. Once you have steek remnants and hem stitches in there they bunch a bit under the arms. I lengthened the sleeves by several inches, since the pattern has 3/4 length and I wanted full. Otherwise, I'm generally happy with this warm sweater, and I think the girl likes it.