Central Park hoodie finally

I try to keep only one drawer set aside for all the WIPs that I’m bored with and are hibernating, but it has been crammed full for a while and I’ve started using a big paper bag as an extension… So in a moment of madness I tipped the drawer out last weekend and went through it. Good grief, what a weird bunch of crap. A lot of it went in the Frog Pond, which is yet another almost full drawer that I have to get around to sorting out some time.

Yeah, no, I’m not going to show inside. Too many explanations required…like yes, I do actually have a good reason for knitting a chapstick cover in the shape of a penis…

But I did discover an almost finished Central Park Hoodie. Why did I stop knitting this? I only had a tiny part of an arm cap, the hood and the front band to go. It’s been languishing in that drawer now, according to my Ravelry project page, for well over 2 years. I think what happened is I discovered top-down and seamless knitting and that was that.

It’s funny how your tastes change over time. This just doesn’t do it for me anymore, too chunky, WAY too beige, and the cables are a little boring. And it is far from my best knitting. But I was determined to clear some of these old projects, so I finished it off over the last couple of days, quickly, roughly, but that’s how I roll when I don’t love something. It turned out a reasonably nice chunky hoodie, quite weighty and very warm.

The yarn was another of those giant balls of acrylic/wool blends. Cheap, and they come in great colours. This one was DY Choice Aran with Wool, and I remember the colour was called Oatmeal. I like the wooden buttons the best, I recycled them from an op shop jacket.

Mods: The sleeves, I notice, are two inches longer than the pattern called for. I must have been accounting for my monkey arms. Because I have broad shoulders, chunky set in sleeves can look a bit much on me, so I had stopped the cables just before the top of the sleeves to minimise bulk. Didn’t work. Still look like a footballer in shoulder pads. The rest of it fits nicely though.

I added an inch to the length of the hood, and probably could have added another one. I also bound off the hood with a three needle bind off, then picked up all 300 sts for the front band at once, instead of in two parts and then seaming. Three needle bind off rocks!

I do still work the occasional flat piece but I haven’t for a little while now, and to be honest I didn’t enjoy this. I forgot how much seaming sucks. Urgh. Oh, and purling. Purling sucks too. I really like circular knitting. A lot. 🙂