Finished Object: Diplodocus Sweater

Hooray! The Diplodocus Sweater is finished blocking, and most of the puckers and wrinkles from my too tight tension in the color chart are smoothed out. S and I are very pleased.

I made this up in a size 6, one size larger than S's current sweater size. This way there may still be a chance that he'll fit into it next fall. I used Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in worsted weight and US size 4 and 5 circular and double-points.

This was my first time knitting stranded color work, and I learned a lot from this project. First and mainly, color knitting is fun and nothing to be afraid of. I'd shied away from it for years thinking it was too complicated, but it's insanely simple and watching the pattern emerge as you knit is incredibly gratifying and addictive. I can't wait to knit some fair isle hats, mittens and sweaters now.

But the most important lesson I learned was to be more relaxed and a little loose in my tension when working color charts, or you'll end up with lots of puckering and pulling and your pattern will look warped. Then I learned that most of these problems can be fixed with a good, hard, aggressive blocking.

This sweater was so much fun, but the best part was seeing the excitement on S's face when he looked at himself in the mirror in his new sweater.