One of my biggest projects last year was a gift for my younger sister, Sarah who lives in Vermont. She’s cold a lot so a red wool/alapaca blend sweater seemed like an ideal choice. She’s a bit picky about her clothing, in that she doesn’t like anything “fussy” so I settled on Ursa from Berroco Booklet #279. Since I don’t know when I’ll see Sarah next, I got a local friend to model it for me after it was finished. This was knit in the 44″ bust size, which is a bit bigger than Jodie normally wears, which accounts for the drooping shoulder seams. Speaking of seams, the sweater is knit in pieces and seamed together. Because I am a crazy perfectionist, this part of the process took me 10 hours. Do the seams look fantastic? You better believe it. Did I remember to take a photo of them? No, of course I did not.

I purchased many sets of buttons for this sweater and finally settled on these vintage ones from an Etsy shop. I loved their delicateness, their color and their slight variations. Thankfully, I knew my sister would love them too. If I were to knit this again, I would knit a more structured button hole than the yarn over hole specified in the pattern. The pattern also called for stitching the two layers of the button band together around the hole but if I had done that the buttons would not have fit through the holes (and they’re a little smaller than the pattern suggested). It’s a little tricky to button it, but not frustratingly so.

The pattern called for 10 skeins of yarn. I only used 6.5. Mileage may vary on that one, but I suspect the estimates for the booklet are a little high. I liked the yarn, it has a silky hand to it once blocked, but the processing chemicals made me a little itchy (I find this common with alpaca yarns. I can handle them fine after they’re washed which is my main reason for suspecting processing chemicals instead of the fiber itself. And I can handle raw alpaca fleece with no problems!) It is handwash only and sheds like the devil while knitting with it (or washing it!) but I’m pleased with the final product. And my sister was thrilled.