My Christmas sweater

After everything I made for Christmas to give away, finally something I made for myself!

The Julgran sweater^* by Andi Satterlund has been on my wishlist to make since its publication in 2017. Five years later and I finally got around to it!
_{* Unfortunately Andi decided to close her shop at the end of 2022, so this pattern can no longer be purchased.}

Because I also have way too much yarn lying around in the attic, I decided to choose from my stash and not to buy anything new. My eye fell on a dark green Zeeman Royal, of which I once bought 3 skeins for-I-don’t-remember-what-reason. According to my calculations, I would just have enought to knit the sweater in my size.

The construction of this sweater was new for me. In stead of working in the round from the get go, you first work the upper back. Then you pick up stiches on each side of the sweater separately to work the left and right upper front.
The left and right upper front are then joined together by casting on new stitches, after which the neckline and armholes are formed.

Then the upper back is joined to the front, arriving at the traditional working in the round part of the sweater.

Different was also the fact that the main body of the sweater is mainly made up of purl stitches, so the figure of the tree makes a nice relief in knit stitches.

Every time I manage to muster up the courage to start a knitting project, I am reminded of how much I actually enjoy it. Seeing how something wearable is formed under my fingers from a ball of yarn. So cool!

I was also so obsessed with watching the Christmas tree come into existence that I took the project with me everywhere, including on the train!

And tada! Didn’t it come out great? And knitted in just over a month!

I also decided to keep my Christmas tree understated and not sew any pom poms or garlands on it. Subtle is more my style.

While knitting I had doubts about the neckline. I’m not a big fan of a closed neckline, so I wasn’t sure how I would feel about the funnel neck. However, I decided to just follow the pattern because I couldn’t know how it would feel without trying it.

I was also in doubt about the length.
The sweater is designed to be short and fitted just around the waist. I was afraid that this wouldn’t be flattering, but decided to just trust the pattern. Again, I couldn’t know how I’d like it without trying.

In retrospect I am very glad that I trusted the pattern, because I think both the neckline and the length are perfect!
Yes, it took me a while to find a piece that would go well with it, but luckily checkered skirts are back in fashion, so I easily found a high-waisted one that looked good with it, resulting in a nice outfit. Even if I do say so myself 😉

And so 2022 became the first time I wore a real Christmas sweater on Christmas! And a homemade one at that!

Cheers,
Charlotte