Heather Lou made me do it! She looked so great in her Named Talvikki Sweatshirt that I had a second look at this pattern that I had previously passed over.

I like the minimalist design of this sweater, particularly the darts around the neckline which form the funnel neck. I must admit that I very happily and cluelessly applied non-stretch interfacing to my stretch fabric neck facing. (At least I have a consistent M.O.) Luckily, the neck opening was wide enough to fit over my pea-head without stretching (or, at least with the sound of only one stitch snapping) so disaster was (mostly) averted.

I sewed this with a sweatshirt fabric I bought from L’oiseau Fabrics, a terrific online fabric retailer that carries a ton of knits. The pattern calls for a medium- to heavy-weight stretch fabric, providing enough body for the sweater to look fairly structured, and this fabric fits the bill. The design of this pattern can definitely elevate plain sweatshirt fleece from schlubby to smart. (Which is hard to say out loud…try it. lol)

I modified the pattern to make it slightly longer so I can wear leggings and have my butt covered, and the side slits don’t go up quite as high. There’s no point in having too much ventilation in a cool-weather sweater, amirite?

As I’m putting this post together, I realize that this *looks* better than I *feel* in it. I feel a bit dwarfed by the roominess of this sweater. I find the sleeves to be ginormous — very wide armholes and sleeves. I’m tempted to zip the serger up the sleeve sides to trim them down a bit.

Some great ideas I’ve read for this pattern around the blogosphere include:

• sew it in ponte knit
• sew it in boiled wool (as Named’s sample was done)…definitely in a class above sweatshirt fleece
• add a short exposed zipper to the back or the neck, or even up the side of one shoulder

Thanks for stopping by for a read!