Tilted Duster

I know that I've already posted pictures of the Tilted Duster being worn at Stitches West but I didn't get a chance to post the information that I wanted to about it.

First of all, I am really mostly happy with how it turned out for me. I used 13 skeins of Filatura Di Crosa Zara Plus which is a machine washable and dryable 100% merino wool. I had already washed the sweater before wearing it and it held up perfectly in the washer and dryer!! I am so excited to have an easy care hand knit sweater! I hate washing sweaters in the bathtub! I am also so happy that this entire sweater cost me only approx $26 because I used some sale yarn that I got 75% off! Pretty awesome huh?

I also like how fast it was to knit up. If you have followed the blog you'll know that I started it months ago, knit the fronts and the back and then set it down. I didn't get back to it for a long while due to other knitting obligations. When I picked it back up it only took me 9 days to knit the sleeves, the collar, the skirt and seam it up! This is definitely a sweater that anyone could knit in a month's time.

The Tilted Duster is also versatile. The collar can be worn buttoned up or folded back like a shawl collar.

So now for the dislikes... I tried it on before picking up stitches for the skirt and the top part was too big. And as you can tell in the picture it does pucker up some. The weight of the skirt did help it lay better but I still wish that I had knit the 32" size instead of the 36" Since I measure 34" I thought that it would be safer to go up a size. Well in this case I think it would look neater if it was a little more form fitting at the top. To compensate for the big top I knit the smaller size in the skirt. I was just so afraid that I was going to look like a brown saggy blob in an oversized sweater. I don't know if this was the best idea but it turned out fine in the end. I also knit my sweater one repeat shorter than the pattern called for. Why you may ask? Did I think that it would flatter me more? No... I ran out of time the night before I went to Stitches. I really wanted to wear it and ahh.. well... it was 2:00 in the morning.

I did really find some helpful hints for the duster from the Ready Set Knit podcast. They did a Tilted Duster knit-a-long and posted some good tips here.

All in all, it was a good project. My sweater is really comfy... too bad it is getting hot outside.