I’m excited to share with you, at long last, my afterparty sweater!

I fell in love with it the moment I first saw the design and dreamt of making it ever since.

It feels so good to have it finished!

// Afterparty by Astrid Troland //

It was back in September 2018 when I picked up issue #6 of Laine Magazine from my local yarn store, The Knitting Loft. I’m pretty mindful of the books I bring home and as much as I would love to have their complete collection, #6 caught my eye with Afterparty.

Almost a year goes by before I cast it on but I always had it in the back of my mind. I remember feeling as if I had just won the lottery when I found out that my LYS, The Knitting Loft were carrying the yarn.

It was meant to be!

I used the exact colors used in the pattern: Biches et Buches – Le Cashmere & Lambswool in Dark Grey for the main color and Grey Brown for the contrast.

I’ve heard of some knitters starting with the sleeves first and I’ve always wanted to give it a try so I went for it. At the time, I was busy with show prep for Knit City Montreal, so I thought it was a great idea to knit something (almost) mindlessly other than a sock for a change.

Even though it’s also knit from the bottom up, I managed to avoid the same mistake I ran into with Citrine of knitting the sleeves too long because 1) it’s knit in the round so no two at a time action and 2) I could easily try it on.

I pretty much stopped as soon as I reached my armpits 🙂

As you can see, I skipped the colorwork on the bottom hem of the sleeves and body. I like how it looks on others, but I prefer a more minimal aesthetic so I opted out.

I highly recommend this pattern if you ever wanted to try colorwork. The chart is very simple to follow, and you only have to alternate between 2 colors!

There is a tiny bit of seaming to do at the end but trust me, it’s totally fine! The sleeves are attached to the body by grafting a small number of stitches. That’s it!

I always put on this video as a refresher whenever I have to do Kitchener stitch and as long as you can have a quiet room for a few minutes, you’ll have the sleeves attached to the body in no time.

It’s my first sweater made out of Cashmere and I’m so happy to have treated myself to it! It’s been an interesting, humbling past year to say the least and I’m so thankful to be a knitter more than ever nowadays.

I wanted this to be a timeless piece so I knit it fairly long to make sure it covers my bum properly so I can wear it with leggings.

What do you think of it paired with faux leather leggings?

I love it, but my son, Ry, who took these photos of me btw, wasn’t a fan. I like it and that’s all that matters anyway, right?

(Also in the photo: my Sweet Pie socks )

I’m over the moon with how it turned out!