It’s possible that in 5 years I will have knit everything out of our book and I’m ok with that. It means they’re all projects that I want, which in turn means I am my own demographic. Success!

Last April (what?! So I didn’t blog it til now? Whatevs. I’m a slow poke blogger I guess) I finished Cirilia Rose’s Double Decker sweater from Knitting It Old School. Now that we’re back into sweater weather, I can confidently say that this is one of my most worn handknits. I love the way it turned out and I’ve worn it everywhere this fall.

I didn’t knit it exactly to pattern, as I wanted the bust purl line to hit below my bust instead of right across it.  I knew I could adjust it to more of an empire waistline type deal, I just had to work out how to do that. I mean, mostly it was just increasing the length before the underarms, but I also (on Amy Herzog’s advice) threw in some bust darts.

Bust darts! Honestly? This part intimidated me at first, but I have to tell you they were so easy to do.

I followed Amy’s advice and knit a size smaller than I usually do using my overbust size instead of  my actual bust measurement size. For bust darts I increased an inch worth on either front working the increases on each right side. I knit straight for a bit and then decreased more slowly on every other right side row.

Honestly. Why did I think bust darts were going to be hard?

The buttons I found at Seed Stitch in Salem when we did a trunk show there and I love them. They’re a little heavy for the sweater and probably add 3lbs of weight, but look at em! I think they’re perfect.

And can I just say how happy I am that I can officially knit the smaller size in everything I make now? Less yarn! Less knitting! Better fit!

The Berocco Lustra has gorgeous drape and is super warm but is a single ply, so holy doodle this thing pills like crazy. I’m not sure that I’ll knit with this yarn again, but as long as I’m willing to hit the sweater with the shaver every day, I’m fine.

Full details on Ravelry: Double Decker