I Made an Ugly Sweater

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I knitted an ugly sweater, on purpose!



I’ve only been knitting sweaters for s year so all my sweaters are quite precious so I don’t dare to wear them for work or anything dirty like that. All I want to wear is sweaters though so I needed to make one that I don’t have to baby. I wasn’t going to use a nice expensive yarn for this project, that’s for sure.

In my 20-something years of knitting, I have accumulated quite a surplus of yarn, mostly the sock quality because those are what I used to make mostly. I haven’t always been that careful of what yarn and colours to buy, so I had a huge box of 7 Veljestä by Novita(the biggest yarn company in Finland) in really random colours that I don’t actually want to use or wear. The sock yarn has 25% polyester to make it more durable, but it also makes the yarn not as nice and it does pill quite easily in use. Perfect for my Ugly Sweater project, but I would never otherwise use or recommend it for sweaters.

I dug into my storage for a pile of random colours and found a pattern that is actually really pretty if it was done with a nice colourway. I followed the pattern at start but changed some of the order if I remember correctly and continued the fairisle longer down the body and sleeves.

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I started this sweater last December-January and set the project aside when I moved north and only wanted to do really beautiful knits. I finally dusted it off and finished this week with a struggle. Motivation really is the key and if I had done this from a nice Icelandic yarn and colours I like I would have done the whole sweater in three weeks max.

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I just finished the sweater late last night and because it’s an ugly sweater and I don’t really care for it that much, I only weaved in the last and first yarns and basically just tied in all the colourway ends and cut off the excess, YOLO! I’m so happy it’s finally done and I can get back to my pretty knits.

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I wanted to wear the sweater to work immediately so I’ve yet to wash and block it so it fits a little funky. I’ll wash it on the weekend and then it’ll relax to a better form and it will be longer.

Even though the colours are not what I’d typically wear or like, I feel like it’s pretty perfect for work because it’s not horrid but also I’m not worried about the oil, dirt and aluminium that’ll tarnish it.

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70’s called and they want their glasses and sweater back!



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33 comments
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Ugly sweaters is not a thing for Christmas. They are just cute and cozy :p

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Maybe I should make an ugly christmas sweater too 😝

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Ohh ye, you just wrote sweater xD
It reminded me of Christmas though, so well done :p
Haha

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Nah sist., I just can't seem to agree with this because, as much as my eyes have seen, it still knows beauty when it sees one. I'd honestly love to own one of these supposed "ugly sweaters" of yours. Thank you😘😘

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Haha I knew someone would disagree! Hipsters go crazy for the old tattered and colour vomit sweaters 😝

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Smiles... Well, tell me more about it😂✌🏾

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I love it Eve, but I can understand your dislike of the colours, they are very reminiscent of the older generation Christmas sweaters that everyone wore back in the day for family photos 🙂 I admire your ability to follow patterns like that. I haven't found the patience for intricate patterns like that to be honest, I like it to be simple, but I also enjoy working in celtic knotwork so I suppose it depends on the project.

Where do you find the best patterns? Do you buy them or look for free ones?

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That seems to be the thing in the English speaking world if one was to believe Hollywood movies, but Finnish families find nothing more akward than staged family photos with matching outfits 😝 This sweater is not my style either, I prefer wearing something more simple and classic too but I like to change it up and do all sorts of different types of knits.

I do buy a lot of patterns and lately my favourite has been to follow #ootdknittersedition on Instagram, there is some very lovely stuff and you can find something you would love to do every single day. I think after I knit sweaters for another year I don’t have to buy patterns as often because by then I’ll be quite familiar with the different kind of constructions, yoke, raglan etc.

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I like the Finnish even more now!

Thanks for the recommendation, I'll definitely go check them out and see what I can find, it will probably end with me having plenty to work with.

It's great that you have a knitting brain that can hold that kind of info, I personally can't come up with the patterns myself even if I've knitted 6 sweaters exactly the same pattern, my memory is like a fucking sieve lol. My mom can construct things in her mind and work them into a pattern as she goes, I don't know how she does it but she's great at it.

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My memory is shit too, but with colourwork you literally just follow the pattern row by row, kinda like paint by numbers 😅 I can make mittens and socks without patterns and I’ll probably be able to work a sweater soon too, it all comes with repetition.

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Painting by numbers, yes I know what you mean. I need to try it sometime again and see if I can do it, the last time I tried, I botched it up terribly. Perhaps this time will work out better. I'm keen to see what creations you make in the future.

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I believe that you now have the perfect pattern for Galen's sweater. You just need to dig through the yarn pile for more "striking" colours.

:)

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Oh don’t you start 😂😂

Though, I have a lot of pinks and purples that I have no use for… 😏

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I would gladly wear it if it were unisex ahah

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I don’t think this is very girly at all, but could be too small 😁

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Well people have different choice when it comes to what they like and admire but it’s can be a bit tricky at first and you won’t see it coming sorry tho I understand, but it’s not actually that bad me I like it I love the way everything turned out, the color mixture is great. I wore something similar yesterday to meet up with friends. I wore mine with a matching shirt

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Don’t mind if I steal the colourway off your sweater, it’s way nicer than mine! Quite a surprising choice of clothing for someone who lives in Africa(?) but I like it.

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Wow weldone. To be sincere this look so beautiful and I love it. Keep it up to your good work

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Nice sweater. Too bad for me it's never cold so I don't need one ;)

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What a tragedy to live in a climate where you never need a sweater! Though I don’t believe you, I have use for sweaters in the summertime too.

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Beautiful piece of "ugly" sweater :D - What is the best - remember, it is Unique!
Great job!

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See, you get it, ugly beautiful! 😁 Haha definitely unique though other people have used the same pattern of course.

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sencillamente espectacular... tengo 2 agujas en casa, estoy aprendiendo pero wow para tu trabajo se necesita dedicación... felicidades, está bellísimo!¡

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