Actually this sweater isn't purple. The color is called "lupine" and it's a very blue hue of purple. But close enough to count as part of the when I grow old collection.
I knit the sweater about two years ago after a long hiatus. Not a break from knitting, just from sweaters. I'd been knitting socks instead. Although I love making sweaters, I absolutely hate sewing them up. Side seams, sleeve seams – ick, ick, ick. Then I stumbled upon two possibilities that would eliminate the seams: 1) knitting in the round with steeks (very scary), or 2) top-down construction.
Top-down sounded interesting so I thought I'd give it a whirl. I found the guidelines for measuring, etc. here and followed them to the letter. What I learned? I need to adjust the percentage distribution at the top for my own body type and fit preference. In order to make the body of the sweater as big around as I wanted it to be, I ended up with sleeves that were a bit too large at the top. I did gradual decreases on the sleeves, so they fit well between the elbow and the wrist, but there's a good bit of extra fabric between the armhole and the elbow.
I'm happy with the sweater though. It has the casual, knock-around look I was aiming for and the color is perfect. The yarn is Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece (80% cotton, 20% merino wool) which I bought on sale as "seconds." Its flaw was that the skeins were unevenly dyed – exactly right for the "faded jeans" look I wanted.
Add a red hat, and I'll be good to go.
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