24 January 2021

My legs have never been warmer

When I first saw the pattern for my 1970s detachable-sleeve sweater, I thought it was both ingenious and a little ridiculous. Now that I have actually made it, I can confirm that it is indeed extremely silly. But I also really like it. It's a well-designed, quick, and easy knit, with a fun gimmick that actually works. This might be the most wearable decade sweater yet.

The cardigan is certainly very cozy and easy to wear. The Lopi I used for it is lofty, light, and warm and the "butterfly" cap sleeves are just over-the-top enough to be fun without reaching into impracticality. The detachable sleeves actually function much better than I'd imagined: the ribbing keeps them snug on my arms and also stretches enough to fit my legs. 

It's still weird, though. And I laughed when I put the sleeves on my legs. But, it's not a terrible look, right?! It could probably benefit from better styling, but it was really cold and windy when we took these pictures, so I was only willing to go so far for fashion.

The legwarmers are an unusual shape because you knit them as normal sleeves, so they have a fairly substantial sleeve cap, which helps them stay on your arms. It's a little more challenging to figure out how to make them look good on your legs. Pull them all the way up and you have a taller front than back. Scrunch them down and they get pretty bulky. You can see the issue here.

Initially, I had thought that the sweater was pretty timeless in its design (legwarmers aside), but when I put it on, I was surprised to see how tunic-like it was. That definitely feels like a '70s look to me. I'm glad this ultimately looks like its decade. After all, that's what this project is about!

In the end, I know I'll wear the cardigan a lot. I may often wear it with sleeves. I will likely not wear the legwarmers, but I will always enjoy the possibility that I could, if I wanted to.

Specs
Yarn: Ístex Álafosslopi
Amounts: 7 balls (687 g)
Needles: size 10.5
Started: 1 January 2021
Finished: 18 January 2021



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