swirled pentagon pullover

The brick down here in Bay Ridge is different. It’s darker, or redder, or arranged differently—I can’t quite put my finger on it. But it’s distinctive and really pretty. And when I fell in love with this wall, I knew immediately I needed to knit something and take my FO shots in front of it. And now. The yarn I bought at Webs was the perfect color, and the geometry of Norah Gaughan’s Swirled Pentagon Pullover was perfect.

366.301 • swirled pentagon pullover

swirled pentagon pullover yoke

Totally perfect.

Swirled Pentagon Pullover (my Rav page)
Yarn: Valley Yarns Colrain in Steel, bought at Webs in October
Needles: US 8
Skeins: 10 (9.25 or so, I’d say)
Started: Sunday, November 2
Finished: Friday, November 14
Notes: I didn’t get gauge exactly, so I knit the small size to get basically the extra-small. I knit the body in the round, adding one purl stitch for a faux seam (I’m not sure why I wanted a faux seam, but I like it). The sleeves are semi-deliberately too long, which I like—makes the whole thing more cozy (I knit them in the round, so I worked 10 rounds in between decrease rounds, rather than decreasing on the 10th round). And the turtleneck part isn’t the 9 inches called for, because that was strangulating me; I think it’s more like 7.

Otherwise, I followed the pattern exactly. I will always trust Norah Gaughan—when picking up stitches for the neck, I initially didn’t trust the number given in the pattern for some reason. So I decided to just pick up what seemed natural, making sure it was a multiple of 4. And then I counted my stitches—92, exactly what the pattern said!

Oh, there is a small typo in the pattern—my trust doesn’t go too deep, apparently. The half-pentagon for the back yoke says something like “continuing in 2×2 rib” but that is wrong—it’s got to be 1×1 rib just like all the others.

swirled pentagon pullover, back

I wore the sweater to my grandmother’s surprise 80th birthday party yesterday, and though I yammered on to anyone who would listen that I’d finished it the day before, the response was generally, “Wow, I thought you got that at a store!” Which, I have to say, was the best compliment I could have gotten. And now it’s in all the family portraits!

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68 Responses to swirled pentagon pullover

  1. nancy says:

    It’s beautiful, and the bricks are a perfect backdrop. You knit at the speed of light Minty, you’re so impressive! Happy Birthday to your Nanny!

  2. gleek says:

    god, you’re right! the sweater with the brick background is awesome. my father today said that he though bay ridge reminded him of philly :) i told him you said the exact same thing!

    fabulous sweater! but you already know that i love it :)

  3. Kelly says:

    Fabulous sweater!
    The bricks are also one small one big repeated and the small ones are a different colour than the bigger ones. Here all the bricks are the same size but the colour varies in each one.

  4. sue says:

    The sweater is absolutely gorgeous. I love the color too. What a perfect way to remember it too in years to come in the family portrait. I do think that saying you bought it at a store is the best compliment a knitter can get.

  5. Danielle says:

    The sweater looks great! What did you think of the yarn?

    And the wall is a perfect backdrop. I see a few things that are different than most brick walls — the use of the half bricks, the different colors (half bricks are lighter), and the mortar is more recessed. The wall looks really “dimensional” in these photos, but not at all distracting.

  6. Collette says:

    Wow, that sweater looks great! And frankly, so does your Grandma if she was in the picture because I sure couldn’t pick out the 80-year old woman!

  7. Philippa says:

    As usual, as soon as you knit something, I suddenly want to cast on for that exact thing, stat – even though I have seen it in multitudinous incarnations before, and never looked at it thrice! I wish you very well to wear it. xo

  8. Lisa says:

    It turned out beautifully! That yarn is so great – it’s got such a nice sheen to it. Steel is an apt name for it, for sure. Love the geometry of the pattern at the neckline. Very nicely done!

  9. sixoneseven says:

    i had kind of dismissed this book, but your sweater is making me think twice! yours seems to look more fitted than the others i’ve seen on ravelry; i wonder if that was a product of your gauge change? either way, it’s perfect on you.

  10. mai says:

    i actually think that the bricks are both more red and darker, and they’re also arranged differently!

    your sweater is so, so, so beautiful. i covet so, so much. i can’t believe you knit it so fast (sort of hate you).

  11. kathy says:

    How fantabulous!!! I can’t believe you finished so quickly! you’re awesome! And because I like them (apparently) here are some more exclamation points to convey how much I like your FO: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  12. Amanda says:

    Oh wow, I LOVE it! I’ve always lingered over this page in Knitting Nature, but I’ve never had the right yarn ready to go for it. Whatever you used – it’s perfect, I’m seriously tempted to copy you!

    And on faux seams – I just had to explain that to a non-knitter. I was showing someone my tangled yoke cardi with the faux seams and he just couldn’t grasp why you’d bother. I kept saying it was a design feature, that it would look weird without seams, and he pretended to get it. I think you have to be a knitter to know that it’s just one of those little details that makes a big difference – it’s more couture than craftroom and keeps those non-knitters amazed with our talents!

  13. Betty in Texas says:

    like she said – no one in the pic looks old enough to be the birthday girl! great sweater/brick combo – but that sweater will look good anywhere!! Thanks to Norah, and to you for the hints on how you made it your own.

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