Pattern: Skappel Oslo x Helene Moo Urke Genser, knitted in “Myk Norsk Lamull” in colours 3022 Mørk Rosa and 3024 Oransje.

https://skappeloslo.com/no-no/products/urke-orange-pink

This year’s sweater (pinch of salt, I started this in July 2024) is finally ready, bar sewing underarms and a couple of weave ins left to do. It is unblocked because I’ve been too afraid to block. I didn’t block my swatch…

It’s been a journey. In the pattern, Helenemoo is wearing a delightfully oversized sweater and I think she’s tiny. I for some reason believed I am so large (I usually wear 38-40/women’s medium) that I ordered yarn for a large and set straight out knitting a large after checking my gauge. In the pattern itself (and not on the website) there is a warning about there being a large difference between S, M & L sizes, so to be careful to choose the correct size, but I just saw it today ???? I realised pretty quickly that it was going to be larger than I had envisioned, so my progress was slow partly because I was scared how big it would turn out.

Things I liked: the yarn is gorgeous, really easy to knit with, light, warm, soft and doesn’t shed that much. For the amount of yarn, (and the amount of entertainment from counting ????), I don’t think the kit is terrible value for money. I knit fairly loosely and didn’t find that the yarn felted itself much if I had to unravel something. I love the pattern, I love the colour. It’s a really pretty sweater, the design is striking and I love it.

Things I didn’t like so much:

Granted, Norwegian is my second language, but even with that taken jnto account, I didn’t think the instructions were particularly clear at times, regarding construction especially. I had to watch their videos to understand what they actually meant.

There is what I would consider “lazy” design in the chart for the large size. There are some mistakes: missing design elements or added design elements that don’t align with the other sizes /the overall look of the sweater. I let Skappel know, but never got a reply and I don’t know if they corrected anything. I also think all of the charts could be clearer: they use the same random circle symbol for k2tog/twisted k2tog & bind off: and also include this on the raglan rows where there is no decreases ????‍♀️

They specifically recommended the same needle size for both the 1x1 rib and the body. This results in a floppy bottom, and it’s the same in mine as in the photos. In hindsight I would have trusted my gut and gone down a needle size for the ribbing vs colour work.

The sleeves are the same length for all sizes, and they feel short considering the final size of the product.

I wasn’t a fan of the 12cm collar that was loose, so I folded and stitched it, which is how it is currently, but who knows .

The photos in the and online don’t help much with construction or understanding the pattern, so I found myself trawling Instagram for better photos.