My Xmas Outfit (Along) - Julgran Sweater and a Plaid Circle Skirt

Another summer, another round of Andi Satterlund's Outfit Along! 

This is, hands down, my favorite knit-along of the year. What's that they say about creativity thriving when given specific parameters? (That's not really a saying, but...) This project really scratches that itch for me. I love planning a full outfit every summer, incorporating both knit and sewn elements. Although I must admit: I've never knit or sewn the recommended patterns. (Sorry, Andi and Lauren!)

So I looked at my Ravelry queue and my Make Nine 2018, and decided June and July was the perfect time to knit a Christmas sweater. Right? Right. Andi released Julgran last year, and I am totally into it. Just enough Christmas to make it wearable for parties, plus the option to get crazy with "decorating" the tree on the front.

So where did the skirt idea come from? I have a few projects floating around in the back of my head, Things I have Always Wanted, and a plaid circle skirt (with pockets) is one of them. But here's the thing about a simple plaid circle skirt: there's no hashtag for it on Instagram. It's not gonna pop up in my feed and remind me that I want to make it, like the popular patterns that catch like fire on IG and you cannot stop seeing. 

Now my Catholic guilt is telling me to stop and say: I am not throwing shade on those who make those patterns! Quite the opposite. I'm super proud of all the members of our little making community who continue to put out fun, exciting and wearable patterns! You go, guys!

All my shade is reserved for social media and how it seeps into our subconscious and has a way of inspirational-ly distracting us from our original idea. You know?

Any.way. Here's the deets on my Christmas outfit:

I knit my Julgran out of Cascade 220 that I had ripped from my Salal Cardigan. Sadly, my Salal never fit right and I just didn't wear it. I knit that sucker twice, in two different sizes, and it still didn't work out. So it has become a Julgran! 

I made it as written, except for my usual mod of knitting the sleeves a size down, to account for my skinny arms in relation to my insane bust. So the body of the sweater is a size medium (my bust measurement is around 41") and the sleeves are a size small (my arm measurement is around Skinny Noodle).

 

Now this plaid circle skirt. I used this circle skirt calculator to make a template for the waist, and referenced this post by Miss Make to wrap my head around inserting the zipper. And then, I just kinda winged it. 

Of course, in doing that, mistakes were made: My first, sloppy attempt at a waistband meant the plaid pattern didn't line up and I had to completely re-cut and insert it. Whoops. And the zipper I bought was too short so I have to put the skirt on over my head, not over my hips. Whoops again. Also I messed up the pattern matching at the back seam. Whoops x3. But overall, I love the look and I think it's very wearable! 

.... in December. Well, I will wear the skirt before that, but the entire outfit will have to wait for those sweet Christmas vibes.