It's a Truffle, not a Trifle

I'm sure you will all be relieved to hear that I have finished my Truffle Tunic! No more complaining about its unending stitches. The needle/yarn combination made my arms ache, the rough wool made my fingers sore and the colourwork was a big pain in the butt. (It's hard to believe I started this as "comfort knitting"?) But it's now done done done!

The first time I wore it, it got rave reviews from my friends. (Thank you, all.) The next day I wore it to work and not a comment from anyone. :( I guess this goes to show that we chose our friends and not our coworkers, eh?

As I suspected it does wear like a tent:

You can see it has a very simple construction--a great big T. The sleeves are super deep and there is absolutely no shaping.

A big belt is enough to tame the tent-like fit.

You may have also noticed the separate collar:

It's just a long ribbed tube pulled over my head and folded in half. It's not attached to the sweater in any way, but it looks like an attached collar when I wear it. I actually finished knitting it the evening I wore the tunic for the first time. Project Stats
Started: 4 Sep '10 / Finished: 24 Apr '11
Pattern: Truffle by Susan Crawford (was free, but apparently now must be purchased)
Materials: grey tweed wool from 2nd hand sweater (500 g, ~$5) and Blue Sky Alpaca Sport (3 skeins, $24.30)
I knit and knit while visiting with friends and when I ran out of wool I stopped. Then I worked in the ends, snipped them off and slipped the collar over my head. Voila!

Since I ran out of yarn, the collar is about 2" shorter than the pattern called for. I think that might even be good with the alpaca I used as it is very droopy "drapey" and doesn't stand tall on its own.

I am so happy to have something long enough to wear over my jeaggins. That's what started this whole project!