I finished a couple of sweaters that had been sitting around.
First, a slouchy teal cashmere sweater that I was knitting off and on last year, posting this photo last December:
I finished the knitting in February and blocked the pieces, with full intentions of sewing everything up during March. That never happened for various reasons, but it was the first sweater I put together while I was visiting my mom in Texas.
Sorry, no photo of me wearing it, yet, but already I am looking forward to cashmere weather. The Pattern, named Simple and Relevant, is one of the Sweater of the Month patterns from L'Atelier in Redondo Beach, I think from 2017, and the yarn is DK weight cashmere. Although you can't really see this in the above photo, the sweater is wider at the shoulders and more fitted at the hips, and the sleeves are narrow and closely fitted (which you can see). This was exactly the shape of sweater I was looking for when I started this sweater, having felted a beloved, 10-year old cashmere sweater with a similar shape in the apartment washing machine on the not-so-delicate, hand-wash setting. The pattern calls for a wider boatneck, and the neckline on my sweater is a modified boat, with small amount of drape, which suits me much better.
The second sweater is a summer sweater that I originally knit in 2012. I don't really know why I didn't finish it but suspect it was because I was smaller at the beginning of 2012 than at the end of the year, when George was failing rapidly and I was struggling with depression. I was about 20 to 30 pounds heavier than I am now. In retrospect, now that I have finished and tried on the sweater, I think I was afraid it wouldn't fit so I simply put it in a box and forgot about it. This I will wear now, and it is seasonally appropriate.
Here is the pretty sucky selfie I took in a hotel mirror yesterday morning. The pattern is from Lang Yarns Fatto a Mano #182, published in January 2011, pattern number 67, and it is knit in a cotton ribbon yarn called Sol Dégradé. The original pattern called for a fairly high crew-neck, and I simply lowered it to a more flattering scooped shape. I have lost the piece of paper with the math, but I really don't need the now.
I am moving in to the house today, but I am not sure if I am living there yet. There is at least another week's worth of work in the house itself, but I should be in residence over the next couple of days. It will be an adventure. The studio floor is not yet finished; therefore all fiber-related furniture and materials will be in a temporary holding area and unaccessible. I suppose I should be grateful as this will force me to settle into the house, when I really want nothing more than to be playing in the studio. I have one more (winter) sweater to assemble and finish with me, and some linen yarn to start another summer sweater. I think I will drape that linen yarn around the chair in my hotel room tonight and manually wind it into balls, ready to begin. It is always good to look forward and start something new when one is a little frustrated about the present.
