Good Morning Everyone!
There's nothing I enjoy more than trying to decide which sweater I am going to wear. Definitely a first world problem, I know, but a fun one to have. Especially when you consider that I'm always adding fuel to the fire with each sweater I finish. I hadn't thought too much about my volume of knitting until recently, I cranked out 3 brand new sweaters in a short amount of time, almost Andra speed. It's super exciting to have 3 more sweaters to add to the rotation, I can't even pick a new favorite, I LOVE THEM ALL!!! Each one highlights a certain level of either finishing or overall skill, I'm equally proud of how they came out, best of all, THEY FIT ME PERFECTLY! I feel a bit under the gun trying to get my shop samples finished before the season kicks into gear. I was breathing a bit of relief until last Friday when Andra had a small preview of Spring/Summer '23, ugh seriously? I'm in no mood to think about warmer temperatures at this point, Fall and Winter are my happy place. Remind me in the middle of February lol....
I mentioned last week how excited I was when someone from MA, who follows me on Instagram, was hoping to run into me at VT Sheep and Wool and actually did. Imagine my reaction when Amy Christoffers of Savory Knitting and the Berroco Design Team commented on my Efa sweater video. She said that she saw me wearing it at Sheep and Wool and was sorry that she missed the chance to meet me. OMG!!! How cool would that have been? I'm definitely a huge fan of her designs and would love to meet her too. My Efa sweater always gets a compliment when I wear it, I will say that I'm extremely proud of the job I did on it. I'm not a huge fan of knitting the pieces and assembling, there's so much room for error in my opinion. The pieces may not line up as planned, the seaming could be sloppy, the neckline wonky the underarms too short. I've basically run into every single one of those scenarios during my long knitting career, each one sucks. My Efa is perfect, except for a couple of fudged YO's that I was able to camoflauge. I'm most proud of the finishing, which is usually not where I excel, despite my Mimi's efforts. This sweater represents what happens when I put my mind to something and pay attention to the details. Best of all, I still haven't dripped coffee down the front of it. If you're looking for a new project to hone those finishing skills, cast on an Efa, I just restocked all the pretty colors....
I guess now is the time to mention my KAL sweater, you know that steeked thing I'm trying not to freak out about?!? The pattern really kind of sucks. Luckily, I've knit several Icelandic sweaters over the years and have a general idea of what they're all about. But this particular pattern leaves much to personal interpretation which leads to murky water at best. Thankfully there is a picture to look at, but there's enough going on with the construction that it would be nice to have the flow of the pattern follow the page numbers. I managed to get the "rice" aka "lice" chart adapted to my size, the numbers were not divisible at all so I made the necessary adjustments. This conundrum reared it's ugly head at me again last night when I started to work on the first sleeve. It's a 6 stitch repeat which does not divide into 55 evenly AT ALL. Add insult to injury, you're increasing 2 stitches every 7th row, this is going to get interesting. You all know how much I hate math, even easy math. I'm going to have to rely on my eye and get the new stitches incorporated into the chart. Mind you, it doesn't indicate anywhere in the pattern that this needs to happen. I think the challenge is going to make sure that both sleeves look the same and with any luck they'll be the same length, stay tuned.
The beautiful sunflower picture I have featured was taken by Judy Ashley, I love her photos. I simply couldn't resist sharing it with you, sunflowers are my favorite. We will be meeting tomorrow evening from 6-7:30 for Stitch and Bitch. We will be inside the shop, as it's getting too chilly and dark to stay outside. Margie had suggested we go inside last week, but I was being stubborn and wanted to sit outside, boy was I wrong...I do have some folding chairs available, but please bring your own chair just in case. Make it a great day and I'll see you soon!
Katy
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