A Sweater Ta-Da!

Here's my sweater, all made from Noro self-striping yarn (yes, the yarn is so pricey that it comes with an elf who will make the sweater stripes while you sleep). I'm actually fairly proud of this sweater, if I ignore the extra purl row in my garter edge-stitching on one sleeve. I've had this internal debate with myself: "Leave it alone, no one will notice," 'Rip it back and you'll ruin the sweater and you'll never wear it" and "So-and-so (not really her name) will help you fix it." To be dishonest, I'm over this sweater, flaws and all, and if I wear it on a regular basis, it will be a success in my notebook, even with the extra P1. It is an itchy sweater (it is 100 percent wool), which I plan to remediate at some point by making an extra-long camisole in a stretch lace or even a cotton jersey trimmed with lace. None of the camisoles sitting on my dresser fit me. I do that tugging-down thing constantly because I've an extra long-torso. Here are some of the pattern changes I made:

1. I made the top portion of a bit longer to accommodate my well-toned arms (I had no idea my thrice-weekly water aerobics routine was paying off).
2. I added an extra 5 inches in length for my abovementioned torso and to cover any flesh that just might make a Britney Spears appearance when I wear this sweater with low-rise jeans as I do in the photograph above.

I should note there's an instruction mid-way to "Resume the garter ridge" which is extremely puzzling given that not one mention to start the garter ridge in the beginning. So be aware of that (this is for all knitters who are reading this post, sewers, skip over this post for other more juicy blogs in your RSS feed.)

Would I make this pattern again? Probably not. While this sweater fits me reasonably well, it's not perfect. There's a bit of a roll on one side of the neckline, which could come out after a little blocking (which simply involve a lot of steam from my iron, but no pressing! no stick pins! on both sides). Anyhow, if I did make this again, I wouldn't use this particular yarn, it's kind of uncomfortable. Besides, there are little bits of wood in the yarn that you have to pick out as you knit. Very strange. I've never even encountered any fabric like this.

Another close-up: you can see some little pokey holes which again I think some steam will close up nicely. I really do like the garter ridge at the hem. I think this top will look really cute with a flouncy short grass green skirt I got from Marshall's.

One last shot. I do like the v-neck, and its the kind of neckline that I like to make when I'm sewing too. It's very flattering.

Thanks all, for participating in my polls. As for the Unfinished Sewing Projects Poll in the sidebar, it looks like lots of you have lost count of what projects you've started and haven't finished. Some you know exactly what you've got on sewing plate. I congratulate you both. I'm fascinated by the one person who only has one to two sewing projects set aside. Amazing!

As for the other hat-related poll, it looks like lots of you have think just like me. No. 2 looks to be the hands-up winner! I've got to find the book Romantic Knits first. I went to the library last night to get it. Unfortunately, it's checked out. So it's going to have wait a while...but I could start looking for some yarn. Maybe you can help me find something suitable. Since so little yarn is called for, I might be able to get away with using a skein or two or three of yarn on sale at the local knitting shop. That way I could use a really high-quality yarn that's won't break the credit union. So I'm really excited about this. I just even post a poll on the possible yarns for this project. Stay tuned. This would be a fantastic project to start during Memorial Day weekend and abandon sometime around July 4. Just kidding. I've always had a fantasy of dressing retro and riding in old auto for the Independence Day parade. This would be the hat for an event like that.

Finally, I realize I've been tagged...I just need to reach for the nearest book and turn to page whatever. It's all on my to-do list resting under my free Dunkin Donuts iced coffee.