no WAY!

Susannah's Shrug
Cotton Fleece in "Cherry Moon"
size 3.25 mm bamboo needles
My own pattern

Could it be? I'm *finally* done Susannah's shrug?? I feel like I've posted so much about this and posted so many progress pictures that this doesn't seem too exciting - but I'm thrilled to be able to send this off to Susannah! I just wish I could fit into the box with it. I miss her SO much.

The only thing that worries me is that the right front seems to be a slightly different shape than the left front - but I'm hoping that Susannah, beautiful (and smart, and witty, and sharp, and sexy etc) as she is, has some weird body deformity that will mask this flaw. Maybe it's only me that sees it, I don't know. I became quite intimate with this l'il sweater as I knit it - I hope that its not only the Cotton Fleece that will keep her warm, but also the mass amounts of love I knit into this.

What did I learn from this project?
I *love* cables & wanna get all freaky with them in future projects
I'm not too great at 'winging it' with making my own patterns or taking bits & pieces from other patterns to make the final piece. I think I worried so much about making the right fit that some of my creativity was spent on that. As a result, there some parts of this that I wish were a bit more sassy (like the 2x2 ribbing around the edge)
Also - although the colour of the cotton fleece is super duper hot stuff, I wish now that I used wool - that way it would have stretched & snuggled around Susannah - I'm not sure of the fit of cotton, but there's no stretch to it, so here's hoping. There's always the next sweater she asks me to make her! All in all I'm happy with it & I hope Susannah is too - now I shall cross my fingers & hope it fits!

And now a walk down sweater memory lane..... This is only the third finished sweater I've knit.

The first one came early on in my knitting career - back when I didn't pay attention to stuff like "gauge" or "swatching" or "recommended needle size" - I don't even remember reading that stuff in the pattern - I think I just picked up sticks & (very cheap) acrylic & went at it. The sweater was a christmas present for my sister. I imagined a big comfy thing that she'd wear while out on a Sunday with her family - my sister is a hot mom & I wanted to make her a hot mom sweater - a little bulky, but body skimming & totally yummy. Needless to say, since I was a poor student & could only afford the yarn one step up from Red Heart (AUGH!) The sweater looked fine when it was done, but I'll bet money on the fact that it's a mangey ugly ball now. (about 5 years later) Also, the sweater was not comfy & bulky. I got bored of knitting - I wanted decreases! I wanted armhole shaping! I wanted more than just stockinette stitch! The sweater was about 5" too short. But my sister, God bless her, wore it to Christmas dinner anyway. My nephew was just a baby then, so there was lots of bending over to hold his chubby arms as he tried to walk, there was lots of bending down to pick him up, there was lots of sitting in the floor playing with him - but she worked it. She made that acrylic belly top HERS - she proudly said "Nicky knit it!" when asked about it....
This year, I'm planning on knitting her something she can actually *wear*.

Sweater #2 was a cardigan the next christmas for my mother. My mother doesn't like wool, and had just been introduced to the wonders of cardigans. She marveled at how practical they were & I was determined to give her the cardigan that people would identify her with. *Jan's cardi* I spent what felt like a million dollars on lovely cotton tweed - it had just a tiny bit of silk in it, and the colour was awesome. I loved knitting it & was sure it'd be a success. I've never seen her wear it. I asked her once about it & she said "OH! It *has* been worn!, my friend was over one night & was chilly so I gave her the cardigan to put on - she LOVED it!" The problem, I found out - was (surprise) too short!

Sweater #3 was the 'vintage pink cardigan' from Interweave Knits Spring 2005. Designed by Norah Gaughan & possibly sent to me by angels. I instantly fell in love with it & HAD to knit it for myself. So why then, if I loved it so much, if I needed it so badly, did I decide that WOOL EASE would be a suitable substitution for Blue Sky Alpaca & Silk?? Why did I use size 3 needles with the wool ease?

and..... why did I make it too short?
(it was after this that my friend Jeff said, as I was teaching him & some other friends to knit, "Just knit until when Nicole tells you to.....and then knit 20 more rows.")

So now, I've just finished sweater #4. I took time to do swatches, I used the recommended needle size, I got all of susannah's measurements before I started & took note of them as I went along. The good thing about knitting shrugs? They're *meant* to be short! With this done & sweaters #5 & 6 in progress hopefully I can get past this sweater bitch goddess that is following me around.

AIE!