5 little rows

Today I must knit 5 little rows.  I will knit much, much more than 5 little rows, but it is these 5 little rows that mark moving forward.

In 5 little rows I will be able to cast off for the underarm.  

From here on, knitting will speed up!  Yay.

There will be stitches taken out for the sleeves, 14 per sleeve, I believe.  They will be replaced by a group of just 6 steeking stitches.        These stitches, with their alternating colours, are speedy to work.  Zoom, Zoom.

I am diverging from the pattern for the neck.  The book shows a deep v neck, but Mr. Needles purpose and way of wearing vests, usually means he prefers them to be round necks.  There will be a zipper in this vest too, so it just will be better with a rounded neckline. Sadly, this means there will be no further decreasing of stitch counts until right close to the cast off, but you can't have everything.   

Colourwork is not so fast as other plain knitting.  It is not even remotely as fast as lace.  But it is entertaining.  It is fun.  It is challenging.  It is fulfilling. I love every minute of knitting these warm rich earthy hues.  I love knitting with this simple undemanding yarn.   I love this simple pattern (which I am sort of not following).  

There is a lot of knitting left, corrugated ribbing all over the place and a rather large pocket, but a few more weeks, a few more rows...  I can see the end of it.  Much as I am enjoying this, seeing the end of it is a nice place to be.