Old Habits

I am not sleeping well lately.  It feels like time to take back an old habit.  For years, when I couldn't sleep, I got up so I wouldn't disturb Brian, who was a light sleeper. I would read till I got tired and then crawl back to bed and sleep well and deeply.  It made more sense than worrying about insomnia. Since he has been gone, I had no reason to get up.  I would turn on the movie player and eventually fall back asleep.  Lately, that second sleep simply eludes me. I brought out my old habit.

It was 3 o'clock in the morning and I decided to start another sweater.  Surely, this can't end well. ?

I have wanted to knit another Undercurrent sweater for a while now.  I have several sets of yarns in appropriate amounts ready to go.  I knew which yarn I wanted to work with and I knew right where it was. Briggs and Little Regal in Dark Grey and Noro Silk Garden, colour 349, which isn't looking very inspiring in this photo, but is, in fact, deeply inspiring.

I went to read the pattern again, and you know what?  I didn't want to knit an Undercurrent.  I wanted to knit stripes and have a wide flowing collar, not a hood.  I also wanted to knit contiguously.  At the same time, it was 3 o'clock in the morning and I just did not have it in me to figure out how many stitches I should start with.

I decided to look at contiguous patterns and see what I could find and I think I found a winner that will meet all my wants.

Meet Romy.

I was looking through all the sweaters people have done with the pattern and a striped one caught my eye. I then saw a longer version without the very emphatic abdominal ribbing that is characteristic of Romy and I had my pattern choice.

And so it begins.

I won't be following the pattern details with respect to personal fit.  The sleeves seem rather narrow.  I will adapt them to fit me.  Bottom ribbing?  Nope.  Bottom length?  Nope.  Knit to fit?  Yup.  

The sweater is begun.  I didn't think deeply about it, and I do think that I can sort out whatever adaptations I need to make as I go.  But not now.  It is 5:30 a.m. and I am ready to go back to bed.