A Series of Amazing Events

Perhaps a pair is a better word, because I have to tell you, that as I sit down here this morning, just past 8:30 a.m. and I have completed two projects this morning.  Not last evening.  Not in the middle of the night, but since I got up and made coffee this morning.

It is possible that I am stretching the definition of middle of the night, though.  I got up at 4:30. I tried to read.  I tried to listen to a book, but in the end, I was wide awake and I couldn't stay in bed.  So I got up and grabbed the pair of socks that was sitting in my bedroom for a while, made my coffee and started knitting.

I was not expecting this when I got up.  It has been a while since I worked on these and I didn't remember them being so close to done. About 8 rows of knitting and sock two was complete.  They are short socks, but considering that I thought I would be wearing them this summer... well so it goes.  They are a bit short for winter wear, but I am going to wear them anyway.

When I went to bed last night I knew I was getting close to the second projects completion.  I had started the ribbing at the bottom of the sweater.  I was three rows in when my hands cried uncle, and I stopped.  I picked it up this morning once the socks were done and gave it a go.  It did not take long before this happened.

By 7:00 the sweater was cast off on the bottom ribbing and all that remained was the neckline finishing.  That was minimal and it took just less than an hour to complete it too.  I give you my version of Joji Locatelli's The Easy Bulky One.

On the pattern page, Joji is wearing it with a lot of ease.  It suits her.  She is a slender elegant woman.  If that isn't the way you want a sweater to be, seriously, do not discount this design.  If you look at the project pages for it, you can see that there is so much variation here, that you can get the fit you want from it.  Close fit?  No problem.  The sweaters very easy shape works.  Large and with lots of ease?  No problem.  It still looks good.

It looks like exactly what I wanted from this sweater.  Big comfortable fit.  Easy knitting.  When I chose this sweater pattern, I was looking for something to knit fast.  I wanted to finish it before the end of Stash Dash and needed a quick knit to get my goal. That meant big yarn.  It also meant it had to be simple plain knitting.  My hope was that in the end it would look least good enough to wear at home alone.  

It looks way better than okay.  It is what it is, a big comfy loose fitting sweater but it has a fit very similar to my Icelandic Overblouse in the shoulders. I wear that one out all the time.  There is some extra fabric, but it just looks loose and casual.  It is better fitting than any store bought sweaters would be that is for sure.  

I am not 100 percent happy with the sleeves.  I did not decrease because it is such a short sleevelet, but I should have. They seem a bit wide.  I also should have knit them just a wee bit longer.  The goal was for a 3/4 length sleeve, and while they look it when it is worn, where they are now, they keep slipping up into the bend at my elbow.  I am pretty sure that I will fix these two things and when I do, I will aim for much more fitted sleeve than these currently are and I will probably knit the sleeves full length. I have lots of yarn. 

So a little bit of work still, to get it just right, but considering that I wasn't expecting a whole lot from this project,  it is not a problem.  What I thought was heading to the wasted knitting pile is going to get a lot of wear.

So socks and a sweater that turned out better than expected. It is a great way to start a day!