Done with Pondering and Looking great!

All the pondering in the world wasn't going to make it happen. I tried arranging a try on and visit date but weather and circumstance made it not possible.  My other family household needs to take greater than average care with Covid 19 and they have opted for staying quarantined till they see if the numbers stay down.  Besides being a higher risk of problems household, they also work in the city and commute everyday.  I could do an outside visit like I did before and I will once the weather  settles down.  It's been rainy and cool for the last few days.  Pondering and wishing were not going to make the sweater happen. I had to decide.  

I'm really happy with everything here, but it was wide at the underarns.  It has to be wide but there is the comfortable fit wide and then there is too much. Of all the projects on Ravelry, that is the one thing that takes away from this sweater, where the knitter knit too large a size.     

I took into consideration that the pattern has 8 inches of ease built into it and then looked at what I had and thought about Amy's physical self and made the desicion to take out 4 more stitches at each side.  It makes the bit down the arm a little longer but I think the body will fit just that little bit better.   That pretty lace is almost gone and I started over from the underarms.

And got it back to this.

I am about an inch and a half below the little sleeve /arm tab and am once again, well on my way.  I feel pretty comfortable with the size now.  It just looks right and comes closer to where I thought she fit on the patterns size scale.  With a pattern with such generous ease, it is a real dance to get a nice fit.  I can just knit to the pattern now, with the little addition of the Tabouli lace without worry.  It is all straight till you get to that lovely shaped hemline.

I did lots of other stuff this weekend too.  I wound all the yarn for Olga's sweater.  Till now, I had only done what I needed to for swatching.  The whole thing is ready now and I am ready to roll. I knit another inch on my green sweater but my hands need a break from its heavy dense knitting for a bit.

I did a pleasing amount of work on my Shetland Hap

After much deliberating (pondering) and calculating and even a tiny bit of geometry, I decided it was time to start the downside of the centre square of the shawl.  I had just begun the third ball of cream, and measured what I had and started thinking about the whole shawl and the dimensions I did want.  

When I knit Olga's grandmother's shawl, I remember that the lace border and edging were pretty wide. If I recall right, the combination I knit was about 10 inches wide after blocking.  I have tons of yarn for the  feather and fan border, five colours in all plus a touch of cream if it needs that tiny bit of lightness.  I can vary the colour order I use or repat the dark to light to dark pattern several times if I feel the need.  Without blocking at all, my centre will be 43 inches.  If each border and edging combination is even 8 inches wide, the shawl will be almost 60 inches across the corners and I am sure that is going to be plenty.

Starting the downside of this center leaves me with 3 skeins of laceweight to knit the lace edging and that may or may not be enough to get around the whole thing.   If I do the edging I used for Olga's grandmother's shawl, 3 may not quite be enough.  But never fear.  I am pretty sure I have one skein from a class with Nancy Bush deep in the closet somewhere. A possible fourth skein in house!  If not, well, I guess we will order.  

The day waits.  There is baking and soup making and yarn work and all sorts of other goodness to hand.  There may still be time for a nap.  I think all in, the day is looking great.