Following

And here we have it.  Joined fronts.

I was so thrilled to be at this point last night, that I completely forgot to read the pattern and joined the fronts willy nilly.  I was supposed to set up the little detail at the front of the neck and I completely forgot.  Because the detail has slipped stitches, I am going to go back one row and do it right.  It's not a big deal.  

I can't wait to get to where I can try this one after I join at the underarms.  I have never followed a pattern exactly before or at least have very rarely.   I am on  this sweater for a couple reasons. 

First, it is a completely new shoulder shaping for me.  I have no way to know if the shaping will sit right or feel right till I try it.  I also don't know where it will need adaptations to really fit me the way I want a sweatshirt style garment to fit. It seemed logical to start with the measurements that are given, the gauge as given and place my trust in the designer.

Second, the designer.  Ysolda Teague has long been a vocal proponent of designing sweaters to fit all bodies.  She was an early adopter of size inclusivity and genderless inclusivity. She designs for people. Period. I like that and I have since her book, Little Red in the City as well as her participation on Ravelry on  boards where people talked about sizing issues like patterns graded by percentages rather than how people are built.  I have strong admiration for her work. If I am ever going to put someone else in the drivers seat on a pattern, it would be someone such as her.  

But it is hard, when your whole knitting career has been learning to make it up as you go along.  

       

A Knitter's Day

My day was comprised of fabric fun...and terror.

I did a stupid.  The fabric I am using has a definite pattern.  All the flowers need to be facing right side up to look correct.  I laid it out with the right orientation, but I lay the two lengths of fabric together right side to wrong side.  As any sensible sewer knows you cannot do that.  It has to be rights together or wrong sides together so that your pieces turn out properly. I cut about a foot into the fabric before I realized I was about to mess up big time.

 I took the pattern off the fabric and started the process of flipping the fabrics wrong side to wrong side.  Somewhere in there, I completely lost heart.  I did not have it in me to keep working with these two huge pieces of fabric.  I backed away and went to my knitting and knit out my vey strong feelings about the whole silly thing.  

I kept on knitting and the lines from this old nursery rhyme kept flitting though my mind.  

"Old woman, old woman, old woman, said I, "

It made me laugh and between that and the knitting, I felt better.  I made tea and got on with the rest of the day. It healed my fragile ego.

What you see here is a significant part of the first front section.  I am so thrilled to be here.  It is one step closer to all the lovely knitting in the round.

Old Woman, Old Woman

There was an old woman tossed in a basket,

Seventeen times as high as the moon;

But where she was going no mortal could tell,

For under her arms she carried a broom.

"Old woman, old woman, old woman," said I,

"Whither, oh whither, oh whither so high?"

"To sweep the cobwebs from the sky;

And I'll be with you by-and-by."

Went with the Wind

I had a very good knitting weekend even if I didn't get a much knitting done as I wanted to.  I am almost to the the underarm but have a few more increases to go.

I had hoped to be almost to the fronts done too, but oh well.  It was not to be.

I am really falling n love with this yarn.  How is it that II did not notice its colours back when I bought it and when I wound it?  It is amazing. It looked like it had a funky yellow in it but it really is the MOST amazing shade of greigey lavendery grey.  It is half way between the two photos here.

One device picks up the green grey as brown and the other highlights them as a funky dirty green.  it looks odd here, but it really is wonderful in real life.  There is just no way to capture it.

Instead of spending all of my time knitting, I spent a good bit of the weekend, playing with patterns.  I morphed my circle skirt into a split skirt and have that ready to cut out and I have everything ready to transmogrify the York pinafore pattern into a pair of overalls.  

I know that the split skit will be a great wardrobe addition for me as long as I get the blending of pant and skirt cut right (add enough ease) but the overalls idea is just play.

When I bought the York Pinafore pattern, I was already thinking of overalls.  I love the cut of the top of the York over both of the other overall patterns I have.  I have debated whether making overalls is sensible for a person of my age.  Not in the are they the right look for a senior woman to wear sort of way.  I really don't give a hoot about that, but  my concerns are much more practical.  Will I get them off fast enough in the bathroom?  Because yes.  That is something I think about.  

I have decided I am going to try.  I know just the fabric to use for them. I had my curtains taken down to clean them and they have never gone up again.  It is one of those things I just don't want to bother Keith with.  He already does so much.  There are awful green blinds on the windows (which I really hate) and that will do.  But I have miles of curtains.  I had the same fabric as bed curtains to help divide up the giant space that is my bedroom and they are sitting in a fabric box too.  There is tons of fabric, all in excellent condition waiting to be used.  It is a heavier weight fabric, 100 % cotton and perfect for bottoms.  

So I am going to go all Scarlett O' Hara and use my curtains.  Yup I am going with the wind and winging it.  

You needed that.  :)