a bit of knitting critique

Just when I finished the Pullover Flair a few weeks ago, it suddenly turned rather balmy here. With the premature onset of eighty-degree weather, I began to worry that I wouldn't get to wear the thing until next winter. But then this strawberry-freezing cold snap set in, and major bummer on the strawberries, but hey! I'm wearing the sweater!



It has a few problems. Quite a few, actually. I won't go into them all here. This won't be my most stylish sweater, but it's warm and comfortable and will be a good companion on many winter evenings to come (you know... in the future). If I were going to knit this pattern all over again, I'd definitely still knit it in the round, bottom-up, but I'd be extra-careful about the decreases that make the raglan sleeve line. In struggling to maintain the ribbing, I got ugly raglan lines. They aren't quite ugly enough that I'm willing to rip out the whole yoke and re-knit it, but they're not pretty.

The other thing is the fiber. If I had it to do over, I think I'd use a lighter-weight fiber as recommended in the pattern, perhaps a cotton/silk blend. The drape of this design would work a lot better in a less-springy fiber. This merino/cashmere/silk blend is too bouncy and makes the flairs stick out in a rather too-perky way. I have a feeling that would be true for any wool or wool blend.

But all told, I'm keeping it. This is the first grown-up long-sleeved sweater I've ever made, and I'm going to use it as a cautionary reminder to myself in the future. Speaking of which...

The Green Gable is coming along... slowly. Very slowly. Other than its pretty little lacy neckline, this thing is just a marathon of stockinette stitch. The K's never end! I'm a bit bored with it. Okay, a lot bored.



How many more rows???

Actually, not that many more. I am ever-so-slowly approaching the bottom edge, and the knowledge of what a very comfortable, cute and work-appropriate garment this will be is the only thing keeping me from dropping this thing in favor of the umpty-three other projects I've got doodled in my notebook right now. Sneak preview: octopus. I can't say any more.

I've also got some half-finished cat beds clogging up my knitting basket, and a pair of socks that's been 2/3 done for quite some time. Plus all this great yarn in my stash squeaking at me: knit me! knit me! But I'll resist and get this Gable finished up. The eighty-degree weather will be back before you know it.