I know that this is going to be another one of those times that a non-knitter reads the blog and shakes their head sadly that I could even be capable of this sort of incomprehensible thought, but I’m just going to let fly with it.
I am just at the most exciting moment with this sweater.
Cabled cardigan (#19) – that’s a Ravelry link, from Vogue Fall 2006, knit out of Cascade Ecological wool.
Some people like the beginning, of a sweater. They like choosing their yarns, checking the pattern, the cool feeling of having the whole thing stretch before them… the sparkly new beginning when a whole project is filled with possibility. It makes them feel full of hope.
Some people like the middle, doing the real work. They are process knitters, and they love the meat and potatoes of churning out the body of the knitting. It makes them feel accomplished and competent to watch it all happen.
Some people, they like having the finished thing. They don’t like the other parts as much, for them the fun body of the work also has worry and indecision. Their knitting is about making something, and the majority of their happiness and fulfillment happens when they have made it.
Me, I like this part, I’ve knit the two fronts, the back, the two sleeves and I’ve picked up all the stitches around the fronts and back for the great big collar. I am almost done, and almost done is my favourite way to be. Right now, I’ve had the pleasure of choosing the possibilities, the satisfaction of watching the work grow, and the fulfillment of having the end in sight…
but I haven’t actually finished, tried it on, and found out what the *&^%$# is wrong with it.
See? Right now, that sweater is perfect. I love this part.
of course it is…until it isn’t!
I’m with you! I hate actually trying it on for the first time – the anticipation of “will it fit” and “how does it suit me” is almost too much.
I love casting on. So rhythmic. So easy. Just a matter of counting by 3s until I know it’s right. Then a quick double-check. No errors yet? Off to a great start!
HaHa! Ain’t that the truth?! Well I got my fingers crossed that you try it on and can’t find a single thing wrong with it!
A perfect sweater at 2 am! That has got to be fantastic. After all the sweat you have put into re-writing the pattern so it actially is what shows in the picture, I should hope the sweater is perfect.
Congradulations, and I hope you had sweet dreams to fortify your psychie for the reality of trying it on.
You nailed it! I couldn’t agree more.
Most excellent!!!
Here’s hoping there is nothing at all wrong (but then if nothing is wrong then what kind of blog post would that lead to…I hate to say it but it’s much more entertaining (to the reader) when you have “issues”.
Oh, see… now that’s exactly the part where I start worrying if I’m going to actually have enough yarn to finish…
Just like Barbara said, you nailed it. I couldn’t agree more either!
I agree – for me it’s because this is the moment when I can see for the first time that it IS a sweater!
Non-knitters read your blog? Really?? 🙂
Thank you so much for taking the time to comment on my blog yesterday–on a non-knitting related post!
I like the planning (a LOT) and I love the knitting (especially if it’s miles and miles of plain knit stitch — I have a lot of unadorned sweaters knit in the round!), but that first try on is the WORST. 🙂
I like having it still full-blown and perfect in my head the best. Next best is getting partway in and realizing that it is going to work, I can do this after all. Worst is procrastinating because I’m not really sure I can pull off the bit I’m about to get to. (I learned to spit-splice last week. I know you have been spit-splicing since you were still in the womb.) The home stretch is pretty good too, when there is (I fondly imagine) nothing left to go wrong, and having a finished and actually usable item is not bad either.
I think this might be controversial but… my favorite part of a sweater is sewing in the sleeves. It’s all flat pieces of knitting at first, and then suddenly it looks like a garment!
I guess that’s also why my favorite part of socks is turning the heel. You do a little fancy needlework and then suddenly it looks like a sock!
Too funny! It’s still the perfect sweater as long as it’s not actually a sweater. We do put a lot of pressure on a thing and even when it fits it’s never quite the same as we imagine it in our minds.
Believe it or not I like sewing the ends. The more ends the better. Also it means it’s finished!
I’m with you too – this is also my favourite part. In my head it is still the perfect project, plus it’s nearly finished, but there is not yet the possibility of disappointment. Perfect!
Perhaps that is why I have a sweater missing a cuff, socks missing toes, and lace missing a bindoff.
Someday I will screw up the courage to try another sweater.
I keep buying the books! Hopefully that is a step in the right direction.
I like the moment when it falls off the needles and I feel a sense of accomplishment. Then, usually, I don’t care if I ever see it again. Not because there is something wrong with it, just because it’s not so wondrous and magical anymore. When it is done it is just a sweater or a hat or whatever. It’s when the balls are still in the air that I feel cool and smart. Strange, eh?
I can relate! So what happens when you step up to the mirror after it’s done and it’s perfect?
At that point you can flap it over your shoulders and pin the sides to see whether or not it’s at least going to go around you (this being the generic you, since I know you, Stephanie, are going to fit inside anything bigger than a Barbie dress). The earlier phase, when you’ve just connected the pieces and are about to knit the yoke, might be a little less fraught with peril.
Still, I understand the excitement. You can look down at it laid out like that and see the pretty design going all the way around. Non-knitters must have something equivalent, or they’d be knitters.
I cannot BELIEVE you are knitting a grey sweater that isn’t the gansey.
oh, I’m with you on this point… I love being almost-done. It’s better than any other sweater moment!
Heh, when I first opened the web page all I could see was the title and a little bit of of the top of the picture, and I thought “OMG! Grey knitwear! She finished the gansey!” 😯
Sadly not, but that sweater is lovely too.
I started knitting in October and haven’t knit a sweater yet. I’m very afraid of sweaters. Though I have knit 3 or 4 pairs of socks! I like knitting those.
Anyway, I just wanted to say that I find you histerical and inspiring and very down to earth and that I just finished reading your entire blog, starting with your very first post up to now. 😀 Keep them coming!
Seeing as how I’m facing going home from work to carefully un-knit 3,840 stitches (6 rounds of 640 stitches) of lace in size 50 cotton thread on size 2mm needles, I’m happy for you
See, that’s why I own, of all the knitting I have ever done, 2 scarves, and 1 hat. Everything else, once it’s done, I give it away. When it’s finished, the fun’s over. Not interested.
Look on the bright side. Maybe the worst that will happen will be that you’ll finish it just in time for the arrival of swelter weather, not sweater weather.
Positive thoughts! Nothing will be wrong! It will be beautiful, it will fit beautiful, and it will become your favoritest sweater in the whole world. Until you knit the next favorite.
See, and here I was thinking that for me the “magic moment” is when I discover that somehow I’ve cast on for the medium and somehow switched to the small chart somewhere around row 8 and now, at around row 312, have made this discovery…..
OHHH its going to be adorable when its finished. I am have just started my first attempt at knitting cloths, a tank top for my 4 year old. I knit so slow that I knew I should start small.
About that flagrantly collarless cat. Under the circumstances, he should cough up his own $$$ for the license. No money? He can do chores… starting with that making the morning coffee bit.
Ain’t that the truth… It’s one of the reasons I like lace shawl/wraps and things like socks/mittens. One size fits all…or at least me.
Yes! The point at where it doesn’t feel like the project is going to stretch out forever, where the sense of accomplishment is already there, where the happy anticipation is at its best. That’s where I am on a shawl project right now, and it’s a great feeling.
Gorgeous sweater you’ve got going there. I’m trying not to hope it comes out just a tad large on you so that you have to find a helpful soul who could help you out with that problem. Heh.
I’m thinking that sweater is a gift. Am I right? Cuz wouldn’t it be kind-of hard to wear a nice grey sweater in front of your very-patiently-waiting-for- his-own-grey-sweater-fellow?
My favorite moment: when my tweaking and re-engineering come together and create something that is the same as, yet different from, the original pattern. I do that a lot. Must be because I like it so much. Never thought of it that way before though. Light bulb moment!
Oooh, that Presbytera just won’t give a girl a break will she? I’ll bet you rue the day you even told us about that gansey. Obviously it’s going to be a tenth-ish anniversary present. You still have plenty of time. No need to rush.
For me the best part is the petting the yarn, going thru the patterns, imagining all the possibilities. The middle is the worst part. It’s far enough along that I grow bored, and I am now entertaining impure thoughts of the next project and beginning to resent what a naggy old biddy the present one is becoming. “Finish me, you fickle quitter!” My knitting is quite impudent.
However, I also love the end, when it is all finished and being blocked and I can go on to something else with a clear and virtuous conscience.
Happy to hear all is well with the dishwasher. I once came home and put a bunch of groceries in the fridge and I guess it was too much for the old girl, because I started smelling a smoky, The Motor Is Dying Smell. But I just opened the window and called it good.
That’s my favorite part too! I just finished knitting the border on an afghan, I think it was the highlight of the whole project.
Didn’t you already figure out what was wrong with the chart?
For me, the main problem at this stage is the discovery (only many rows later) that I picked up the wrong # of stitches for that front band. But, hey, then it’s still almost done, just not AS almost done as I thought.
The calm before the storm.
That’s a good one — the sweater’s perfect until you find out why it isn’t.
Describes my whole day today.
I agree, I tend to want to savor a project right near the end, because I have to put it aside once it’s finished, and casting on a new project isn’t my favorite part(I tend to mess up the first 3 rows of any project, it’s got to be psychological)
Ah, the Schrodinger’s Cat of the knitting world! And another benefit of being almost done? You can blow off laundry and such!
“I’m almost done, honey. Just give me a little longer…”
Heh, heh, heh!
Oh you’re so right! Which is why I’m now casting on for gloves instead of finishing a sweater that’s literally about 2 inches from being done. In chunky yarn.
But the possibilities are pretty much over, so…start another project!
I don’t know whether it is the knitting or the photography but your work always looks like a piece of art. I think I like the casting on stage when everything is new and dreamy and you haven’t had a chance to screw it all up yet.
I TOTALLY agree! In fact, I have a sweater that is “almost done” and has been that way for over a year…I’m afraid to finish. If it sits there in my basket “almost done” it’s beautiful and perfect. If it’s finished, it may never be true!
I’ll bet that having a working dishwasher makes it even better!
I suspect I might well be like you and adore the “just about finished” part the most…if I ever manage to get to that point.
At this stage in my knitting life, I belong firmly in the first group you mention. I love the planning and expectation, before any errors are made. I’m so firmly in this camp, I have yet to start my first sweater, for fear of epic disappointment. It’s bad enough with a hat or scarf…I can only imagine the stress of a sweater!
I’ve come up with a name for this group: we’re *pre-process knitters*…I have a wee quiz on me blog to help those similarly afflicted but perhaps still in denial identify themselves. 🙂
My sweater (Hey Teach) is at the exact same place–except one of my sleeves started to unravel a bit while I was knitting other parts. (I didn’t want to CUT the yarn–what if I had to make the sleeve a bit longer, since I made the sweater a bit longer???) The finished, blocked sleeve goes on tonight, plus a side seam. I hope it still fits after I sew BOTH side seams!
Looks great! My absolute favorite part is when I have finished all the pieces and blocking them to perfection. Stretching out cables & lace and laying everything flat. I LOVE that part 🙂
I love it, and I’m a little surprised because as much of a geek as you are (or claim to be) there is nothing mentioned and or knitted for the new Star Trek movie.
I love that you used the term “exciting part”. I have said this to my partner before, and he looks at me like I have said the most bizare thing and says how can one part be more exciting then another, it’s all knitting. This is where I bite my tough, but in my mind I think. WHAT!!! So I love when I get to the exciting parts too.
Well, I was so in tune to you … until this point … I do love the beginning, with all the aspiration, I do love the middle with all the “I have accomplished so far” and I do love the almost done before the shit hits the fan and the mistakes become evident … But, before all that, I love the thrill of the hunt, the thrill of chasing down a yarn I have always wanted, at a price I thought I’d never get, so I can add it to the stash .. then later I can touch, feel and imagine what this amazing purchase will metamorph into… then again I also love my husband (another completely irrational judgement call!)
x
ps Thank you for blogging … I can now sleep easy without re-reading – mumbling YH excerpts as I try to sleep (whilst super cool of course) can sound a touch geekish!
x
It’s also absolutely gorgeous.
What are you doing blogging at 2am?? Or knitting at 2am? Things tend to go wonky when you’re spaced-out from no sleep. Get some well-deserved rest!
I knew you could conquer the cable conundrum!
I agree. There’s still the excitement of knowing it’s almost done and thinking how great it’s going to be. This project of yours does look great as usual.
Me too!
Heartbreaking, isn’t it? All that work, all the hopes and dreams, only to find out you have two left fronts, or your gauge changed somehow, midstream, or you forgot to add the inch and a half to the right sleeve that you added to the left, and now you look even wonkier than usual, or the stitch you somehow twisted way back there, that you figured nobody would notice, ended up right smack over the left nipple.
Worse, though, is when you did nothing at all wrong, it is the most perfect object you ever knit, out of the softest yarn that came off a sheep (or goat, or alpaca, or yak, etc.), your stitches are a marvel, the finishing is professional, and when you put it on and button it up, you have no neck and look like you are trying to smuggle your entire stash, needles and all, out of the house.
I like bits of most of the processes. I probably like least some of the ‘this isn’t going well’ bits. The bit I like most is the ‘my family is annoying me, but I am managing something constructive with knitting’ times. Like last night when my 14 to daughter is saying “Hello I am here, your daughter is more important than Ravelry…, because she couldn’t find a replacement towel before she had a shower. Grrr.
ROTFLMAO! That is too true. The magic moment when you can see the light and everything is perfect (as far as you know!).
Beautiful! and exciting at all its stages. I hope you will show us a photo when it is all finished (and perfect, of course – I’m an optimist)
Ditto.
My favorite part too! Right before it is done, when it is starting to resemble the final product, and the rugrat I am making it for (or other ones) get excited about it being almost done.
as i used to say when little
is’e all done mommy still feel that way
by the way your old pattern
knit two knit in back of next st
yarn in front purl one knit in back
of next st end knit two
is a much admired pattern when i have
it on the needles thank you
That’s my favorite moment, too! Almost done, and no bad feelings…yet.
Seriously laughed out loud there.
Ah yes. Before I finish it and discover I have to reknit the sleeves. And reknit them again. And again. And again. And again. And…
Me and a number of my knitting buddies agree with you wholeheartedly. Some of us probably don’t know it yet, but that is because we seldom knit sweaters.
not-quite-finished is a great moment. lately I feel called to “add finishing touches” to finished knitting. edgings, embroidery, crochet trim, pockets. Keeps the-moment-to-let-it-go in the future…
I guess I really am a process lover. I love the knitting and seeing the project grow, seeing how much I’ve accomplished in this session. Yup, I really do love that part.
I do love the way you suffer everything I have ever suffered and you actually ADMIT IT. I did a complicated fair-isle once…took me close to a year…and when I finally tried it on, I had gained weight! Argh! (Fits close enough to wear, though.) Two other sweaters did not fare so well; one was too small (fits my sister) & the next version of the same one fit my good (bigger) friend perfectly. She adores it. So it worked out, even if I don’t have that sweater.
I so understand!
Dear Harlot,
You are so thoughtful! I would have said every part, except the end because then I have to leave it and move on. However, you’ve got me thinking, and I have to agree there is a delusional place where it is perfect and does not reveal the secret sad mistakes until it’s too late (or so you think)! Sometimes you are so lucky that you get to frog and return to that delusional place all over again! Usually, I’m closer to that elusive perfection.
You are so right! After the stitches are picked up (the right way, which can take me a few times) all things are possible.
I like the beginning and the excitement of the new yarn . HATE, hate the ending when it’s time to SEW it together . NO ONE EVER mentioned to me about the bloody sewing when I learned how to knit and so it’s few and far between doing a sweater and starting another one. ALL because I HATE sewing with a passion. Can’t wait to see your finished project . Hope all turns out well.
This is why I seem to stop knitting projects with about 5 rows to go!
Oh isn’t that the truth!
I love that shade of Eco Wool! I am drawn to grey lately, but I think that is because we have not seen the sun in a week. 😉
I think the Knitting Muses are in your corner with this sweater. They will deem that all goes well.
We knitters are so cute when we’re all hopeful like that. Ignorance sometimes is bliss; is that what you’re saying?
Haha, I know what you mean. I hope it works out!
How many pullovers and cardies have been thrown away in disgust at the trying on stage? And then later on, maybe weeks later, retried on and found to be lovely? Anticipation can be a curse.
I get about 3/4 done with a project and get antsy with it. I just want it done already!
I have to stop and think now which part of knitting a sweater I like best. For now I’d say I like it best when it’s not finished but enough is knit that you can see its potential. Yours looks great!
For me, I think I am a little of one and two. I like finding the right yarn for something and playing with it while its new and I like actually working on projects. But I am not one to finish them. Its sad. I have a market bag, winter sweater, shawl, and 4 different amigurumi dolls all on the needle…and even more patterns I want to start!
Its nonsense. 🙂
That is a nice moment, I’ve got to agree. I’m a pretty purposeful knitter myself – I made slippers because my feet were cold, am knitting a baby jacket because a co-worker is expecting and she’s from a non-knitter lineage, so the kid’s got to have a hand-knit somehow and have wool and needles ready for wristers because my hands and wrists get cold when I’m typing on the couch at night.
Favourite moment is stepping back and admiring a finished object, wonky bits and all (my sewing sucks and I’m still a beginner), but the second favourite moment is when I sit and look at the bag with needles, pattern, wool and haberdashery sat in it, knowing that it’s going to metamorphose into something interesting and I’m going to have fun (and throw a few tantrums at the hard bits!).
My favourite is “almost done” too.
But about the twitter where your kids didn’t understand feet. Seriously? I live in Toronto too, and everyone knows their height in feet and inches. I admit, I may not be very good at estimating how much 600 feet is, but 6 feet is the size of a tall guy, that should be easy.
Amen.
It’s actually encouraging for me to know that you can make mistakes knitting and admit to them. I think my mistakes are just because of inexperience and being a self-taught knitter, but seeing you, an expert, make sock mistakes or admitting to sweater mistakes lets me know I’m not alone and as much as you try, the knitting Gods have a cruel sense of humor. Thanks for being real.
Re: your tweet about Joe explaining “feet” to the girls: what do they say when someone asks them how tall they are? I’ve noticed you describe your height in feet, not meters; is it a generational thing?
(I have way too much time on my hands that I’d deeply think about these things. Lovely sweater, by the way.)
You know, it really does my heart good to read that your sweaters occasionally do not fit right–despite attention to gauge and constant measuring along the way–I sort of thought I was the only one! Thanks!
I am probably more of a process knitter. A lot of things don’t get finished, because I don’t really enjoy the finishing steps. I always feel like I’m going to ruin it at the last minute. I’m always looking for patterns with a minimum of extra finishing, because they are much more likely to be finished. That said, my FLS is waiting for 1.5 sleeves and a bit of extra collar to use up every last gram of my yarn. The crochet sweater I’m working on that is top-down, in the round and has no sleeves will probably get finished first even though I only started it last week!
Since I seldom knit totally from a pattern, I think the beginning is my favorite. Exercising the imagination to take some string and think about what it can be… I have this hand dyed blue right now, and my little granddaughter has bright blue eyes. I’ve been thinking about a lacey sweater… or maybe a blankey… or a hat and socks! I should have bought more.
Your sweater looks gorgeous! I’m all about the starting. It drives my husband nuts and he doesn’t get it. That’s part of the reason I love coming to your site, you understand the brain of a knitter. Cheers!
Very nice! Yesterday I wondered if we were knitting the same sweater. We’re not, but mine is in the same issue of Vogue. It’s #31 – the asymmetrical cardi. So many great patterns in that issue, and unfortunately that is *the* issue that I didn’t have so I had to borrow from a friend. Good luck with fit.
LOL! I TOTALLY agree with you on this one… Almost done is the best, the sweater is still perfect!
What a pretty sweater – hope all goes well with the finishing – there’s many a slip etcetera, so good luck!
The finishing part is what I dislike most… by then I’m so done with the project, yet there are all these fiddly things that need to be done, seaming, weaving in ends, and of course the anxiety of what it will actually be in the end… a sweater? a cozy for the car? something for my barbie doll?
Stephanie, It’ll be lovely! The Moment of Unification is *one* of my favorite parts. I quite agree. But I’m also about _process_ so if the pattern is interesting along the way, I’m quite content. But none of this k, k, k, k all the way home. Give me interesting stitches or I die!
From the Sock-Shaped State, ==Marjorie
I was in that lovely zone of possibilities on Wednesday.
Then I finished and tried it on Thursday. That zone was not so good.
so is this the part where you hide it for 5 yrs??!! 🙂
Oh, do I ever hear ya, babe! (and Seanna Lee @ 8:59 a.m.)
Cheers, Barbie O.
Some projects need a time out before I can finish them. The verigated tank I’m working on now will have a big time out. It’s pooling in an incredibly annoying way (one blue boob; one yellow boob). I’m using three different balls of yarn to keep it as varied as possible. It behaves for about two inches and then starts pissing me off again. I will finish it because I refuse to be outsmarted by an innanimate object, but by that time I may hate it too much to care if it fits.
It’s going to be great. It’s going to look fabulous and fit very well. It’s going to be the best sweater ever.
Of course, usually I say this at the beginning, which happens to be my favorite part! 🙂
I dread “the moment of truth.” I think I prefer WIPs. They hold the most promise.
Oh, I am RIGHT there with you. The almost done is the best part!
I love that almost done place, too. I think I’m there on three or four projects.
Hope it’s still perfect an hour from now. (and a day from now and a week too)
I just read your tweet about the fire extinguisher – 6ft is about one husband length (more or less). Just thought you might want to know.
Oh, how I can relate!
Hopefully, you won’t be able to find anything wrong with your sweater.
I am in the middle of my first sweater and know I don’t like being here. I started it when I only know how to do basic knitting. Now I am bored with it as I have learned some much more exciting things. I do have to finish as the yarn was very expense and I do love it. It better fit! The anticipation of the beginning was great. Can’t wait for the almost finished. I think it will be great too.
I LOVE these posts that draw everyone out and into the subject. Wonderful perspectives and sharings on the whole gamut of The Knit. Everyone rocks here. Thanks so much for all of it…..
So. If there are six stages I am seeing here…
(idea.
planning.
beginning.
middle.
almost-finished.
finished)
… my favorites are idea, planning, AND almost-finished. Yes.
But finishing is a rush, too.
THIS I why read your blog. I get WHAT you are doing/knitting!
Oh my goodness. Me, too. This makes PERFECT sense. Of course, for me, often this is the moment when I stop to gaze adoringly at my not-quite-finished-yet-still-perfect item of wooly goodness and realize that I’ve made some kind of horrid mistake along the way . . . I still love it.
you have perfectly put into words my journey with knitting… the almost finished time… my fave…. the slight disappointment when it is over.. not because it is not lovely or doesnt fit.. just the sweet sadness of it all being over.. bless your sweet little heart. I dont’ have the courage to count my works in progress.
That is a most gorgeous sweater! Wow!
I have a love/hate relationship with all the parts of the creative process.
Actually, I have a love/hate relationship with all the stages of my daughter’s development, but mothering is a creative process, right?
I’m at exactly the same stage with a cardigan. I’ve had to frog it three times and now I’m doing the sleeves. Is it going to fit? Not exactly sure but if it doesn’t there is already someone in line who wants it…ciao
what I want to know is, does the Yarn Harlot partake of the annual Webs sale with the same enthusiasm as the rest of us?
Licence, tag etc. only for Torontian “coffeemaking” cats I presume?
I do not mean this to be blatant sucking up but my favorite knitting moment recently was in your new STR sock design, decreasing after making the heel, the decreases stopped at exactly the end of a pattern repeat. And that made me really happy. I don’t know if you planned it that way, or it is the happenstance of multiples of 6 (I’m bad at math), but I agree the world is really rosy when everything seems to fit together perfectly, before you try it on.
That is my favorite part to. I have felt it but once. In fact, I must confess I have never completed an adult-sized sweater before.
Hahaha – that is so true. It looks absolutely perfect – so I hope it is. Can’t wait to see it when it’s finished. Thinking happy thoughts.
Come to think of it, “almost done” could be my favorite part.
My favorite part of knitting anything is that that moment, after you’ve cast on and knit the pattern for a while, that you look at what you are knitting and it it looks like something deliberate. Before I’ve had a chance to make a mistake and be frustrated with it, but after the cast on – floppy, what the hell is it part
That said, ‘almost done’ is good too – its like being next in line.
Happy Mother’s Day
I am on my first sweater and I would have to say I don’t like being in the frog pond.
Oddly enough, this is the stage at which I start casting on other projects like a madwoman… I just don’t want this stage to end:-)
I love that moment right before I cast on, where I’ve figured out the holy grail of sweater patterns and I’ve planned out what I want it to look like, and I’m just excited about every part of it.
Yours looks like it’s going to be wonderful.
that looks remarkably like a circular needle…
ps I just bought a new car – Jetta diesel like yours, well not exactely, as mine is blue and a wagon, but I love it.
I have to laugh — I’m at exactly this stage of sweater-knitting right now, and you’re right! All the endless possibilities of a perfect sweater are still in sight, with no cruel reality to ruin them 🙂
That part is especially satisfying if, and ONLY if, you are absolutely sure that you will have enough yarn (but not too much).
I am always at the nearing finishing stage – finishing is a dreadful feeling. Not that I dislike having FOs but the idea of it being completely over.
But to make sure that I don’t have ill-fitted projects, I tend to try them on midway whenever possible. I just blogged about one such project.
Congratulations! The Yarn Harlot has won a blogging award at http://www.laurarsilverman.blogspot.com .
Thank you for always brightening my day!
Love this! (Well, always love your blog!) It is exactly the way I feel about the bassoon reeds I make, when they have been through nearly all the stages of construction but not finished or played yet… lined up on a drying rack, all pretty and full of potential, and not yet making me want to pull all my hair out… =)
You had me worried for a second there…I thought you were going to say that finishing itself is your favourite part, and I was going to have to stop reading your blog. Phew!
That sweater looks great!
(Sorry for the triple message…my toddler got his fingers in there at just the right time!)
(cringes)Oh dear…while that’s a lovely sweater, I spent years in Alabama whilst going to college and I currently live in Georgia and I can rather definatively tell you, it ain’t sweater-weather here unless you’ve knitted something very, very airy out of cotton.
Which is a pity, because that’s honestly a marvelous sweater.