Progress & Knitting Surgery

So my yarn came in Friday. I hit the door from work at 5:00 on the dot Friday to try to make it to the Woolie Ewe by 6pm - apparently lots of folks had Friday afternoon off because I skated down the tollway with no problems & made it in 20 minutes flat. I even had time to scope out buttons there - which naturally I don't own enough of- can you believe I don't have 7 of any kind of button that will work for this sweater?!?! That is SO another story.

So here is the long awaited yarn:


I was all excited because we had no real plans for the long holiday weekend which gave me all Friday night plus three full days to get a chunk of this sweater knocked out. It has not been without issues. I knit the ribbing plus about 5 inches on the back (9 inches total) & then measured the back - it was about 30 1/2 inches wide. Uh, I know I've put on some weight, but dude, it doesn't need to be that big. My swatch was a big fat liar! So I took a deep breath & pulled the whole dang thing out.

Sunday morning I started all over again. I liked my gauge so I just adjusted the number of stitches in the reverse stockinette sections & moved right along. Early in the afternoon I noticed the worst thing I could imagine - I missed a cable twist! I thought of just moving along & pretending it didn't happen, but I just couldn't, it was more than obvious. Can you see it?



Of course not - the yarn is too dark. Trust me when I tell you, it was there. It wasn't ALL that far back, really only about 10 rows, but that included 2 cable twist that I'd have to wing. I had 2 choices - rip back those 10 rows or drop down those 4 stitches for 4 rows & hope for the best. Option #2 it is! I figured if I couldn't fix it I would have to rip it out anyway, so might as well try, right? This was the ugly scene:




So after about 20 minutes & hands shaking like crazy, I had dropped the stitches down & worked them back up with the help of a crochet hook, 2 DPNs, and a cable needle. Thank you Knitting Fairy for the excellent instruction - I mean, I've only taken her Don't Despair, Repair class twice.

Now I am back on track & have knit about 4 inches past the armhole shaping. I have some time off & am hoping that I can knock out some more in the next few days as I figure my knitting time while in Louisiana visiting my family will be limited.

This is one thing that I knit while waiting for my yarn to arrive - my very first stranded project. I LOVED it & it matches my winter coat perfectly. The pattern is Opus Spicatum and I knit it up in Knitpicks Swish Worsted. Adorable. I still wish I looked better in hats, but hey, it's functional.


So that's the news - I will update you when I have something more exciting to say than "I'm still working on this sweater"!