Musings......

There are times when I wish that I either 1)didn't sleep at all (I already sleep shortened hours-much less than anyone I know); or 2) had 6 arms so I could knit multiple projects at the same time; or 3) had a magic wand so that the boring parts could go ever so quickly and I could concentrate on the fancy shaping/design parts. I am almost finished my Filatura di Crosa 127 Print sweater. I LOVE this yarn. It is soft, lovely to knit up and has surprising colour changes to keep things interesting, but long runs of solid colour to keep things flattering on this body. This yarn needs to be knit in solid stockingnette stitch, or else the patternwork would get lost.

Please excuse the poor quality of this photo-but it is to try to give you an idea of the beauty of this yarn. I used the same yarn (in the wine colourway) for the sweater in Big Girl Knits-this is from the book.

I am very proud of this sweater-it isn't showy, but it has some very flattering elements in it for larger ladies-and it also demonstrates a way to use self-striping yarns in a different way. The centre panel is knit in cables, in the traditional bottom up. Then side panels are picked up and knit towards the back (back panel is plain, with ribbing at the waist to cinch it in a bit, although one could simply knit another cabled panel). There are gussets in the armpits to give extra "give" in the bust area. There are also instructions to add short rows to the hip area, should one need extra space there. And a funnel neck is so much more tailored than a cowl. (one needs tailored with so much else going on!) I have 20 balls of this yarn in black, and I was playing around with a short row design (thinks lots of triangles that fit together). I really am not sure what it wants to be yet. But the red (above)? That is going to be my "long, roomy, wear with leggings on a Saturday or on a dress down chilly day" kind of sweater. I considered purling all of the coloured bits to make them stand out, but I didn't. (although I think it would have looked very neat). But an extra set of arms or a magic wand would be great to zip through the finishing, or the plain bits, or the blocking. I am also working on the Goddess Knits Mystery Anniversary Shawl KAL- great fun.

Now to go and grow that extra set of arms.....maybe I need to go hang out at a nuclear waste site..........