Finally FO!

I set out to make a sweater for Billy’s nephew, Jacob, in time for his birthday this summer. I would have made that deadline, if I hadn’t decided to frog a perfectly acceptable neck because I didn’t like the way I’d picked up the stitches. You may recall that the slippery Cotton Classic revolted at that point and laddered all the way down to the point of no return. I had to then frog the front of it back to the midway point. I shoved it into its project bag and pushed it to the bottom of the WIP basket for a while, unable to even look at the beast.

So then I thought I’d finish it in time for Christmas, but Christmas came and went and I just couldn’t bring myself to work on the thing. Silly, because it really only needed two or three days’ of work. Finally, finally, I picked it up again a few weeks ago (then promptly put it down again after one night of working on it). With the Golden Globes as distraction, though, I finally finished the knitting Sunday night. Last night and this morning I seamed it and did the weaving in of all the straggly bits. (Have I mentioned that I hate seaming? One of the reasons I knit in the round whenever possible.) And now, here it is. I don’t love it, but it’s decent work and I do love that it’s finished. Hopefully Billy’s brother and sister-in-law will like it. At two and a half, I suspect Jacob won’t really care much one way or the other.

It’s a Debbie Bliss pattern (with the usual DB sizing weirdness and screwed up instructions). I changed the neckline because they live in Austin and so a turtleneck would probably be too warm most of the time, even using cotton. That, and I just wanted a faster neck that would be done sooner. Ok. I admit it. Mostly I just wanted to finish the damn thing, but the thermal reason sounds convincing, right?

So we’ll pack it up and ship it out tomorrow. One of these days I’ll also finish my mother’s stalled sweater. I swear, Mom. I really really will. In the meantime, I’ve added another project to my list, in spite of the fact that my knitting time will be really limited this semester. There was no way to resist, once I saw the pattern. I’ve joined the Rogue knit along, and ordered my yarn (using Cascade 220 in Celtic Green) from the fabulous, beloved boys today. I haven’t done much at all by the way of cables yet, so this should be interesting.