Mamash Progress

Yesterday was a VERY productive knitting day! I decided to finally finish my aunt Hayley's skirt. It had been weighing heavy on my knitting conscience. It just . . .wasn't going anywhere. I started it in September-- over two months ago!!! I got over the bulk of the work and then I just lost all motivation. But yesterday I knew if I didn't complete it I never would. So I went to work, finished the flare, worked the star stitch hem, bound off, and blocked. And it is DONE.

Thank goodness.

With that out of the way, I felt free to start working on more recent and exciting projects. So I went intently to work on my cowl neck. I got a HUGE chunk of it done. On Friday night I had split the top to work the back and front separately and worked the first few rows of the front. Saturday I finished the front, including the sleeves and neck edges. That required 35 rows back and forth after casting on 8 stitches at each end, for the sleeves, and then splitting the front for the two sides and decreasing at the neck edge. I worked the left front to a 7" armhole and the right front to 8". This morning I started the back. My only concern is that because I cast on less stitches than the pattern called for, I have less stitches left over in the middle of the front. There are supposed to be 29. I have 8. But I looked through the rest of the pattern and the only thing I see for the front is that I need to pick up stitches for the cowl, presumably including the leftover middle stitches, so I don't think it'll be a problem. The back doesn't get split-- you just work back and forth until the armholes measure 6", so that's a chunk of knitting. I am at 3" now. Just a few more inches and then I'll be finished with the body and ready to move on to the button band and collar. PROGRESS!!!

It looks much better too. I tried it on when I reached the split and it fits well! I wonder if I'll ever wear it. That's the problem with knitting, at least for me. I work so hard knitting sweaters and I never wear them. Maybe this will be different. I like the fingering-weight. It takes much longer for sure. But the fabric is much thinner and less bulky... we shall see. I always say, "I'll actually wear this!" ... yeah. Well, one thing I must knit and will wear is a new hat. It's getting freaking cold around here. I need a hat to keep my ears warm between my house and car and between the car and the mall. I'm thinking a newer, more evolved version of the entrelac hat. Hmmmm.