January/February update:
I started on this sweater using Kauni effektgarn, which I bought in December at my local yarn shop. This yarn changes color from tan to beige to cream to off-white to grey and back to tan, with very long color repeats. I started with two balls of the same colorway, but started at different points in the gradual color change. This is the effect it gives. I have now bound off the shoulders and am cutting the steeks for a v-neck and armholes. This yarn is very "sticky" so I'm probably not going to sew the armhole steeks. I am picking up around the neck opening to do a corrugated border around the rib v-neck. I'll try to post some more pictures as I make more progress.
The bits of maroon yarn are the scrap yarn that I put the bound-off stitches onto at the base of the armhole (13) and v-neck. The pattern said to bind off 4 for the v-neck and when picking them up do a K2tog and ssk with those 4 stitches. But the design has a center stitch, so I thought it would be one stitch off if I did that. I think maybe I should have done 5 or 1, but I did 3. So in picking those up, I tried to fix it so the center stitch is on top and I did a dec 2 putting the other two behind it. If it looks odd, I'll take it out and try something else. I often have to redo the necklines of my sweaters (see many previous posts). So that's where I am with my knitting now.
Adding one more picture after finishing the neck opening and cutting open the armholes. It looks so much better this way.
In January I helped host a retreat for listeners of Susan Dolph's Knit a journey podcast. Three knitters from the Twin Cities area and one from Tennessee came for the weekend. Most of them stayed at a lovely Victorian B&B about 1 mile from here. I had them over here for supper Saturday and Sunday evenings. We went for a hike in Hartley Park on a very cold, but sunny day. We visited two local yarn shops, we played games and sat and knitted and chatted. It was a lovely weekend.
Here are a few photos from that weekend:
Atop Rock Knob in Hartley Park on a day when it was 5°F. Betsy, Allison, Laurie, Susan.
A dessert that looks like it has raw wool on top, but it was spun sugar.
Sitting up in the third floor sitting area of the inn. Me, Betsy, Lisa, Susan, Allison.
