finishing what I started...three years later

For the first time in my knitting life, I made a completely wearable sweater. This is the hourglass sweater, which I started a few years ago. I'm slow. But that's okay. Knitting is my slow craft. I've learned that I make the most progress on projects like this when I'm on a road trip. So our last trip back to Michigan and the resulting 30 hours in the car helped a great deal in bringing this one to completion.

When I finished, I was initially a little disappointed because it's a bit shorter than I felt comfortable with. Because you start at the bottom and work your way up, there is no way to go back and fix that. I tried stretching it out a bit in the blocking, and it helped a little. This is made with a tweedy wool and silk blend, so I couldn't steam block it.

A woman at a knitting store told me the drycleaner could stretch it out a bit, and so I tried that but the woman at the drycleaner refused. She didn't want to be held responsible for ruining a handknit. I had it dry cleaned anyway because I the very first time I wore it, I dragged both bell-shaped sleeves through something in the kitchen. These sleeves are going to be tricky for me, as a have a long established habit of dragging my sleeves through my dinner plate. "Sara, watch your sleeves!" was a common refrain at our dinner table growing up. It's true. Since then when I've worn it while cooking or eating something messy, I fold up the sleeves.

In the end, I think it's a sweater that looks nice layered over a wide necked t-shirt. So I think it'll do quite nicely. Just in time for cool summer nights.

Yarn and pattern details available on Ravelry (username: blueturtle).