Chamonix est fini

I am done...ends woven in and all.
The time?
Saturday, February 25, 2006 at 8:34 pm EST.

Will post pictures tomorrow when the lighting here Chez Finley is better.

I must say, I am a perfectionista, and even I cannot find many faults with this sweater. Especially if you ignore the glaring to me mistake design element on the front of the sweater at boobage level where there is an "abbreviated cable pattern". This is the nice way of saying I completely messed up and couldn't count to 10, I only made it to 8 apparently! What can I say? It was late, there was ice dancing on the TV (I think Tanith Belbin is just the cutest little thing!), and there may have been a serious lack of sleep going on. I actually toyed with the idea of ripping back to it...but the neck was already shaped and bound off when it was discovered. I take solace in the fact that no one will no but me. Although I am such a perfectionist, I will probably point it out to everyone, just so they realize I am not that great a knitter after all. It is right at breast level, perhaps the small distortion there will make it less noticeable??

What did I learn during this, my very first adult-sized sweater?

1. I will definitely knit up this pattern again ("Cables in Chamonix" from The Yarn Girls Guide to Beyond the Basics).
2. I think my days of scarves might be coming to an end. I may be ready to tackle more complex projects...this definitely built some confidence in my knitting and pattern reading skills.
3. I can find time to knit if it is a priority to me.
4. My family can often wait for things if I am busy. The phrase, "Just let Mommy knit one more row" is now commonplace amongst us. As is the fact that Mommy will, in fact, try to squeeze in two or three rows instead of the promised one if you are not vigilant in bothering her again in a few moments. But, I seem to have them well-trained in the past 15 days...BB#1 actually said to me tonight, "Mom, can you come look at something, as soon as you finish the row you are on?" OMG! How awesome is that?!
5. The world will not end if we have take-out three nights in a row so that I can have free time to knit.
6. My couch is not comfortable for sitting six and seven hours at a stretch.
7. Washing dishes can actually be therapeutic when you have aching, cramping hands from knitting for hours on end.
8. Extra-Strength Tylenol will relieve that horrible aching from my tendon in my left forearm.
9. Wet blocking acrylic really doesn't help much and can be skipped in the future.
10. Taking the time to finish the sweater properly from the right-sides, produces a much more professional result that the inside-out backstitching method I have used previously and is worth the extra time and swearing.

So, what is next? My first pair of socks! I think I am ready!

Pictures tomorrow morning ...I promise!