I've made it to the lace chart on the back. I am such a slow knitter. I see all of these other bloggers who finish things within a couple of weeks, and I know the same project would take me months! I don't know... I don't have the best concentration skills, and I am very easily distracted, so that is probably part of it. My wrist problems probably don't help, either. But, after about 2 weeks of a lot of knitting, I still really haven't made a lot of progress. And I'll be much slower when I get back to school. Classes start a week from Wed, and I will no longer have much time to knit.
Anyway, so I THINK, thanks to a fellow knitblogger, I've fixed my problem with the Spencer... for now. That doesn't go to say I won't have the same problems elsewhere in the pattern. I learned I needed to wait until I have the full number of stitches needed for the chart before I attempt it, and just knit stockinette until I do have enough stitches. But I've been taking short breaks from the small needles I use on Gatsby Girl, and working a few rows of the Spencer pattern now and again. I've gotten a few inches of the left sleeve done. It is going to look marvelous in my yarn, if I dare say so myself. I just hate that this color, I'm sure, will not appear at its best when I take pics for the blog. I'm already thinking about buttons for it. I believe buttons can make or break a project... it really is all about the details, and those are such an important, obvious one. I always thought the lovely pewter and pearl buttons I used for my corset top and partially for my Candy would look particularly beautiful on this design, but I don't know about using the same button so many times.
Oh yes, I forgot to mention that the Cascade 220 superwash just didn't work out for GG. I got CLOSE to gauge, but not near enough... so I went back to the yarn store, and one of the ladies recommended Rowan's Felted Tweed. I chose a teal color (online, I found it to be named "Watery"), and I was able to get gauge with it. Teal is one of those colors I never knew for sure that I could wear, but at the yarn store, they said "With your complexion, how can you NOT wear it?," which made me decide that maybe it would look nice. I have a very hard time decided which colors are good on me, since I have very fair skin (and I think cool-tone, rosy, but of that I definitely cannot be certain), very dark brown eyes, and a natural hair color that is hard to distinguish between light brown, dark blonde, and strawberry blonde, depending on the lighting. So normally, I've just worn colors I like, but lately I've been trying to wear colors that look good as well. At first I worried that the yarn would be too busy for the pattern, but when knitted up, it is actually quite subtle. I love working with this yarn so much, although the alpaca does shed, the yarn just feels so nice in your hands. It's my first time working with an alpaca blend, and I believe I can say I'll be trying more of them in the future. This sweater is going to be fabulous! Also, thinking of buttons for this one (the shoulder has a few small buttons on it), I don't know if pearls are going to be the best look for this sweater; a shame, because I do dearly love pearls, and that little detail was one of the main points that attracted me to this sweater to begin with. There is enough white that it could possibly work, but I really think pewter or even faux-wood buttons may be a better choice. We'll see when I get far enough into the sweater to really decide.
Oh yes, and how could I forget to mention that the kind ladies at the knit shop also told me I should knit myself another corset top, since it looked so great on me. Glad to hear it, since I have decided I'd love one in another color, and maybe with long sleeves. But what color? Maybe black... although that might mask the beautiful, intricate details that make this top so wonderful. The corset top has, I believe, been the most complimented thing I've knit to date. The fish bag is close, or maybe equal, and RR has received its share as well. I can't believe I forgot to post that awhile back, a local artist saw me wearing my corset top, and loved it so well that she asked me to pose for a drawing in it. I don't know whether she will actually get around to painting it or not, but still, that was pretty neat.
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