Deferred Gratification

This one's mine.

John was with me when I purchased the yarn, and he questioned the wisdom of combining the rose and the mouse brown, but I told him it would be fantastic - just wait and see.  (I am good at combining colors.  I am terrible at arranging furniture; everyone has these mental differences.)  I got the yoke done pretty quickly, but then the holidays were upon us.  Steven got home and admired the shaped Entrelac sweaters (he usually doesn't say much about my knitting).

So - my project waited while I knitted Steven's sweater, wanting it done before he went back to college and usable in this winter's cool weather.

When I finished Steve's, he remarked on the neck rubbing in front.  He didn't really mind, but it would be better if it didn't ride high in front.  Oftentimes, round yoke sweaters are the same back and front, but I knew that was not really the best way to do it.  I didn't want a loose, gappy neck, either, on such a warm sweater.  I thought, as I hurried around working and doing Christmas tasks, that I ought to rechart the sweater with the whole yoke moved so the front neck is lower than the back. 

So - it waited while I recharted the sweater and all the sizes, modifying front, back, and both sleeves to accommodate the change.

Next, it waited while we celebrated Christmas.

I rehung the yoke and knitted sections downward, getting some of the knitting done on holiday days off, and realized I didn't have enough yarn to finish the brown sections.

It waited until I could get to the store for more yarn.  I lucked out - you cannot tell where the wrong dye lot yarn is.  Don't try this, darlings!  Every other time I've made this mistake, I've been sorely disappointed in the finished project.  In fact, I often study balls of so-called "no dye lot" yarn to make sure I'm getting the same dye lot.  The yarn shop helpers might suggest you buy one extra ball, but I like to buy two extras!  I often return the unused yarn, but that doesn't save any money, because I usually purchase more yarn on the return trip.

Then, it waited while we set up the knitting room (ah, I'm still on a high about that, what a glorious luxury to have my own knitting space!).

This morning, I finished sewing it up.  I couldn't resist snapping a picture, even before I do some light steaming on the transition area. 

And it's mine!

The color scheme is terrific - in fact, Francesca, who works for us on Thursdays, told "Mr. John" that she loves the sweater, especially "los colores!"  I think Francesca has wonderful taste, so I was flattered; and even though it still had horrible contrasting waste yarn all around the yoke, it caught her eye and she admired the color combination.

Note that, to avoid my pulling it on backwards, I sewed a few chain stitches inside the back of the neck with the rose yarn. 

I told Barbara that I'll demonstrate shaped Entrelac at the Knit Natters meeting on the 14th.  I'm going to work up some sort of simplified pattern and knit some samples partway, plus show my friends all my samples.  This will be a dress rehearsal for one demo I plan to do at Knit Knack shop in the spring.  I wonder if I can squish the demo down enough to make a YouTube.