FO: Buggy

Buggy--otherwise known as Hey, Teach--is officially done!

The Details:

Pattern: Hey, Teach! by Helene Rush.

Size: Um. Small, I think.

Yarn: Rowan Summer Tweed. No sir, I don't like it! This yarn was a pain to knit--literally. A heavy worsted raw silk and cotton blend with no give or flexibility at all; my wrists and elbows may never recover. It does make for a nice finished fabric, but not nice enough to go through that again!

Needles: size 7 KP Options.

Mods: I made the body two inches longer and did elbow-length sleeves. I also added buttons (6 instead of 4). I added extra ribbing to the neckline to bring it up a little higher and keep it from sagging. Oh, and I did twisted ribbing instead of regular 1x1 ribbing because I prefer it. Otherwise I followed the pattern on this one. It's a nice pattern if you don't mind seaming. Personally, I think I'm going to stick to seamless garments for a while!

Seamingly Endless

You know that point in knitting a project when you're just ready to be done? Sometimes you get lucky, and it doesn't hit until you're almost done. I recently participated in a lace KAL where I hit that point during the cast on row. The yarn and beads are still stored neatly in a bag in my knitting room, probably never to be seen again. Rarely, you might finish a project and still want more. With Buggy, I reached terminal disinterest about halfway through the back, with two fronts and two sleeves to go. Lately I've been having that problem a lot, which is why my collection of UFOs is growing at a distressing rate. I was determined not to let Buggy go the way of so many others, so I've been soldiering on, despite my loss of interest in the project and my active dislike of the yarn (Rowan Summer Tweed--I tried to like it, I really did, but I just hate knitting with it).

Last night I finished the knitting and put it aside with relief. Today I realized I really, really want to cast on another sweater, but because I know myself well, I made it a condition of casting on that I first finish Buggy. Please, someone remind me the next time I choose a project that's worked in pieces just exactly how much I dislike sewing seams. I have been seaming Buggy for two solid hours now, and I'm not done. In fact, I still have both the side seams AND the underarm seams left to do. The two hours only got me through the shoulder seams and setting in the sleeves. (Could someone please remind me how much I hate setting in sleeves, too?)

Once the seaming is done, I still have to pick up and knit the button bands and the collar edging, but at least that's knitting and not seaming, right?

One more thing...could someone please remind me that I love knitting?