Knittin' Fool

Did somebody loose their knittin' mojo? Cause man, have I been a knitting fool lately, and that's not always how it goes with me.

Exhibit A: I successfully altered a pattern BEYOND BELIEF (Tree Jacket), and had a successful finished product. Really successful. I've worn my finished Tree several times, most recently last night, when the air was 30 degrees colder than it was on Thanksgiving day. Brrr. Definitely needed the warmth of some hand-knits yesterday! (see the previous post for a picture - I'm not posting that one again! No one needs to see the girls up close and personal THAT many times!)

Exhibit B: I found and finished two sweaters I'd nearly finished last year but didn't like the neckline for.

The first is my Greek Pullover, from Interweave Knits.

I loved this sweater, but the finished neckline was made for a size 3x, not a size M/L. It flopped OFF my shoulders all day the one day I wore it.

So, I ripped out the previous finish - a crocheted neck (not too easy with mohair, lemme tell ya!), skipping about every other stitch to bring it in a bit. Then, I did a K3, K2Tog trick, and now, it's simply a sweetheart neckline.

Since I used needles a bit larger than the ones I knit the body with (apparently), it's actually a bit more sheer than the main part of the sweater, and I really like it! It does seem a bit short now - the closer neckline brought the front up some, but I think that just means I need to go back and put the layer of netting/tulle on the sleeves and hem of the sweater like the original pattern called for. In order to make sure that doesn't take another year, I'm checking out JoAnn's online now, for prospects!!

The second sweater I'm really excited about. It's my Tempting II, which now that I "fixed" that neckline, looks much more like an original Tempting. I have no idea how the neckline was EVER going to work the way the pattern was written. It just plain WASN'T - not on me, anyway, and I've got pretty broad shoulders.

Last year when I was originally working on this sweater, I realized the neckline was way, way too big. It actually turned the top of the sweater and sleeves downward! My kind auntie ripped it out for me. It was too painful for me to do myself, because the wrong neckline (picked up and knit sideways around the entire top of the sweater and sleeves) took FOREVER to knit!!! But this time, I just picked up the stitches, did a K3, K2Tog all the way around, knit 3-4 rows, then cast off. It was just enough to do what I wanted, and now it fits fine, and I'm dying to wear it over a white collared blouse out for a special occasion! I've even got the destination in mind! Here's a preview.

And yes, I do realize I need to find a shirt with full length sleeves, not 3/4 length! And forgive the wrinkled PJ's bottoms, but they're comfy and it's a holiday!

In-between all this fixing, I've also been working like a crazy woman knitting on The Boy's Christmas present and my Juliet. I see myself finishing these soon as well, and THEN what will I do?

I don't know who's mojo I've got, but I ain't givin' it back!!!

:O)