Tonight the boy went to go play with motorcycles with a chum and so I spent my evening diligently knitting away at the right front and then back of my Fern tank. I am quite pleased to announce that the shoulders have been seamed. Now all I have to do is pick up around the neck and make it pretty and then pick up around the hem and make it prettier. Then of course there will be the requisite washing and blocking. Here’s a shot of it right after the seaming.

Fern Fitted Tank with shoulders seamed

I think the yarn and needles hanging out the back add a certain “Je ne sais quoi” don’t ya think? This means that I have now knit 3/4s of the yarn I purchased last year at MDSW. Which means I get to buy stuff this year without remorse! Of course I do have about 1700 yds of some lovely orange laceweight I bought last year. Any bets on whether I can get that knit up by next Friday without losing my job or using up vacation/sick leave?

My trip up to the lake this weekend resulted in a large chunk of knitting being accomplished. I knit like a woman possessed all last night and for the majority of today. My fern shell is complete up to the bust line and I have done the left front. I began the right front when we returned home from the lake tonight around 8pm. As I am all tuckered out for the night though, I am choosing bed instead of more knitting. Perhaps there will be an FO parade this week. But for now I am going to go to bed and enjoy the thunderstorms that are rolling in. G’night!

So I took Vivian to knit night tonight and modeled her. Everyone liked it and said it was pretty; even some other people who aren’t part of our group. So they must have all meant it and weren’t just being kind. The general consensus was that while hoods are great this sweater doesn’t need one and looks great without one. I cast this on at our knit night group’s get together on New Year’s Day. I know it spent over a month in quarantine but to say I am ready for it to be complete is a bit of an understatement. I want to be able to wear it! Soooo I did an i-cord bind off around the collar when I got home from knit night tonight. Now I just have to seam the underarms, weave in ends and sew in the zipper. Hooray! As long as it isn’t sweltering during the day I should be able to wear this at MDSW. I am super excited.

Oh and the pattern that was giving me fits last night? I have decided it is high time I learned how to knit with the pattern as a guide and just knit it to fit my body. It appears I am at least relatively close to the final measurements listed in the pattern so I will just go on my merry way.

The status on Vivian is that I have decided to install the zipper and put it on and then decide about the hood. Alas, I had to work late tonight and then my yummy meal wasn’t ready until about 730pm so there was no going to the store. Maybe Friday or Saturday I will make it to the fabric shop to find zippers, ribbon and baby flannel. Then I will be up to my ears in finishing.

So, in lieu of those events I cast on for a new project tonight. It’s the Fern Fitted Shell I linked to recently. I decided it was the best fit for the yarn since I had more than enough yarn to make it, in fact I have 100 yds extra. Or so I thought until I started swatching tonight. I *guess* it calls for Aran yarn and I *guess* my yarn is Worsted. Mistake #1 but quite typical for me. Then I did the stockinette swatch on US 7s and 8s but came up with the same gauge. Shocking really. So then I decided to just knit up a size but trying to reverse the maths wasn’t working well because it wasn’t a direct translation. Here’s a quote from an earlier conversation with a friend about my dilemma

st st = 4sts/in; pattern = 5.5sts/in and the cast on for my size divided by my size = 4.625

After deducing that, I did the only rational thing possible. I just cast on for the next size up. If it is horribly small or large I will rip it. But if someone is smiling on me today, maybe, just maybe it will fit. Oh and did I mention I will probably try to lengthen it too? It’s a good thing I have an extra 100ish yards to play with.