ribbed neck and pile 'o yarn

1. I was feeling virtuous this morning, so I pulled out Veste Everest and finished the neck edging.



I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. After that break of a week or two, I found that the knitting and purling "tbl" wasn't as painful as I remembered, although I think my right ring finger (with its accompanying mondo callous) is ready for a rest again. I knit the edging on size 4 needles (the smaller size, used for the bottom ribbing), even though the pattern didn't instruct me to do so. I think it was a good idea. I also bound off with those needles, not paying any particular attention to trying to do so loosely. I probably could have (maybe should have) gone a big looser. The edging looks absolutely perfect, but it also has no give. It fits just fine, but the scardey cat in me wishes there were a tiny bit of give, just in case my head swells with age or something. (Yes, I know, I'm worrying about nothing.) It's definitely one of those sweaters that requires one to take off their glasses while dressing. But since the look and fit are just fine, I should stop fretting. When I finish the armhole edging will depend on when my finger callous stops throbbing. This yarn hates my fingers.


2. Yesterday evening, after returning home from our trip to see King Kong (which absolutely blew me away), I found a lovely package left for me by our mail carrier. It looked like yarn. It felt like yarn. The sad thing is, it didn't even occur to me that it might just possibly be my Naturespun Sport, for Ingeborg. I knew exactly what it was, even though I wasn't expecting it until at least next Wednesday, based on the method of shipping I chose. It was, of course, my Knitpicks Palette, for the Pullover with Stripes from Sweaters From Camp. Yay!



This yarn fells really soft to me. Definitely a lot softer than traditional Shetland yarn, which I would ordinarily use for this sweater. No way I'm going to not secure the steek before I cut it. If you're curious, the background color is the cream (top row), and the foreground motif colors are in the bottom row, in order. I think. (Should I switch the light blue and purple? The light blue is a bit lighter than the purple, which is why I think it works best in that first position.) Of course, that's only half of the motif color order. It will go in that order (from left to right), then be mirror imaged, so each motif is lighter on the outside, with a row of dark brown in the center. If I decide, I could always change things so it's the opposite, with the dark brown on the edges, and a single row of the lightest blue in the center. But I think it works better this way.

What do you guys think? I think it will work. I hope it will work. If nothing else, it will be my first lesson in how to (or how not to) put together a fairly simple colorway for a fair isle project.

I have a couple of comments to respond to, which I'll do next week. Don't worry, you're not forgotten! Happy Festivus!