Summertime and the Knitting is Easy

I cast off my Work + Shelter sweater this morning.  I started this a little under two weeks ago, suddenly inspired by the other variations that were popping up on the Luvinthemommyhood KAL's Finished Object Picture thread on Ravelry.  I had thought there was a chance I could zip through it between the 23rd when I cast on and the 29th when the KAL ended, but alas.  I am not that quick a knitter, nor did I have that much energy to stay up that late at night each night to accomplish a feat quite like that.

I knit it in SWTC Bamboo - a yarn I had in my stash for several years. I originally bought it online in a bag sale from Discontinued Brand Name Yarns to make my Josephine Top. This yarn is fantastic. I machine washed and dried my Josephine lots over the course of time and it still looks great. (I just don't wear it much anymore because I lived in it when I was expecting the little boys and now associate it with maternity wear even though it wasn't intended as such).

I did do a couple easy modifications on the pattern. I wanted a touch more length than the pattern allowed for so I added an extra lace stripe before attaching the sleeves.  This also allowed for the lace on the sleeves to line up with the lace on the body and I do love symmetry, so was happy that it worked out that way!  I also started the ribbing for the neckline early in order to have a lower, wider neck.

I feel like quite a "grown up" knitter right now.  I not only took the time to put all the stitches on waste yarn to see how the length would be once I joined the sleeves and reworked it to a proper-for-me length, but I did the same thing again at the neckline to see where I wanted it to sit. I didn't just blindly follow the pattern hoping for the best (which in this case would have been a short, high necked disappointment). Yay for putting in the extra effort!!  I LA LA LOVE my new sweater!!! I also la la love how easy it was.