Brief (But Not Final) Note on Bettie's Pullover

I didn't imagine that the finished product would be anything other than a disappointment. Minor or major, who knew, but the thing just went on painfully for so long.

There was that 90-minute short row above the twisted rib hem. And just for kicks, it was repeated at the base of the yoke above the feather and fan bodice. Attaching the sleeves to the yoke was an endurance test. I wrote notes on my notes. There was the obligatory short row section at the sleeve cap which, at that point, was just a friendly little technique. But the worst of it was having no freakin' idea of why I was doing anything. What did it all mean? Did I interpret the instructions correctly? (Answer, amazingly, I was pretty much dead on. Of course, I had hours of wakefulness to contemplate every possible iteration...) Note: To its credit, the pattern is without error. If you figure it out, what with your PhD in Knitting Pattern Interpretation, you can trust it will work. And it will impress the crap out of you.

I finished sewing in the neck tie yesterday. Strangely, that was a huge pain in the ass. Must have fussed with it for 2 hours. Though, in truth, I did a very good job. Then I heavily steam blocked the funny, bright orange sweater and let it set on a towel.

No, till then, I hadn't so much as put it on over my head to see if the opening was large enough. (I knew it was.) I did not have the fortitude to try it before every fucking thing was done. Cuz if it didn't work, I knew it would all be over. I'd burn that thing.

Imagine my shock and joy, upon finally sucking up and trying it (there was truly NOTHING left to stop me), to find that the fit was entirely perfect. I mean, I can find you a dozen little knitting errors on this garment and sheepishly point them out to you. But the fit is without flaw.

All of my proportion alterations - shortening the yoke by an inch because I'm short above the bust, lengthening at the bust to compensate for said bust's prodigious profile, adding rows below the waist to get to a final high-hip length, for me, of 22.5", using the smallest needle size at the waist for 2x the number of rows than were called for because my waist goes in and stays in right up to the bust height, shortening the sleeves to save on yarn - and cuz bracelet sleeves are attractive on my frame, continuing to use smaller needles than were called for when constructing the shoulders and neck, because that's where I am at my narrowest - all of them were miraculously apt.

I'll remind you that I made the smallest size - a 32 - giving me 5 inches of negative ease at the bust and this thing is in NO way too small. In the bodice, it could be smaller (what with the flexible properties of feather and fan stitch). This is 3 for 3.

I used 950 yards of fabric. Pattern called for more but that's all I had and, miraculously, that's just how much I needed. For me, I've come to realize, 950 yards is as much yarn as I can wear without looking swamped by the resulting garment. 800-850 yards is the sweet spot.

I have a lot of feelings brewing about hand-knitted sizes and sweaters. But for me, at this point, I'm fairly committed to making a 30 - 32 bust (in the absence of mitigating information) from here on in. I can always add a few stitches at the underarm or bust short rows (not that these have ever yet been truly necessary in the sweaters I've made for myself).

I promise, photos are forthcoming, but I've got a busy week and I've been feeling a bit throat crappy for the last couple of days, so I've got to focus on other priorities.

In the meanwhile, here are today's questions:

• Tell me about a time when you made a sweater (or anything, for that matter) and you didn't have much hope but it all worked out fantastically in the end.

• And, for those of you who knit sweaters, do you have a yardage sweet spot? Is there a certain amount of yarn that works perfectly on your frame to accentuate your shape, but not to overwhelm (or under-cover) you? Obvs, the finer the knit, the more yardage you can likely get away with, but consider this question in light of the weight of yarn that you generally use.