A Bit of Spring

It was so warm today (-2?) that I wore a spring coat (with a couple of sweaters underneath). On the way home, for the first time, perhaps, since I learned about my mother's illness, I bought flowers as a gesture of optimism.

And when I got home, my Blanche Too sweater had dried, after wet-blocking last night. I was intrigued to see how it's the colour of new grass and spring shoots:

Note: It's more sage than these (after-dark) photos would indicate.

The neck looks wider on the dress form than it does on me because the form is stretching it width-wise. Still the neck is wider than I'd like it to be. It's as much medieval wench as 50's lady but for all that, I can get with it. Lord knows, I've got the décolleté.

Apologies for overexposure. It's tricky to take pics in mid-winter twilight...

The pictures don't really do it justice. It's actually a lovely sweater and the yarn blocked beautifully.

It's the perfect length (22.5" from back neck) but the front neck could stand to be a bit higher. I told you that armscye was too long.

On the plus side, the modified sleeves fit perfectly into the modified armscye and they're a fine length, just above the elbow. This sweater is a pretty good fit. Not flawless, but good enough that most people won't be able to find its flaws.

This is the first time I've ever back stitched in sleeves. Usually I mattress stitch (horizontal to vertical):

Gotta say, back stitching takes 20 per cent of the time and it doesn't look bad when it's done. It doesn't look as good as mattress stitch, however. I do think that back stitching gives more structure to the finished shoulder which, in this case, is welcome news. The shoulders, like the neck, are slightly too wide (I should have made the sweater smaller above the full bust and blocked the shoulders closer to the midline... Next time.) But the shoulder seam ensures that there's just enough integrity.

See here how the front neck band was picked up and knitted from cast off stitches (per the sub-optimal instructions):

You can see the ridge between the base of the front neck and where the sweater body ends...

Compare it to the back neck band which was merely continued after taking stitches off a holder:

No ridge where the back rib meets the body...

I'll have you know I picked up those front stitches incredibly neatly. If you enlarge and then zoom in the top photo (full sweater), you'll see that every knit stitch aligns. Alas, it's never going to be as pretty as the back.

I can't say I enjoyed making this, but I do think I'll enjoy wearing it.

But what do you think?