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Soooo, you know Mariah? The cabled hoodie I cast on a YEAR ago? With the gorgeous sleeve cables? I'm nearly finished!

Up to the neckline, ready for the hood... um, hang on, hmmmm. Pattern isn't making sense... oh, OK, found some help online.... right-o. Back on track, more or less....

But - er. The sleeves are looking awfully - um - long. OK, I'll sew up the sleeves, so I can try it on properly (sew sew sew).Shit.

OK, so the sleeves are about 5cm (2") too long (the short white line is where it should be, the long white line is where it is). Well, I can (gasp) unravel the whole yoke, and the tops of the sleeves, and recover from there. It's all about the process, Hubby keeps telling me, as I look fairly pale about this time....

Then I figured I should look more carefully at the fit of the whole thing. Dotter is called in for consultations.


F**king hell, the whole thing is too big! It's not just a 'oh we can fix it with a wider seam, or a judicious pleat' too big, it's a how the hell did you knit the completely wrong size? too big!

Look at the overlap in the fronts :


And the back is way too wide as well - WTF? I'm spot on gauge.. I think by choosing the size based on my chest measurement (busty gal, remember), the pattern was then just BIG all over - while I'm short and little in other dimensions...

Dotter helped me come to grips with the fact that I would have to completely frog Mariah, and knit something else. Aaaaargh! I highly recommend having another knitter in the house at times like this! And Kahlua.

She sat with me while we trawled through Ravelry (damn it's such an amazing site when it comes to looking for patterns!) looking for a new pattern (lots of Bendigo Alpaca 8ply, Rustic (blue), gauge ~20 st:10cm, warm cardy top or wrap, and preferably a FAST knit).

So. Some new designs... this Jacket is by Shirley Paden (Vogue Knitting, Winter 07/08). Fair bit of seaming, though. But I like the design a lot. Shawl collar, long sleeves, not floppy ... insanely long front edging though 0_o


I'm also partial to Silver Belle by Debbie Bliss (Ravelry link, sorry) - but after Mariah, I'm a bit over cables for the moment - a fast knit is what I'm after - I want to have something to wear right about yesterday! (ETA : I'm not over cables forever, just for a little while; I do basically love them :)

There's The Brennan Cardigan (which I would make shorter) - not sure if the soft alpaca would suit this pattern... but it's a simple stylish little cardigan.

Taph has suggested this Pinwheel Sweater, which is gorgeous - the gauge is right, the alpaca will drape beautifully, it's fairly mindless knitting for the most part, but has a pretty lace edging (and there's a knitted lace variation too by WendyKnits), no seams, and I haven't made a circular garment like this before.

Some people comment that it slips off their shoulders easily. And it's a bit floppy - very very beautiful, but maybe not very sensible with chores and computer work? I need something very warm to wear while I'm working at my desk, doing stuff at home, and generally gadding about town.

Whaddayareckin?

I can't bear to unravel Mariah until I've got the new project chosen - I am starting to feel a little bit enthusiastic about it now, but it's taken a good 24 hours ....

OK, other stuff.

On Sunday Hubby and I ventured forth to the Southside Famers' Markets (Woden CIT, 9am - 12pm) which was utterly brilliant! All local produce (from within ~ 100km of Canberra), good prices (apples for $2/kilo, instead of the $6-7 at Woolies!), and SO yummy. The vegies are noticeably more yummy, no joke. Will be doing this again, and regularly. Feels good on all sorts of levels - supporting local growers, fresher produce, cheaper, and a smaller greenhouse gas footprint (lower transport costs). My green bamboo string bag came into its own :


And the especially good news for the end - I've been asked to be Technical Reviewer on an upcoming puzzle book by a BIG publisher! My job is to check all the puzzles in the book (all 300 of them) for fairness / balance / ease. I get credited in the book, and even paid some real money *gasp*.

The biggest plus for me, though, is my CV is now lodged in their ivory tower, and it's another step up the professional Puzzle Writer ladder - very exciting!

Will not reveal the title and publisher details until the book is out (Sept 08), in fairness to all concerned. The review has to be done by early June. So if I'm off the airwaves and not commenting much, it's cos I've got a shirtload of work to do! And a jacketload of knitting to recoup...