Yarn Along: Sapphire Sweater

~knitting~

I finished my Sapphire sweater on Holy Saturday and blocked it on Bright Monday.  

It is cold for the first week in May, so I'm sort of shocked I can model it today!  It is also weirdly humid, so the weather feels clammy.  I found I had to put on something different after photographing the sweater this morning.  (Besides, it isn't meant for this rotation anyway).  

So the good: the yarn is really beautiful (the complexity of the shading really doesn't show up well in photographs), and the blocking did wonders to even out all the stitches and to stretch the bottom ribbing nicely.  The not-so-good:  I'm not sure I really like how the sweater fits or feels on my body.  It looks fine, I guess, and the color is a good shade for me, but even with a layer underneath, it feels sort of itchy, and I'm not happy with how tight the shoulders and upper arms are.  I knit according to the fullest part of my bust, and I think if I had gone up a size, it would have ended up too big in the shoulders.  I feel like it fits well below the bust, but not above it.  

I also am not happy with the neckline.  Oh well.  It was a good learning experience, and the yarn was super cheap (but I guess you get what you pay for).  Perhaps I'm better off sticking with cardigans and accessories for the moment.

Which leads me to my next project: the Saucy Librarian sweater.  (I did not come up with the name).  It is similar in fit to the Sapphire sweater, so I'm concerned about liking it when I'm done.  It does have a different type of neckline, and the bottom fits quite differently, so perhaps it will be okay.  It is also the same type of yarn, so I'm concerned about the itch factor.  I'm about an inch from being done with the body, so I kind of feel like I should just solider on and finish it, if only for the experience, but I'm feeling discouraged about pullovers.  Or at least about Wool of the Andes yarn.  Maybe I should stick to Swish and Stockbridge yarns.

Finally, I present my dad's sweater vest.  I'm making good progress on it, and it is a pretty fast knit for all the stitches on the needles.  I'm using Camel Heather Swish, which is what my dad picked out.  He was very specific about the color.  My goal is to have it completed in time for his birthday.  And yes, I know it won't be a surprise, but I think knitted garments as gifts are generally better known about ahead of time so that the recipient gets what they want, given the time involved in the making.

~reading~

I'm about 475 pages into War and Peace, and about 2/3rds through Vol. 2.  I hope to finish volume two during the Bright Season, and then perhaps start on something else in my stack.  The Catherine Marshall books I read many years ago, but I think it would be good to read them again.  I'm also reading Archimandrite Irenei's The Beginnings of the Life of Prayer.  I've been poking away at it for some time, and have finally made it to part two.  It is quite profound, so slow reading.  I read a little in The Horse and His Boy, and am just not as engaged with the story as with the first two, but it makes for good reading on nights when my mind is less than crystal.

~watching~

My weekly watching includes Grantchester, which just wrapped for season 2 (and I read that it has been renewed for a third season--hooray!)  I'm not sure where they could go from where season two ended, but I'm endlessly fascinated by these characters.

I watch Blindspot on NBC.com and find the premise and unfolding story lines quite compelling.  I'm curious to see where they end this season.  The final season of Person of Interest started last night so I'm eager to catch up on that later today.  I've missed Reese and Finch!

I also started season three of The Americans on amazon.  I really enjoyed the first two seasons, and was holding season three until after Lent was over.  As a Soviet historian, I find the storyline endlessly interesting.  I have a few quibbles with costuming choices for some of Keri Russell's outfits, but overall, the casting and production are really great.  (Plus the show's opening credit sequence is a fabulous montage of Cold War imagery)

I'm waiting to start Outlander season 2 until it is finished airing so that I can take advantage of the 7 day free trial of Starz on amazon and just watch the season in one go. 

I've been so tired after last week that I'm finding myself less than productive this week.  We are having some work done on the house this week, so that has also thrown me off.  I feel like I can't get to anything else until that is complete.  So, I knit and watch stuff because I get sleepy if I just sit in a chair and knit.  I've taken a few naps too because I just keep falling asleep at weird times.  That's Bright Week for you, I guess.

Linking with Ginny for Yarn Along!