Yarn Along: Nonpareil Sweater

I mentioned that I cast on another sweater this week--I had some purple yarn from earlier in the fall that I was quite eager to work with.  I finally got it caked up, and couldn't resist casting on a sweater I've been eyeing all fall: the Nonpareil from a Berroco knit catalog.  I bought it earlier in the fall expressly for this pattern.  I was initially intimidated by the instructions, but after making the Ramona and finishing the 1918 Walking Sweater, I was feeling pretty confident about the stuff that made me nervous.

The yarn I'm using is Stockbridge, from Valley Yarns, and it is so delicious.  It is a wool-alpaca mix and so soft and squishy.  I love working with it--it just feels good in my hands.  As you can see, I've knit the back waistband, and started on the lower section of the back piece.  This sweater is knit flat and then seamed, which I do not mind at all.  I'm hopeful that between knitting a size down from my full bust measurement and the flat construction that I'll get the shoulders to fit properly.

I did make one change to the pattern--the pattern has you work the waistband pieces first, and then pick up and knit the top and bottom pieces flat from there.  The instructions for the waistband were fiendishly difficult, and I suspect written by someone who probably didn't attempt to knit them that way.  I did get gauge one needle size larger than called for, so perhaps that was the problem, but knitting over slipped stitches on two sides was making me crazy--I had to stop on every stitch and it was just painful going.  I got 1/2" in and was ready to tear my hair out.  I ripped out the whole thing and tried to figure out something that would give a similar look.  I ended up substituting a twisted mock cable stitch and it looks great and worked perfectly with the existing pattern!  It looks a lot like the original stitch pattern called for, and was much easier to work.  Plus it was easier to memorize.  So, a win all around.

I'm still working on How Dante Can Save Your Life, and started watching season 4 of Homeland.  I'm completely engrossed--that show has that effect.  I'm sort of weirdly interested in Claire Danes because she is almost exactly my age.  I know. Weird.  I don't understand it either.

In completely unrelated news, I had a full cup of Starbucks coffee explode all over my desk this morning.  I was getting ready to write our Advent letter, and I picked it up and the top completely came off, and coffee went everywhere.  Thankfully it missed my knitting!  But I had to change my entire outfit, clean my whole desk and a large portion of the floor around it, and clean the keyboard as best I could.  It still smells strongly of coffee in here.  I think what I'm most put out about is the fact that I only rarely get a hot coffee. (I keep bottled iced coffee in the fridge for my daily fix) By the time I got everything cleaned up, (twice, because it happened again when I picked up the cup again!) the coffee was decidedly unhot.

Fun times.

Joining Ginny for Yarn Along!