Yarn Along: Ruby Stoker and War and Peace

~knitting~

I finished a sweater!  I mentioned that I was nearly done with my Ruby Stoker cowl, and indeed, it was only a few days work to seam all the pieces and add the cowl.  Weirdly, the instructions do not have you reblock after the cowl is finished, and I think mine could benefit from a light blocking.

I wasn't sure if I would like this sweater after I finished it.  I was underwhelmed when I first put it on, but I ended up wearing it all weekend and Monday too, so I guess that is a success!  What I like about it is that it is loose enough to wear over a dress.  I've been wanting a pullover that I could wear over one of my dresses, but none of my current pullovers has enough ease to look right.  This one is just perfect.  It has enough shaping to look nice, but is loose enough to easily pop over a semi-fitted dress.  Win-win.

It also felt good to wear this dress again--it is a particular favorite of mine, a thrifted vintage rayon dress from the 1980s.  I replaced the ugly pearl buttons down the front with small vintage teal buttons a few years ago and I like it even better now.  

I used O-Wool Balance for the yarn, which is a wool-cotton blend, and I had a terrible time getting gauge for the pattern.  I had to go up two needle sizes for the base needle, and then had to modify the needle recommendation for the cowl as a result.  I probably could have gotten away with doing the whole thing on size 9 needles.  I suppose if the cowl really bugs me, I could frog it back and reknit it with the smaller needles.  

I probably won't, though.  I do think blocking will solve a lot of what bugs me about it.  I also wish I'd made the body about an inch longer, but the beauty of cotton in the mix is that I can tug it down.  I may also block it more aggressively the next time I wash it.

The pattern is from Amy Herzog's Knit to Flatter book, and the instructions were very easy to follow.  It is the first time I've successfully fitted inset sleeves so that they sit properly on the edge of my shoulder, so that is a victory!  I also set in the sleeves differently--I took a page from my sewing with knits book, and set in the sleeves the way you do machine knit garments, and it went extremely well.  I'll definitely keep doing that in the future. (I used to set in sleeves the way you set in sleeves with wovens, and had mixed success)

The color is a little hard to describe--not quite pink, not quite rust.  I worried that it wouldn't look good with my skin tone, but I think it works.  In any case, it is a good sort of schlubby-but-flattering sweater of the sort that I often have trouble finding.

I'm making good progress on the Clouds in my Coffee cardigan, am a bit stalled on the Tess/Rent shawl. I am hoping to swatch another project soon.

~reading~

I picked up War and Peace again at the beginning of the month because I'm so close the end I can taste it!  I'm two chapters into the Epilogue and at 91% read.  (Yes, I switched to Kindle Edwards translation to finish the beast, because I was getting bogged down with the Peaver/Volkonsky translation which is difficult to read with all the original French/German plus extensive footnotes). 

I started Meditations for Advent at the beginning of the Nativity fast, but haven't gotten very far in it. 

I also picked up Murray Pittock's Culloden last week and am enjoying it very much.  It is part of a larger series on war, and I appreciate the perspective he brings to a pivotal 18th century battle.

~watching~

I'm 13 years late to the party, but I just discovered NCIS on Netflix and have been enjoying that very much.  While the painters were here, we were confined to two rooms of the house, and I confess I spent a lot of quality time with Gibbs, Tony, Kate, and McGee.  I'm somewhere in season two at the moment.  Coincidentally, the boys are going through and intense U.S. Navy phase and are reading all about navy aircraft carriers, navy planes, and anything else related to the Navy that they can find.

Ponchik and I watched a delightful documentary on Leonard Nimoy this week called For the Love of Spock.  My husband and I have been watching the original Star Trek series on Sunday nights for the last few months and it was really fun to learn more about the show, the character of Spock and about Nimoy the man.  I grew up with Star Trek: The Next Generation, and have a soft spot for that series, but it has been super fun and hilarious to watch the originals with my husband. 

The painting of the house is done, but the furniture stuff is not.  There have been delivery delays, mistakes on deliveries (I'm not particularly happy with IKEA at the moment), and general stress and anxiety with the whole process.  I did have someone out yesterday to put together the boys' dressers and a bookcase, and I'm hoping we can tackle the bunk beds tomorrow (assuming they show up today as promised).  So probably another couple of weeks of mess and stress.  I keep trying to remind myself that it will all come right in the end.

Linking with Ginny for Yarn Along!