This Friday Is Brought to You by an FO

Well, after months of working on it, then not working on it, then working to finish it, I can finally report that my Neverender is officially finished!!!

Here it is, blocking away!

Project:  Neverender

Pattern:  The Weekender, by Andrea Mowry

Size made:  34

Yarn:  Brooklyn Tweed Shelter, in the Caribou colorway (6.5 skeins)

Needles:  US size 7, 8, 9

Modifications:  When you are finishing the neckline and the sleeve cuffs, you are doing 1 x 1 ribbing.  To bind off, the pattern has you put the purl stitches on one needle and the knit stitches on the other, and do the kitchener stitch to bind off.  I followed it for the neckline, because I wasn't really sure what was going on until after I finished it.  It was awkward, and I think another bind off that would be more straightforward would be fine and look better (my kitchener is OK but not perfect).  So when I got to the sleeve bind off, I just did a tubular bindoff which was much easier and looks just fine, in my opinion.

Notes: This has been a really popular pattern on Ravelry since it first came out (as of this post, there are 4405 projects listed).  I was not lured into it until I actually saw one of the women who works at Loop wearing the one she had knit.  I liked it so much better than any of the photos I'd seen, so I decided to make one for myself.  I also had a store credit, so I decided to purchase the yarn used in the original pattern (which I am seldom able to afford to do).  I'm happy with the final product, but I just felt that this was a knitting project that would never end.

The pattern is fairly straightforward, and easy to follow.  The construction is different, at least from anything else I've knit (granted, I'm a fairly new sweater knitter), but the instructions told you exactly what you needed to do and when.

I made a size 34, because I figured it would be the size that would work best for me once it was finished.   The pattern states that it is intended to be worn with 10 inches of postive ease, and I did not want my size regular size with an extra 10 inches - I don't like overly large things, and there was no one I wanted to ask to join me in it when I wore it.  I'm really pleased with my final product - it has room for wearing with a layer underneath, but it's not crazy oversized.

The yarn was for me the worst part.  I did not enjoy knitting with it at all.  I am the only person I know now who is not in love with Brooklyn Tweed Shelter, so keep in mind that if you ever give it a try, it may turn out to be your favorite yarn ever.  I found it kind of scratchy and just didn't like the way it was to knit.  Who knows, maybe if I had used a different yarn, I would have enjoyed the whole process of knitting it more.  But I powered through, and I do have to say that when I soaked it and blocked it, the yarn ended up feeling very soft (which is good if I'm gonna wear it).  

This photo gives you an idea of how it fits me.  And of course, there is a story behind this photo.  Last Saturday was sunny, cool, and REALLY WINDY here.  I had asked The Tim if he would take a finished product photo of me wearing it, and he said that was fine.  So on Saturday, he suggested we take some photos out on our deck.  As I said, it was very windy, and stuff was flying everywhere.  In every single photo, my eyes are either closed, my hair is straight up, or something has flown in front of my face (a leaf once, a plastic bag another time, for instance).  The photo above is the best of the lot, even though it's not.  At one point, a branch from the neighbors' tree bonked me in the head.  So in this photo, my hair is being blown around AND my glasses are in the process of being knocked off my face.  After the "photo shoot," The Tim said they had turned out really well.  When I saw them, I asked how he thought they were so great, when I was either standing with my eyes closed, or in this case, had my glasses heading off my face.  He responded, "I was taking photos of the sweater, not of you."

So there you have it.  This was the best photo of the sweater.  You'll have to take my word for it that I'm the one wearing it ...

Artistes, am I right???  ;-)