Tickled Pink!

That is how I feel about my latest FO: My February Lady Sweater.

Please forgive me if this post is especially photo laden. I'm absolutely ecstatic about my latest finished object.

Details:

Pattern: February Lady Sweater - an adult version of Elizabeth Zimmerman's February Sweater.

Yarn: Tahki Yarns New Tweed (60% Merino Wool, 14% silk, 26% Viscose) Great yarn, small balls - 50grams/92 yards per ball, so you feel like you fly through this yarn. I was cutting it close at the end.

Needles: US 8

Size: Medium - I have the newer version of the pattern. Apparently the earlier versions were a bit sketchy when it came to determining the correct size, so several knitters knit sizes XS when they normally knit a size M. No way in the world am I an XS!

Modifications: Left out the eyelet row before the start of the lace. I think the eyelet row was originally intended for weaving a piece of ribbon, but that's not my style at all. The color pink is already pushing the envelope. 15 lace repeats on the sleeves, 19 lace repeats on the body.

Let's admire the buttons, shall we? What a great find! Sometimes details just fall into place.

The lace pattern is the famous "Gull Lace" pattern - very simple to memorize, so this project was perfect Sunday English Premier League knitting. What I didn't like was having to purl back a gazillion stitches (perhaps just a slight exaggeration). The yoke is straight garter stitch w/increases at the shoulders. I did a kfb for the increases - very simple, blends in well with the garter stitch & leaves no holes.

The back fits just perfectly. I was worried the neckline would sag, or maybe even ride up. But nope - all sits as it should. I think perhaps the hard blocking I gave the sweater last week helped out a bit. Last year when I was at Madrona Fiber Arts retreat I met a woman wearing a FLS & it sagged all over the place. The ravelry forum for the FLS warns against how the lace grows. I haven't noticed this happening yet & the sweater has been hanging for several days while it waited the adornment of buttons. I'm going to fold it neatly rather than hanging it in the closet, just to be safe.

This week is "Spirit Week" at our school & today's theme was "Girls in Pearls & Guys in Ties". A perfect day for my sweater's Maiden Voyage. My friends, colleagues, and students all admired with lots of 'oohs and ahhs'. You know you've done a good job when students say they want one (wear something that a teacher wears? Highest praise from teenagers!) & that it looks like something they might find at Nordstroms. Several conversations today went something like this:

Colleague: "You Made That?!?"
Me: "Yup, Why yes I did..."
Colleague: "Nu-uh!" (how do you spell that?!?)
Me: "Uh-huh!!"

Anyhow - I was very pleased with the responses & complements my sweater & I received today. If I'd known earlier how well this would turn out, I would have finished it much, much sooner!I leave you with my "Bio" photo I'll use in the engineering notebooks of my FTC robotics teams (we all have to add photos + biography). I'd like to think that my role on the FTC teams is that of kind, yet effective, Project Manager. After having to ask a couple of students not to return since they were hindering progress & my constant (yet gentle) reminders for the teams to focus & stay on task (I can even say it in ASL as one of my students is hearing impaired), the students on the teams have dubbed me, "The Hammer".

The smile and the pink kind of softens it, don't you think? :0)

Ciao!!