Tumbling Forward

Lately, I've had this feeling that I'm tumbling forward through my days, like I'm running downhill and I want to stop for a second but I can't. I'm going so fast, and it's O.K. because I'm not taking any bad steps so I'm still on my feet. If another hiker were watching me, I'd appear to be confidently striding over the ground. Only I know that I'm terrified, that I don't dare stop for a drink of water or to catch my breath because I'm afraid of what will happen if I...


...what the Hell is going on up there? Winston! What are you doing?

He's probably up there tearing his cage apart, the Woman. Shall I go and check on him?

No, Buddy. I think that would be an extraordinarily bad idea. He's unhappy enough being crated all day. The last thing he needs right now is to see you outside the wire with that look on your face.

I'll simply pop upstairs and tell the blunderbuss that I'm proud of him for being tricked into captivity every morning.

NO! Buddy, that's part of the problem right there, fella. I don't have a moment's peace, what with Win wanting to play and you wanting to, oh I don't know, terrorize him? Is that what it's called? What are you trying to do when you walk up to him and howl angrily in his face?

Love him, in my own, special way, the Woman. I am trying to give. I am a giver.

Oh, you're giving, alright. You're giving me a headache that's extending all the way down my spine to my ass. Let's get back to the matter at hand.

My need for more live animals in my diet?

No, my feeling that everything in my life is being held together with the most tenuous of bindings.


Have you discussed it with the Man?

Well, I have, but I'm not able to explain it very well...

Because I'm sure it would be a very small matter to buy some feeder mice and just set them free in the garage.

Are we talking about me or about your wacky plan to create a hunting ground around the work bench?

Which topic is more likely to please me?

I give up. Let's just talk about the sweater.

Details
Pattern
My own, again. I looked to the Bold and Bulky cardigan in Fitted Knits for a start, but only for the number of stitches to cast on across the back and arms, and roughly where to put the markers. I love the patterns in that book, but I'm finding it more useful as a cast-on guide. If my yarn is (x) gauge, look at (y) pattern.

For the record, it's 35" around, 20" long, with armscye depth of 7.5". There is no waist shaping.


Yarn/Notions
Araucania Limari in color 556 - Vina del Mar. I had five skeins, one of my last impulse purchases from Elann.com. They only had five skeins left, and I thought, "EVER! They'll never have it again! SOLD!" When it turned out that the did have more of it a few months later, and that Webs had a huge closeout of it as well, I resisted the temptation to buy at least a couple of additional skeins. The whole point was that this was a stash-busting project. We don't buy more yarn in order to reduce the stash. This, then, was another "if I only have this much yarn, how far will that get me" projects. I only had 305 yards. I know Yarndex says that it's more, but my skein tags and Webs say 61 yards.

I didn't have a button that matched exactly. I came up with the idea of putting these two buttons together until I could get to Britex to find the perfect one. Turns out I like this solution so much that I'm probably not going to look for anything else.


Needles
Addi Turbo US17. For some reason, I have three Addi circular needles in this size, including the 16" that I used for the arms. I used a Brittany Birch crochet hook, size M, for the borders.

Time
I don't know, maybe two weeks? I couldn't work on it full time, because the furry creatures take a lot of attention in the evenings. It was only a few hours of actual knitting.

Modifications/Design Thoughts
I started with Big and Bulky, but I wanted a straight front so I cast on for the same overall width as the back neck. From there, I was on my own.

I came up with the idea of adding a very slight bell to the sleeves because I've found, strangely enough, that adding more bulk to the sleeve actually makes my whole forearm/waist vertical zone look slimmer. A narrowing bulky sleeve has the same stumpifying effect on me as pegged pants. I ended up splitting the skeins in order to make the arms match.

The crochet borders turned out better than I thought they would. I made it around the neck and body one time before I started to get worried about running out of yarn. Every individual edge after that was done with great anxiety, because I was afraid that I'd get back around one side and the bottom hem, but not have enough for the other front edge. I had just enough yarn to get a second round around the body. There were only inches-long scraps left.

Conclusions
I wish I weren't on a yarn buying freeze, because I love working with Limari. Now that I know it's not necessarily going to make me look like I'm wearing a parka, I'd love to make more things with it. I have all of those books for Rowan Big Wool, and so many patterns that would look great in colors 558 or 567. Now I know about what I could make with five or six skeins of it, I wish I had more.

I really like this bulky little sweater. I think I'll get a good bit of wear out of it, even over the summer. It's going to be perfect for sitting out on the patio in the evenings.

With the blunderbuss.

Yes, Buddy, with Winston.

Why does he get to venture outside with you, while I am forced to watch from behind the windows?

Because this is what happens when we leave him in his crate. That's a pile of 'revolutionary Tempur material' next to him.


Curious. And yet my favorite bed is still intact. Who is the troublemaker now, hmm?

Pretty sure it's still you, guy. If you'll excuse me, I have to pop a Zantac and head off to work.

Steady on, the Woman. Steady on.