It's Time to Feel the Burn!

That saying reminds me of days in the 80s, when I'd faithfully work out to Jane Fonda's aerobic videos. I left the high cut spandex & wide belt wearing to Jane, while I followed her moves, all the while hearing her say "Feel the burn!" Well, I did feel the burn, and I didn't like it! But I took it as a sign that the dreaded workout was almost over and the great feeling of having worked out, was about to begin. No pain, no gain, right?

That's sort of how I feel with this sweater. I'm making the vest out of the Sublime Luxurious Wooley Merino in Book 639. The back and two fronts took me NO time. That was the easy part. I figured I'd be finished in just a few days. But then I started the neck.

The neckband is truly awesome. It's very textural, that stitch where you knit, leave the stitch on the needle, wrap the yarn around your thumb, knit the stitch again, and then bind off the first stitch over the second stitch. But each stitch takes as long to explain as it does to knit. And so while the main body of the vest went so quickly, the neckband made everything slow down to a dribble. Not much progress was being made. And I switched to other projects like my Seedling sweater.

I just picked this vest up again yesterday and decided that I needed to push through, and really feel the burn on this thing, just to get to the other side... to finish it. I'm going to LOVE this sweater. It's so amazingly soft and cuddly. And that neckband!? While it is a bit of a chore to do, it's THE most cushy feeling handknit I've ever made. I'm so excited to have that softness right up around my neck!

So onward it is. I've now finished the first side. And the second one ALWAYS goes faster. Doesn't it?