Here's a note of encouragement to all of us knitters who take on a project saying "This is what I'll make this summer (or fall or whenever)" and then wonder as the time goes by whether it will really happen or not.
Well, I'm here to say that it's possible, but only just! Last April I purchased the yarn and the pattern to make the Una sweater by Berroco. It's in the Berroco Weekend Book #296.
I had been eyeing the Jil Eaton CottonTail yarn ever since it came into the shop - in particular, a color called Fresia which is a very soft peach tone. Well, now I had the perfect yarn to go with this adorable sweater. Because the CottonTail knits up to the same gauge as Berroco Weekend yarn, it could easily be substituted. With yarn, pattern and needles in hand I was off and running with the WHOLE summer ahead of me.But, life intervened and it was sometime in mid August that I realized that, although the back and front were nicely finished and waiting in a drawer, the sleeves were not going to knit themselves in the next two weeks! Thankfully they are fairly short sleeves. It also helped that I knit them simultaneously so that the end was always in sight.
What didn't help at all is that when I got to the absolute last row of the sleeves (the Pleating Row), there was a major glitch. After repeating the directions exactly as written about four times and having the stitch count and placement of pleats absolutely not work out, a lightening bolt went off (why did it take so long?) saying that just maybe it was the pattern and not me that was cuckoo.
Sure enough, when I went to the Berroco website and searched for a pattern correction (errata), there was my Una sweater with revised directions for my sleeve Pleating Row in bold print! Note to self: ALWAYS check for erratas BEFORE beginning a project!Not to be undone by the glitch with my silly sleeves, with about five days to go before the unofficial end of summer (Labor Day) I set about sewing the sweater pieces together.
With my trusty copy of The Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques open to the chapter on Seams, I was off and running.
Would you believe that the last stitch was in place and the sweater was washed and blocked a whole two days before Labor Day! My reward for the stress of the big rush is that I absolutely love everything about it: the fit is perfect, the color is gorgeous and the pattern detail is lovely.
Now the big question is what's my fall project going to be??
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