twistedloops

It’s been a long, hard November. Lots of work = less knitting.

The phyllo-yoked pullover has been progressing slowly. Large pieces of stockinette is fairly boring knitting. My work schedule was really keeping me from knitting, and I started to worry about finishing my sweater in November. However, with four days off over the Thanksgiving weekend, I was sure that I’d be able to make great progress and finish up the sweater in the month of November. I worked on it on Wednesday night and Thursday, sewing the seams of the pieces so I could join it in the round to knit the yoke. Everything was going so well. I sat down on Friday, joined the body and the sleeves, and started knitting. About a round and a half into knitting, disaster happened. My needle snapped just before it joined the cable.

It’d felt tight, but I didn’t think there was that much tension in the process. With the needle free, the cable pulled back and stitches fell everywhere.

I knew from swatching that this was the only needle I had that would meet gauge. It wasn’t even like it would be quick to replace, it’s part of my Denise set. I assumed the project was doomed – there was no way it would be finished in November.

Undeterred by the disaster, I knew that needed to knit to calm my nerves. I pulled out the Mad Color Weave sock, grafted the toe on the first sock, and cast on for sock number two. As can be seen in the photo, I’m most of the way through the leg; only 1.5 more repeats of the pattern until I start the heel.

Luckily, as the weekend progressed, I remembered that Jennifer also has a Denise set. Since we work together, I asked on Monday to borrow one of her size 5 needles, if she wasn’t using them. Luckily, they weren’t in use, and she brought me the needle on Tuesday.

Last night I picked up the fallen stitches and went back to knitting the yoke. The sweater did not seem nearly as tight on the needle as I’d remembered. I still have no idea how I broke the needle. I managed to get a few rows into the yoke before heading to bed last night.

I still think that it will be a real challenge to finish knitting the sweater in November, but I may only go over by a few days. Participating in NaKniSweMo has taught me that knitting a sweater doesn’t have to take a long time. If it wasn’t for this month’s hectic work schedule, I’d have easily finished this project in three to four weeks. Perhaps this will inspire me to knit more sweaters in my future.

Mom has asked for this Drops sweater (Ravelry) for her birthday, December 20th. I’ve considered taking on the challenge, but she hasn’t sent me her measurements yet. I’m not sure I could do it in the worsted weight version, but the bulky version might just be finishable in that timeline.