Pattern: Natasha Cabled Pullover from Adrienne Vittadini Fall 2003, size xs
Yarn: Filatura di Crosa 501, 7 balls
Needles: US5 in rib, US6 rest of body, approx 26 st/4in in cable, stretched

I finished the Toad last week. The photo of this sweater in the book misleads. The collar doesn't flap wide open, nearly off the shoulders like mine does. Dirty, rotten photo. I see why they have the sleeves pushed up. It shifts the weight upward so that minimizes any pull downward on the neck. I am constantly adjusting the sleeves, tugging the bottom down, pulling at the collar to get this thing to stay on right.

The wide-collared shirt makes yet another appearance underneath this sweater to keep skin exposure at a minimum. The distibution of weight on this sweater is all wrong. The problem I think has to do with the construction of the raglan sleeves. The stitches that make up the neck is distributed rather lopsidedly. Or, too little raglan decreases on the body, and too much raglan decreases on the sleeves. There were only 4 stitches on each sleeve that contributed to the final collar. As a result, the neck is more boatneck, but with that v-neck opening, the ends of the v-neck is pulled open by its own weight and folds over like a lapel. Does that make any sense?

The accidental lapels don't look TOO bad actually. At first I was like UGH! WTF! but then I thought, OK I can live with this. It looks a little interesting when the collar folds over slightly. I just hate having to readjust. If I don't tug at the sleeves the "lapels" will just keep opening up, until the thing is nearly off the shoulders.

Naughty, naughty toad.

The color isn't usually my style but I like it. And the cables are yummy. I went down 2 needle sizes, from 8 to 6, on the body and sleeves. It worked nicely for the body, but the sleeves were really tight. Maybe that's not such a horrible thing as it really shows off the cables.

I guess I'm happy with this. Not absolutely positively can't-sleep-at-nights THRILLED, but happy enough to wear it.

A wiggly cabled toad and a wiggly orange cat

Before starting on the other sleeve I seamed the first sleeve on and seamed one side. Seaming is so nice and easy with raglan sleeves.

Did you know that last week I made up my mind to knit my first sock? But I haven't done it. Turns out I have this bit of fear and loathing...not of a learning new techniques, but of sock yarn itself. Honestly I abhor variegated yarn in all forms and colors. All of them. (OK except for the handpainted ones because I know a lot of personal love and care goes into making those.) And the self-striping yarn in the skein form just, ugh, I don't know, I don't like the way they look, like shards of dirty crayon in unmatching colors all carelessly piled together, which then recalls for me unpleasant memories and smells of daycare.

I went to the yarn store during my lunch break and nothing appealed to the senses, not the Cherry Hills nor the Lana Grossa nor the Reynolds or whatever. I went back the next day to see if I had changed my mind and I had not. Damnit I can't seem to get past the icky pieces of stripes! I contemplated the solid-colored sock yarns but they were curiously itchy, but then I decided solid is boring and it would be fun to knit with self-striping yarn. But then I don't like how they knit up!

But but but! Oh why can't I just be happy? If it has to be striped let it be large blocks of stripes. I've seen socks made with Regia 4 Ply Nation and I like the way those knit up a lot.

Regia Banner types are also good. (These, and these, are not.)

The yarn store did not carry any Regia's. So I left there empty handed. Boo hoo.