Art and Needlework by Rebekah: 2/12/10: Sweater Vow

Ah, Liesl. A beautiful sweater designed by a young Scottish designer named Ysolda Teague. She is one of my favorite designers and Liesl is one of her best designs. So I buy the pattern from Ravelry.com, buy the oh-so-soft Cascade Luna yarn at a yarn shop, and start knitting. That was about one year ago and I can't seem to find the sweater in my closet. Instead I find it in a plastic drawer in the sewing room with needles still holding a multitude of stitches. Yeah, I'm still working on it.

I love the pattern and everything there is to it, but there it lies unfinished. Why? Because I'm making the sweater for myself, and if it is for me, it takes 10 x longer.

That is why I decided to write a post on it. If I feel that I would have to write a similar post in another year, well, that would just be too humiliating! So in order to get my Liesl juices flowing, I will say right here that I will finish Ysolda's sweater for Spring. There, I said it.

I wrote a few notes about my knitting so far, so here they are:

January 11, 2009: Bought pattern.
Mid-February 2009: Bought yarn from New Ewe Yarn Shoppe in Michigan. Was a birthday gift from my parents. :) The staff at the shop were so very helpful! I don’t know where I would have been without their help. This yarn is so soft and I have found that it is a dream to work with because it doesn’t split at all.
April 7, 2009: After a tedious time of deciding what needle to use (I tried size 7 all the way to size 11), I finally came to using size 10, even though my gauge doesn’t match the pattern’s gauge. (My gauge: 3.5” for one 12 stitch rep / pattern’s gauge: 4” for one 12 stitch rep.) That is OK with me because I will just use my smaller gauge with the next larger size. I’ve used this method before when knitting my Veste Everest.
So what version am I doing? I chose to do the “pink” version (one being worn by the girl in the red dress). It has a high neckline and cap sleeves.
So how is it coming? I must be honest by saying that it is rather difficult to understand the chart instructions. This would be my first time using lace charts so I have to go slow and take my time to learn these new symbols. It will come to me in time. And I am having trouble trying to follow the pattern without schematics. I know this pattern was designed in such a way as to allow the knitter to personalize it by trying it on often, but I still miss my schematics. :) It’s hard to break a habit, I guess.
November 23, 2009: I placed this project aside for many months now and I’m completely mortified by it! It always seems like I never finish a project if it is for myself; I never see the necessity of it. But my family has been pushing me so I’ll do it to make them happy! :) Now it is going to be difficult to find where I left off, that teaches me not to leave a pattern mid-way. Wish me good luck!