Sucess! My first unqualified success!

I did it! (Begin Dora the Explorer dance NOW!!!!)


The Sunrise Circle Jacket is my first unqualified sweater success! The fit is perfect, the knitting was fun (though sewing all those hems was a bit tedious!) and the design is something you could never buy in the store. Its what hand knits are all about!


Back story: I bought the yarn in December at Holly Spring Homespun (or maybe January?) and worked on it steadily until I completed the body. I remember asking Melanie if it was too....hairy gorilla (it is brown and a bit fiber-y) in January. I know she said "no way! " I was prepared to abandon the project way back then.


It stalled in mid-semester (last semester was a tough one) and the sleeves languished on the needles for weeks. I finished them finally, but then the finishing waited, and waited, and waited. I don't like to finish, and I am rarely energetic enough during the week to tackle even a small amount of finishing. My Sundays were full of family obligations (they are the one quieter day) and I only squeezed in a bit of sewing here and there. And THE HEMS! This sweater gets much of its shape and definition from its hems (all sides, sleeves, collar, everything) but tacking miles of hem cleanly and neatly can be tedious. I finally did it in front of the TV and it flew.

I had thought the sleeves would be much too long (they had been on the KAL) and that the body would be too long. I was worried about my forced gauge; I knitted this quite tightly, which worked for the project and the pattern. But sometimes when you push a yarn, it bites back.

Happy accident with the buttons: I had bought a big jar months ago at the thrift store. It had many similar colors and sizes, and I happily use mismatched buttons on projects (I did on the Rebbecca jacket.) But hidden in the middle were four perfect buttons, shaped like little yurts, which echo the shape of the jacket with its stand-up lapels and curved fronts. Brilliant!

Specs:
Sunrise Circle Jacket by Kate Gilbert
IK free pattern online
7 skeins of Peace Fleece in Ancient Fern
Partial/leftover skein of fuchsia Cascade 220
Vintage buttons
Begun Winter 2007
Finished June 1
Success!

(p.s. Thanks to the kids for taking the pictures. They may not show the jacket's details, but they show the joy of finishing! The thrill of victory!)