March madness

Happy March!

I'm caught up. On my own self-imposed deadline. As of last Monday afternoon, 3/9--my NaKniSweMoDo mojo is back in business. I made the mistake of trying to finish two at once...and, guess what, I was late with both. At any rate--I'm counting the vest for February and Mr. D's sweater for March.

The first finisher: The Lacy Top.
I'm actually a bit meh about this vest, which is disappointing.

The pros:

1. soft and silky fabric with very nice drape
   
2. affordable yarn (Paton's Silk Bamboo)
   
3. quick knit (only two pieces, easily-memorized lace pattern)
4. excuse to buy two more KA circulars
   

The cons:

1. fit is boxy/blousy, which I should have realized earlier--I thought the 2x2 rib would be more waist-height, and it ended up being more hip-height.
   
2. Not much attention to styling or shaping in the pattern--the two pieces are exactly the same so either the front or the back droops when you wear it.
   
3. I won't knit dark lace again for a long time. I realized after I finished it that I gave myself a pretty good case of eyestrain for the final weekend I was working on it.
4. I should have made a size small for a more fitted look. The M is too large, even for my broad shoulders. I don't know if this was a gauge issue (I haven't measured it to see if I ended up in the ballpark) or a design issue.
   

But--it's done & looks cute with my bright pink scoop-neck tee underneath. Moving onward!



February's garment was the finally-finished top-down raglan for my son. His unfortunate case of stomach flu allowed me some good knitting time and it's all finished up! (His crossed eyes in the photo were his idea of a "goofy picture".

The specifics for this pattern are on my Ravelry page. I used two cable panels from Melissa Leapman's Continuous Cables, one for the front and one for the sleeves. I reversed the sleeve cable on the left sleeve, because that's how anal I am. (Side note: both this book and Melissa's Cables Untangled are FABULOUS.)

Mr. D has worn it to school already--it has some room to grow, which is great, and he likes it a lot! It took almost exactly 6 balls of Wool of the Andes Kettle-dyed in Jay, plus about .75 WoTA in Black for the cuffs and neckband.

My official March project is a February sweater for my daughter...and then it's back to me.