Sweater Boy

I finished Pona's sweater last night. I'm quite pleased! Pona is too, after a fashion.

After a couple of false starts, this turned out well. First of all, I cast on too many stitches at the beginning. Staci advised scaling the cast-on number back a bit, and she was right. I did 30 instead of 50. I probably could have gotten away with 25. Instead of increasing to 100 stitches around, I increased to 76. I wanted a snug fit. It's perhaps a bit too snug -- a bit difficult to get on, but luckily, Pona is quite patient with being manhandled. Next time I might go out to 86 or so.

I'm also considering doing piping (applied I-cord?) around the armholes rather than knitting short sleeves. Pona's shoulders "catch" a bit on the edge of the sleeves. This made him walk a bit funny at first, but he soon adjusted. They look really nice, though. I've explained to Pona that sometimes we have to make sacrifices for fashion. I'm not sure he understood.

These pictures were taken this morning when it was quite chilly out. By the time we got our act together to go out on a nice long walk, it had already warmed up to 65 degrees. So the sweater is off for now. I'd like to make a girlier version for Kate (I'm imagining something more low-cut in front!) but this warm weather sure isn't very inspiring.

Not sure where I'm going to go next, knitting-wise. I've got a pair of socks to finish up, and I've always got that piano cushion that's been lingering in the background for a couple of years. Lately, I've had the hankering to try my hand at something Argyle-ish, perhaps a sweater vest, or maybe even a pair of socks. Something with multiple colors. Who knows?

For today I think I'll catch up on weeding (for you librarians out there, I'm talking about the kind that takes place in the garden, not the stacks!) and podcasts -- and watching our dogs stalk whatever it is that's driving them crazy in our bay laurel tree.