Sweater Limbo

Denny, you were right: a shawl collar worked really well here.

Yes, once again, my photography skills leave something to be desired, though I really don't have quite as much trouble with the small close-ups (beaded stuff), probably because I've had more practice.  And I've forgotten how to set the self-timer, which is why there's no picture of me in it.  The sweater.  Which fits well enough that I'll happily wear it tomorrow.

The sleeves aren't as tapered on as I'd thought (they don't scream "I'M FROM ANOTHER DECADE ermm MILLENNIUM") and I could have made the body longer (but I always feel that way.  I'm always impatient to start the armholes), but there's nothing seriously wrong with it, considering I barely measured or calculated anything, and pretty much made it up as I went along.

In the past I've had bad luck with shawl collars, in that they tend to prefer to be stand-up collars, not being much into the folding thing, so I was slightly concerned here.  The yarn in this instance wasn't especially independent in that it didn't have its own ideas about just how it would cross its ankles or fold its arms, allowing me to dictate posture.  I also think that the shawl collars in my past may have been too narrow, so I determined not to make that mistake again.  As the collar joins at centre back (let's see you graft moss stitch invisibly; the textured yarn helps to disguise the join but makes stitching sticky) and it looked as though the outer edge of the collar wasn't going to be long enough when it came time to sew it closed, I short-rowed until I was tired of it, adding an extra triangle (think godet) to widen the back of the collar, and then joined.

The collar is both wide enough (no cold drafts down the back of my neck) and long enough at its outside edge that I expect it to behave all day without excessive need for adjustment constantly.  At least, I hope so.

And now for some yarn pron.  Yarn porn.  Either way.  Amy quickly remedied the mind-boggling issue of my not owning any artisan sock yarn, which she managed to find in my favourite colour: sludge.

Yummm.

And now, the conundrum.

I have a pair of socks on the needles.  Well, one sock, the second of two, which doesn't even have a cuff.

I have two lots of delicious handpainted merino sock yarn.

It makes me uncomfortable to have more than one pair of socks in progress (but not to have multiple sweaters in progress.  That, somehow, is my state of being).

I have a great idea for a Rorschach sweater in reds, oranges and corals and all I need to do is to wind the yarn into balls.  I have enough yarn (I weighed it) and I'm pretty certain I have a good enough idea of the gauge to start a sleeve.

I have the pentagons and chevrons sweater about which I waxed lyrical a few weeks ago, but today it's not wanting me to reach for it.

There are ingredients and a plan for a Yum Sweater (very fine-gauge yarns of luxury fibers in natural colours, from way back when I only used to spin thin) which will comprise octagons and squares and requires absolutely no swatching whatsoever, because it's one of those knit until it's big enough deals.  Hmmm, that's almost appealing.

I have handspun vests which would get a lot more wear (than none) if only I'd add sleeves to them, but I'm not in the mood.

I think the reason I'm in project limbo is that today at work, instead of trying to figure out what events are fired on mouse clicks, and where they are processed, I realised that the sweater I was wearing was very, very long, so long that if I had great legs it would look awesome as a dress, and then I flashed to Kathryn Alexander's skirts, and started sketching ideas for a dress, none of which was perfect, though one did come quite close.  I may not have enough suitable yarn for a dress though, which pretty much means I'm back in Sweater Limbo.