One project finished, eighty million more to go.....

I finished a pair of socks for my mom last night and almost finished that old Knitty.com sweater I've been working on for almost 2 years. It's from the first issue, back when their projects didn't cost $200 each to make. I think the yarn is Bernat or some such thing – way before I'd entered a fancy yarn store and started spending $8-$15 a ball on yarn. The yarn for this sweater cost $20, and even though it's acrylic it is very soft and completely hides all mistakes.

The reason it's taken me two years is that I could never figure out the pattern. Granted, I was a brand new knitter when I started, but it still was pretty challenging. When I tried to get help at AZ Knit and Needlepoint they said something snarky about free patterns off the internet and how I should just stick with real patterns. Yarn women are so threatened by the internet it's amazing.

My biggest complaint about the pattern is the decreases. She says to decrease evenly around so many stitches, leaving so many stitches on the needle. But she doesn't tell you how often to decrease, so you have to figure out what "evenly" means. This is very hard for me (I'm not a math person) and I had to do it four times! Can't she just say "Knit 3, Knit 2 Tog"??? Would that be too much to ask?

I'm going to finish the sweater today, and Julie's baby cardigan. I have sock workshop at 3 though so that will just be another new project started! Luckily socks go quickly. I've got to get some of these projects completed so I can be ready for Christmas.

My father is doing much better. We're going up today to check on him and have breakfast, but I talked to him on the phone yesterday and he sounds like a new man.