Waves

This was supposed to be my Fall sweater. Red for apple season. I thought this would be perfect in October, when for us it is certainly no longer Summer.

The fact that this sweater took me about six months longer to complete than expected is probably due to a confluence of events. I ran out of yarn twice and had to wait until I could get more of the same dye lot. While waiting, I knitted a sleeve of O.'s sweater and didn't want to stop until I had finished it. Then there was also a couple weeks waiting for the zipper to be inserted (more about that in a minute).

I am primarily an evening knitter. Mr. Savory and I sit down in our respective spots on the couch after A. and O. are in bed. When I first starting knitting, maybe four years ago, O. went to sleep around 8:15 or so. Now, it's 9:15 or 9:30. Over the course of four years, I have lost an hour of knitting a night!

The choice of red was a big stretch for me. I wanted to challenge myself. I normally would choose a shade of blue or green or burgundy.

This pattern is level one, "easy, straightforward knitting". I thought this project was the one where I would learn how to put in a zipper. I was a little worried about it, but I figured if it was level one, well, I'd manage.

When it came time to insert that zipper I headed for the yarn shop. Someone very experienced sat down with me, took a look, and told me she has only once put in a zipper. She suggested I take my sweater to a tailor (she gave me a name), and have her do it.

I made a stop at the fabric store for a zipper. Attaching a zipper to a knitted garment, oh, that's tricky they told me. This second opinion pretty much squashed my yearnings to try it myself.

The tailor scoffed, made quite a fuss, wondering how she would do this, and begrudgingly told me she'd figure it out. I left wondering why a project with a zipper is considered "easy, straightforward knitting".

So, I never did learn how to insert a zipper, and I have a feeling that I never will. I suppose this was a project where I learned what I will not try again.

I see pretty buttons in my knitting future; colorful, shiny, big, small, patterned, plain. Easy and straightforward, and far more fun than an ol' zipper, any day.