Saturday night, about 11pm, while watching the very good movie, An Education, I finished the 4th sleeve. It took two weeks and was actually no trouble, I even snuck in some other knitting, seaming and regular life stuff.
Ella is starting to look like something--something very fine indeed. Here is a poorly staged shot of me in my one-armed Ella bolero.
Nora was quite clever in the way she lays out this project. I get to try on the business portion of this sweater and adjust the fit before I go on and knit miles of stripey coat tails. I'm very pleased--it fits just right. This week I need to play a bit of catch up and sew in the second sleeve (here it is blocking),
Weave in a billion ends (photo representation--not all ends captured)
Then I get into Week 5 where I do the ruffled cuffs. I'm opting for the frou frou cuffs with the picot bindoff. I like the French Cuffs but have been known to have problems with bell sleeves ending up in my coffee, so I will err on the side of moderately frilly over super frilly.
Amused is in that stage where I want to cast aside all other things and get this sweater done. I have about 3 inches of collar left and then I have myself a lovely little sweater.
And I mean little. I know I'm smaller that I was a few years ago and that I have problems with thinking about my own size--I tend to err on knitting something too big rather than too small. For Amused, I took and retook measurements of myself and settled on the small size for this sweater. Doing that felt weird but the numbers worked out. The sweater fits great but at 4sts to the inch, I do wonder if I should have went with jaunty, loose instead of 1" of ease. I think a proper trying on in good light, with a bra and real pants will be the best time to make a final decision. Maybe tomorrow!
Both these projects look fantastic!I'm curious to see the finished Ella. I don't think I've seen it floating around the blogsphere. It's new to me!
Posted by: Michelle | February 14, 2012 at 10:32 AM
Your Ella looks awesome. I am in baby sweater-topia right now, but as soon as I am done I will be going back to Ella!
Posted by: Seanna Lea | February 14, 2012 at 11:12 AM
Oh they look nice. How wonderful that you get to knit a smaller size, the knitting wont take as long!
Posted by: sue | February 14, 2012 at 07:32 PM
Wow! I just found your blog while looking for info on Nordic Mittens. What an ambitious knitter you are! I'll be sure to follow.
Cheers!
Posted by: Pearls-toronto | February 15, 2012 at 08:15 AM
Wow! You are making good progress on both your sweaters! Keep up the good work.
Posted by: Knittripps | February 18, 2012 at 10:08 AM