A year in review

It's another turn of the Roman calendar year. I really have nothing more to say about this past year, so how about we just keep moving forward?

On Ravelry, I play two de-stashing games. This is good, because I have accumulated a crap-ton of yarn. I need to get rid of a bunch of it, and my preferred method is to actually knit with it. However, as I am as slow as molasses when knitting (and now have the yarnivorous puppy to contend with), it means I de-stash a whole lot more slowly than I re-stash.

For instance, just at Chrismas, I ended up with a load of lace yarns, luckily all free:

Not even going to confess how much fingering weight I got, never mind the worsted stuff. Sigh.

And those are just the highlights. There's more. Much, much more.

I need to actually use it, you know? So one of the de-stashing games I'm doing is setting challenges for us. The first challenge is to use our oldest yarn. Then, we're to use our Precioussss -- you know, that one skein that is just so super special you want to just hug it and love it and call it George?

It's hard to pick just one for that second challenge, I'll confess. Although that will end up being a project finish instead of starting something new, methinks. Let me rummage, see if I've got a picture....

That's my first skein of Malabrigo, ever. Ain't it purty?

So there's my goals for 2015: Find time to knit, knit with my oldest yarns:

Probably my multiple colors of this, Rowan Kidsilk Haze

 

Finish my oldest project (because it is my Precioussss), and maybe knit with this:

Mystery merino, lots of yardage, won in a contest early on

 

I know exactly what it's going to be. All that on top of the other stuff I'm knitting, plus my work and my writing...I'm going to be a very busy bee in 2015, Bob willing and the creek don't rise. 

We'll see how I've followed through in 365 days, won't we?

Aughnonononononono!

So, I was working on a Giftmas present for Nieceling. I got a yarn I thought was going to work, finished up two days ago, popped it in the washer (it said it was machine washable yarn) and....

It pilled up!!!

I am so verklempt right now. It was adorable and now it's just...just...fuzzy.

I will have to promise her to make one out of good yarn. Sturdy yarn.

I'm off to KnitPicks now, because say what you will about their policies, they have some sturdy as hell acrylics that are soft, durable and do not pill. 

Here is Rex, to cheer me up:

Come to my pillow fort, we can snuggle

Nobody comes here anymore, so....

I guess it's safe to post this here:

It's a glimpse of patterns to come. Just the colors, no detail work yet. I'll be posting the pattern shortly after Christmas (if only because I won't be getting a good overall photo until Christmas day.) The prototype is a gift for someone (shh, don't tell), and will be getting pulled out of a bag and (hopefully) worn for the first time that day. I hope she likes it.


It's really simple, and nothing anyone with a half an ounce of knitting experience couldn't reverse-engineer, but eh. Feels good to be getting my toes into the design waters again. If nothing else, it gives me an extra push to finish it -- so I can write it down and get it ready.

I'm such a weenie, that I should need an extra push to finish up a pattern. I don't like deadline knitting, but there's really no point in resisting it -- it's not like anyone forced me to knit this, I chose to do it. I get so frustrated with myself sometimes!

I have help in the knitting:

Nice picture, eh? I caught him in mid-scritch. Found it adorable, to be honest. Long curly whiskers, little floofy toes....

A total affront to my dignity, that last picture. What if I had been grooming?!?!?

I have other help, too, but of the "giant canine version of a yarn moth" sort. So I don't knit in front of my downstairs tv anymore. Someone might eat my yarn.

Hey. How you doin'?

 

HappyLight, I love you!

The past two years have been...eventful, to say the least. Being of a highly strung disposition, this has been giving me fits. Since late summer, I've been getting progressively more and more down. Not constantly, but, bouncing down and then just not rebounding as high, if you know what I mean.

I decided that until I get into the habit of yoga and puppy snuggling kicks in and improves my mood, I would get myself a HappyLight to keep the dark of winter from adding to my problems. I mean, I'm having enough problems dealing with the positive changes in my life, adding cold dark on top of it...yeah. No.

I've been using it during the week at work -- it fits nicely on my desk, you see. I haven't thought much of it, to be honest. I've been holding pat on the whole "getting depressed" thing, thought maybe I had just found a plateau to sit on.

Then I forgot to turn it on yesterday morning.

Holy Bob, y'all. On a scale of 1 to 10, where 10 is Rex snuggled up in my furry blanket, curled up on Mom's lap, practically purring in canine Nirvana, and 1 is being completely ennervated into a soggy lump by existential despair, I was somewhere around a 3 (barely functional, weepy, wired and tense from near panic attack levels of anxiety). It was horrible. I could hardly wait to get to work this morning just so I could turn on that stupid light box.

And it works, just in case you wondered. I feel way, way, way better tonight. Praise Bob.

Although getting some knitting in may have helped, too. I worked my old desk today, for a couple of hours. I had a nice big window in front of me, music, an obvious heater at my feet...and my yarn.

I am, by the way, working on a new pattern. It's pretty basic, but I'll cut people in on it. I want to get back to designing in my off hours. I'm tired of not doing anything more strenuous than watching tv. I also need to get back to making myself dinner, with like vegetable and vitamins and stuff. All these changes, all the dark and gloomy, wet weather have apparently really been bringing me down.

But I have HappyLight now. And I felt good enough today to take the dog for a walk, so I'm hopeful that I'l be feeling good enough to make decent meals, which will help me feel better as well, and it will become a positive habit spiral that will get me out of the negative spiral I've been heading into.

I love you, HappyLight!

Oh, my Blob, what just happened?!?!?

I'm not sure even I know. Life has taken some bizarre turns, my friends. I'm really hoping that now that Rex has turned one, I'll be able to actually knit in my chair on occasion.

Otherwise, he and I are going to have to have a come to Dogus meeting.

I haven't managed to finish one thing in the past three months. I accumulate the yarn, I buy the needles, but I am continually frustrated by my inability to actually work on anything. Part of that is that I have an obligation project on the needles. I hate knitting obligation.

I may have to get off my backside, queue up some fun tv and knit the shit out of that thing tomorrow. Three hours (which happens, coincidentally, to be what I have of Vintage CSI: Original Crispy on the DVR) should do it.

And then, maybe, I can move forward? Without neglecting my knitting self?

Productivity

My desk went from this:

 To this:

Tonight.

I also vacuumed up the cobwebs in the ceiling corners and along the walls.

Now, I just have to vacuum up the couch, treadmill and the back of my cedar chest of yarny goodness tomorrow, and do my bedroom Thursday and Friday, and I will be done with my cleaning. I've been slacking on it, and I'm worried it's a sign of depression. I typically only let it build up like this when I'm down, so you can see why I'm worried.

I'm going to clean everything up and try to maintain it -- Saturday mid-mornings are not busy times, and I can do some spot-cleaning and tidying and get it out of the way so my environment doesn't get so icky again.

And my yarn isn't endangered by bugs anymore. Which is, ultimately, the most important thing!

Fiber Deficiency

I can't knit at work anymore, because I now have a job where I actually work, you know? And I can't knit in my chair at night because Rex. He's cute, but he chews anything he sees, at least once, if not twice, just to see what it tastes like.

He's lucky we love him.

Anyway, I'm sadly fiber deficient.

I also had a moth scare the other night. Yoda caught a moth in my bedroom (no one was more surprised than I am; he's not exactly the Great Fluffy Hunter, you know?) and until I verified through someone outside my own head that it wasn't a wool or clothing moth, I was tense. Here, have a lookey-lou:

Consensus is that it's just your average, 'round the ole porch light moth. But Yoda did bring it down, single pawedly (well, he used two paws, but who's counting?) and I tossed it outside. But then I took precautions and put all the projects and yarn that had been in my room into the freezer. Just...in case.

Now that I know it's not the dangerous sort of moth, I'm taking them back upstairs. I've got...my Double Cross Scarf, my Victorious (picture in case you've forgotten it):

And my new stash -- the mill ends in my last post, in particular.

But now that I know they are safe and secure, I will be taking them back up to work on up there. And some new yarn (well, not really new; I got it on yarn crawl this past winter):

and am going to cast on and knit a Mountaineer Hat. I've had the pattern for a while (a friend designed it; don't I have the most awesome friends!??!) but not the impulse. However, I now sit beneath an air vent at work.



I need a hat. Like, yesterday. Or, to be more precise, the eigth of July. Maybe I should go with something less...fitted, so I don't continually smush my curls....

More finished things!

I may have to make a tag just for finished things, and go back and tag posts where I've celebrated casting off. I have a hard time keeping track of things like that, and it sometimes feels like I never finish things.

This week I did finish a ting. Nemesis has come off the needles and had fringe put on. I don't have a current photo, I apologize. I'll get one up as soon as possible, I promise. But Nemesis is BIG -- at least 15" wide and probably 6' long. The fringe adds another foot, foot and a half to that length, too. I'll figure out how to get the whole thing in frame...eventually.

Anyway, I've got some other pictures to share, if you'd like to see....

I spoke last week of mill ends and me, right?

 

Aren't they awesome? Since they are mill ends, they were't labeled with the colors. But I spent some time on their website and think I've correctly guessed what they were supposed to be.

This one is "Jellied". Since there are no color flaws obvious from the outside of the skein, I'm going to guess it's one of the 'mis-spun' skeins. Or maybe there's some knots. Whatever. It's awesome.

And this is (I think) Liquid Sunshine. With a color flaw at the bottom. But who cares?

Not me. I will be enjoying this yarn...lots and lots and lots!

Mill Ends and Me

So, it's been a rough month and change since I got home from vacation. Had that vacation been truly restful, or had I not gotten an immediate promotion/transfer upon returning to work, the past month wouldn't have been so difficult.

Even good change can cause angst.

Last week, I got wind of a sale at Blue Moon Fiber Arts and picked up a mystery bag of mill ends in the heavier weight that's available. It hasn't arrived yet, but I'm quite eager to see what I get. Then, today I went to Joann's for some earring backs, and found this:

It was in a bin that held bags of mill ends -- more mill ends! One pound per bag. You may not be able to see it in my craptacular photo, but the darker green thread is sparkly. We've had the discussion about me and sparkles, haven't we?

It was a pound for $8, and it's fascinating. $8. Considering I blew over $100 on books alone this past week, not even to mention the $40 I spent on my Blue Moon mill ends, I figure what the hell. So now it's mine.

I have no idea what yarn it is, all I know is it's a pound of acrylic/polyester/rayon/wool, and it's a mill end lot. It looks like four skeins of yarn, but the ends are all connected. I cut them apart. I have no idea what sort of mileage it is, although I suspect that as a super bulky yarn (you can't tell, but it's that odd sort of chain yarn -- not spun and plied, but chained up and looking a bit like a huge icord) and at a pound, it's about 400 yards.

I'm just guessing here.

Ah, well. Now I have about 400 yards of bulky chain-made yarn to figure out what to do with. And it's machine washable -- so that's about all I know.

I do love a good mystery!

The only other thing I accomplished today was getting my helix piercing out of my ear. I wanted to put my hoop back in. Unfortunately, the hoop was a capture ball.

The small ball has to be pressed between the ends of the hoop wire (which is closed with a jewelry plier as you juggle the hoop and tiny ball with one hand).

Needless to say, the hoop plan didn't work, but I did manage to get the rose on a post out.

So I cleaned up my ear, the earring and all, and put it back in. I feel slightly better for having control of the earring now. I'm leaving it in -- technically, it's not healed up until the end of August -- but knowing I can take it out makes me feel a whole lot better about it.

Maybe I'll find another hoop, one that doesn't require pliers to make work.

Awesome.

Done(ish)!

I finished (mostly) a thing yesterday:

He's gone into the washing machine for a whirl.

And when he comes out, I will stuff him and fit some washable bells and sew him up. Then he gets to fly off to the UK while I stay here and labor in the salt mines.

Which is totally fine, I mean I did just get promoted to the top of the quarry and all...

And here's a gratuitous picture of Rex:

On the general principle that a cute dog picture never goes amiss.

Adventures in Baking

I've had a hankering for clafoutis (a yummy, custardy fruit tart) lately -- a very strong hankering, made worse by the fact that the only place I've ever gotten pre-fabricated clafoutis (Trader Joe's) is not only a good half hour drive away by highway, but also doesn't carry the same products all the time. So getting clafoutis up there is a crap shoot -- with no guarantee of a sweet, pastry and fruit payoff at the end.

Too many times of rolling snake-eyes on the clafoutis table inspired me to find a decent recipe for it so I could take control over my own cravings.

I found this recipe over at Orangette: Clafoutis. It's an adaptation of a New York Daily News version of the recipe which I further adapted by adding a pinch of dried, powdered ginger and two hefty shakes of cinnamon to the batter and a light dusting of sugar on top of the plums as they lay in the dish, waiting for assault with spicy batter. My plums were slightly under-ripe (two of the three, anyway), and I intended the sugar dusting to help mitigate the sour bite of the fruit -- which may or may not have worked as intended. I'll not admit either way. The ginger gives the plums an additional bite, the cinnamon a hint of burning sweet, and the custard turned out creamy, sweet and luscious.

It's easily the simplest version I've found in my extensive searches, and as far as I'm concerned, it's the only version I need. Typically, the first time I make a recipe, it takes me slightly longer to put it together (because I'm getting used to the process). If that holds true for this one, I will bend space-time the next time I make this clafoutis, because it only took five minutes to put the batter together. Any shorter prep time, and it will be baking in the oven before I finish whipping the eggs. The plums took a good five minutes to chop, and I imagine that process will continue to be time consuming. Although if I get riper plums, it might get shorter -- the less ripe plums let go of their pits very unwilling, bless.

Soo....ten minutes? Maybe? from dry ingredients to sitting on my ass, waiting for it to come out of the oven. In my oven, it took slightly longer than the 50 minute baking time (I gave it 51), and waiting half an hour to eat it was painful.

I can't argue the product, though:

I ate nearly half of it. And that's after my dinner. Blob, but it's awesome. I may have to make it with cherries next time, as is traditional.

Full stomach aside, there is knitting news.

I'm making a toy for a friend's new baby. It's going to be a jellyfish-inspired stuffed toy with jingles inside.

It's knit from in a flat piece that gets folded over and sewn up and stuffed. I got lucky when my yarn striped in such a way that the colors on each side of the body match (mostly -- the front and back ruffles are two different colors). I've been doing the tentacles in a mix-and-match stitch patterns. There's a seed stitch, a garter and a stockinette so far. I may try a slip stitch or a simple check for the remaining two. Or I may just do another garter and another seed.


The intended recipient is new here, he won't know about the wide variety of stitch patterns available to the average knitter until well after he's chewed holes in his jellyfish.

And to close, a cute picture of Rex:

who is currently acting like a wild animal in an attempt to get sent back to the orphanage.


He's lucky he's cute.

Celebrate with me!

I apologize for that truly awful picture, but hey! That glass you can barely see behind the cupcake (which is the pertinent item in this photo) has some lovely, lovely blackberry wine in it. A little less now than was there ten minutes ago, but still. It's going to affect a body's ability to work a camera, you know?

I got promoted! With all attendant banners and extra money and stuff. I'll get more deets later, but the gist of the whole thing is this: They created a new position at my current workplace that actually relates to one of my degrees, sounds like a blast and is (and this is important) still at the same place where I work now and love.

I applied, interviewed that afternoon and got hired same afternoon. Then I had to wait until this morning to fill out the papers, but still. That's the fastest I've gotten anywhere ever.

This morning I did have a brief moment of Oh, my Dog, what did I just do?!?!? It took me a while to come to the realization that, like the guy in Ikea, I got this. I'm terrified and it will take a long time to get accustomed to the new shape of my life, but...I got this.

Now, if you'll pardon me, there is a cupcake on my desk, and I most desperately want to get that.

Dear Blog, I love you.

Truly, madly, deeply.

I was updating my resume tonight, and I needed the dates of when I got which jobs. I would be totally hosed trying to remember that on my own.But Bloggie was there for me! Bloggie had the information!

I love you Bloggie. I will try to visit more often.

But now -- after the taxing effort of updating my resume and emailing it to myself at work -- my mortal form has grown weak. I need sustenance.

I'm thinkin'....sunflower seed butter and jelly sandwich, chips and then a slice of apple pie to finish?

Did I just do that?

Yes, yes I did just do that!

What did I do, dear readers? I finished the first part of a writing project that I started three years ago!

Honestly, it's an accomplishment. Since I started that piece way back in the way back days, I haven't done bupkiss in the writing department. Oh, I started a short story that sucks like a Dyson (or a Shark, if the commercials are to be believed), but that hardly counts. This is the first bit of real writing I've engaged in in forever. It feels good, really.

And they just built a new grocery store near my home that is dedicated to organic foods, so I don't have to travel so far just for a can of frickin' soup anymore. And I went to the movies last night with my friends and we decided to have a regular Girl's Night Out once a month, and use it as a sort of writer's group, too.

Things are looking up, y'all.

In knitting news, I am less than two full skeins away from completion of Nemesis. You remember my Nemmie, don't you?

Nemmie is much, much longer now. Why, almost a full six feet, unblocked! And with her fringe on, she'll be magnificent. Magnificent, I say!

I have also agreed to make a toy for a friend who is currently gestating. She deserves it, and I got to buy some interesting baby yarn, and all that. I will post a picture after it's been sent (if I remember to take on in process.)

And then I have to get back to my Feeding the Fish. It's been sitting in its baggie for weeks now -- I didn't pull it out once on my vacation. I've promised myself I will pull it out tonight at bedtime, so after I get my tasks for the day completed, I will work on the baby toy, then go to bed and work on FtF.

Ahhh. A Sunday full of writing and knitting and nothing much else of import! What else can a girl ask for?

That was...uh...yeah.

I went on vacation. Two weeks in the Las Vegas area -- mostly spent outside Vegas, in the national parks and museums in the region. Two days I visited the Strip.

That was more than enough.

I am not a Strip sort of girl, you know? I mean, I had fun at the MGM Grand -- I did the CSI: The Experience and then we test watched a new show (you all should really, really, really clear your Wednesday nights in the traditional CSI: Original Crispy time slot of 10 pm Eastern to watch Stalker. Just sayin'.) Those bits were fun. But the rest of it? It's all too much, you know? Too much noise, smell, neon, flashing lights, all of it. It's like drowning in external stimulation.

And vaguely depressing. I'm not sure why, but both my friend and I were actually, measurably depressed after we got back from the Strip, both times. I'm not sure if it was because I had a different expectation of what the experience was, or if it was the people around me....I dunno. I just know that after we went the Thursday before we left for home, I started getting homesick and wanted just to leave. Not even the Grand Canyon (aka, the world's largest drainage ditch) could cheer me. I was wound up until yesterday, too, and I got home Wednesday last.

I did, however, find the time to visit a yarn shop in Vegas. I think it was something I should have done again after visiting the Strip -- all that yarn, acting like psychic insulation against the bright lights and floral stench of the gaming floors (if you visit Vegas and have scent sensitivities, be warned: the big resort/casinos put a fragrance into the air in their facilities. Most of them are floral in tone -- sort of like a giant, over-done Plug-In is somewhere in the lobby -- but the MGM is a gentler, musky scent, like men's cologne. It's easier on the sinuses.)

Of course I enhanced my stash.

And the crowning jewel:

None of them are locally made yarns, but they are all yarns I cannot find here. Well, aside from maybe the Sunseeker, but the sparkles made me happy.

That's my primary decision making heuristic -- does it make me happy? If yes, put it in my cart. There are worse ways to make choices, you know. Particularly when it comes to yarn.

Now I have to plan out the projects I want to make with all of these pretty, pretty yarns. Ah, the real joy of vacation!

Dah-ta-daaaaaaah!

Do you know what this is, friends?

That right there is an armscye.

Aw, yeah!
(dances around in circles)

I feel accomplished, and all I did was bind off 18 stitches in preparation for doing even more decreases and knitting the last few inches of this piece of the sweater. Once the back is done, I'm going to move the project to a larger, 2 gallon zippie bag. I keep most of my projects in a 1 gallon bag, but that's not going to be adequate. A full size sweater is going to be way more than a gallon.

Hark at me! Talking like the sweater is already completely knitted and done!

Not yet, but soon. Soon my pretties, soon.

So, so tired.

It's just the change in seasons. Finally, it's warm enough to leave the house without sixty-bajillion layers of clothing on, and I'm exhausted from the sinus fun and frolic.

So I've been working on my sweater panel, making progress. I haven't any photos, but that's not unusual for me. Never a camera around when knitting happens. Here, have a puppy instead:

Help! The couch is eating me!!!

I have a project upstairs for when I hang out with Yoda. We knit and watch tv -- well, I knit and he chews my yarn, I watch tv and he sits there and watches me watch tv. It works for us, as a thing.

Tomorrow there is probably no knitting -- my choir's performance is in the afternoon. All the practices, all the late Sunday nights, all that work finally pays off. I'm not at all disappointed. I'm exhausted by this point in the season. I may need to get back in shape something fierce if I was so glad to see the back of Easter because it meant that the performance was only a week away. I can't imagine how some of my friends do it -- they're in multiple choirs. 

Anyhoo. I'm hoping to be rested and ready for some serious creativity this summer, once I get a weekend that doesn't involve standing on my feet for three hours at a stretch and breath control. Maybe a few more naps than I've been able to manage of late. And maybe take some more walks, get some water and vitamins and eat some veggies or something, because just doing this much has me feeling like I've been slapped around. I mean, I've got stuff to do, things to plan. 

I have to finish up my Feeding the Fish, I need to design out my Meninius sweater and get it started, then I want to finish up some other projects that are on the needles and have been for far, far, far too long.    

I'm going to head up to bed now, knit some with Yoda, watch a video or two. I'm making some serious progress on my Nemesis shawl on nights like this -- that's my Yoda/TV knitting project. It's simple, there's little chance of my screwing it up (so knitting while half asleep is no problem) and I don't have to watch it while I'm knitting.

Then sleeping and then singing, and then sleeping some more. I love being in the choir, but oy. I will be so glad when this season is over! At least until next season begins, when I will forget how exhausted I am now, and join up enthusiastically. 

I never really learn, do I?

Knitting, Interrupted.

But at least he's warm and wiggly.

 That's my baby brother, Rex. We got him from a rescue group. If you look very closely, and I do advise it, because he's adorable, you can see that his fur is a bit thin in spots.

You can see it a bit better in that photo, around his eyes and on his muzzle. He had the mange, but we don't talk about that, or use the "mangy cur" epithet. He's very sensitive.

But I have been working on my Mr. Rogers sweater, now officially dubbed "Feed The Fish" (because Mr. Rogers had fish at one point and somebody wrote a letter asking about them, and that's just about painfully adorable in and of itself, but also because I got started while my brother was out of the country and I was, actually, feeding his fish), mostly while at work or relaxing with my Yoda. I'm afraid to test himself out on my yarn. He's bad enough about ducks.

So, to prove knitting happened, I took a picture.

 But...why, why, why has my camera washed out the color to that nauseating hot pink? The yarn is not pink. It is red. A very pretty dark cherry red, to be precise. Here's a better exemplar:

I'm not sure I could keep going if it was that hot pink color. It's eye-searing enough in bright red!

Cute Yoda story to end my post: I went to see Captain America: The Winter Soldier last night as a reward for not throwing a fit in a shoe store (long story, maybe one day I'll tell it). It was excellent, but the shaky-handi-cam produced headache and nausea as it usually does (grrrr, what happened to make steady-cam so down market?) I came home, snorgled Rex (because puppy smell is curative -- don't knock it, it worked a little bit), took my shower and turned in. Yoda could tell I had a massive headache, because he came over and gave me a Yoda-sage on the back of my neck, and patted on my face and hair with his paws while mewing gently. Then when we woke up this morning, he dug me out of the blankets to rub his face on mine.

Such a sweet boy!

Dilemma

Sweaters. Or scarves. Or shawls.

I was thinking at the beginning of the year that I was going to make a list and know ahead of time what I would knit. But I'm not sure that's going to work out. I mean, I started a Mr. Rogers Cardi-Along on Ravelry (don't ask, let's just say...I said something, then I made a sparkle gif at the sparkle gif generator and suddenly there's 30 odd people knitting cardigans together). I wasn't planning on a sweater this year. And then I went to see the second replay of Coriolanus and fell in absolute love with this:

Can you see it? Can you??!

It was all I saw, I'll tell you that. Oh, his performance was stunning, I enjoyed the whole thing immensely, but every time Mark Gatiss walked on stage, all I could see was that sweater. 

It's long, I can tell that much. You can see the bottom edge there next to his left knee, between his pant leg and that darker brown patch on his duster. It's got the sleeves -- I'll leave out the hole in the elbow (which you can't see in that picture), but what really got me? 

The scarf. 

That scarf around his neck is, I believe, attached to the back of the sweater. It never moved, not once, except when he threw the ends around his neck. Even then, it did not shift from side to side. Not at all. 

So now I'm thinking I need to reverse engineer a sweater like this. Long sleeve, long body, long scarf attached at the neck -- maybe buttoned to the neckline, so I can wear the sweater with or without the scarf. Maybe...five buttons, so the attachment point is very secure. I don't know what the front should look like (the sweater was never buttoned, and the front edges always fell under the duster he wore over it), but I can bodge something up.

Anyway, until I saw this movie, I had no plans to make a second sweater, much less the first one. If I'd planned out my knitting for the year ahead, I'd have to shelve both sweaters in order to keep to my list! 

I guess it's a good thing I never got around to it, isn't it?