6/29 saw sample at shop and although i had no intensions of knitting a complicated aran sweater that day, i came away with everything i needed to make it happen. then i read there’s steeking!

a week after i purchased the yarn i was mentally ready to cast on. hey, this isn’t so bad! the charts are simple and there are plenty of rest rows in-between (i’m not thinking about the steeking.) the yarn is lovely and I’ll enjoy wearing it as an outer layer but it is quite tiring on the hands so plenty of other projects being knitted in-between to keeping my hands happy.

7/17:I just started the 3rd skein so we are moving along.

8/3: had a panic attack this was going to be too small. put all stitches on waste yarn and soaked and blocked. it’s wool! it stretched! it fits!! added steek stitches for arm holes. exciting!

8/12: progress is slow as I’m knitting other things but we are well on our way with the armhole steel stitches in place. hoping to get the body finished soon.

8/28: finished body but now setting aside while I contemplate steeking….

11/13: the jumper’s been sitting quietly in its bag. Finally took stitches off needles and put on waste yarn so I could at least start the sleeves. Almost finished. Going to a steeking class on Sat (stars align), but have been researching how to steek and trying to get some listeners to steek along with me. All good fun.

11/16: steeking success! now I’m adding some length to the arms as I felt they were too short. Once they’re finished I’ll just have seaming and the neck band to do. wool!

11/22: finished sewing on arms, knitting neck band and weaving in ends. it looks great and i’m really happy with how it looks before i put it on. When I tried it on it felt a bit like wearing armor. Hmmff. I’m blocking it now.

11/23: this dried really quickly in front of the fire. This yarn softens up with each washing so I’m happy it’s going to look fine (and not like armor). I’m not completely happy with the high neck band and may take that back and knit a normal 2x2 short ribbed band. We’ll see. Of course as soon as it was finished the frigid cold was replaced with 60 deg f days so I haven’t actually worn it properly yet. Snow is on its way!