My friend Carrie was chatting with me about Andrea Mowry’s birthday sale and I remembered I bought Kingston during a winter sale. I’m penny-pinching and also trying to figure out how to fit more sweaters in my dresser, and (after trying to find yarn on Knit Picks first) remembered Surface, which has been a Christmas sweater for a few years, but doesn’t see hardly any wear otherwise. It’s too hot and too…Norah Gaughan. I LOVE her patterns, but they haven’t always been the most practical wears. Broke my heart (and my husband’s too, surprisingly!) to frog it, but I did. I think I’ll wear this much more often. I’m hoping the looseness will mitigate the warmth a bit (but my office is also flipping freezing in winter, so I won’t complain if it’s warm).

I kind of doubt I’ll manage the right gauge. I’m also a little skeptical that this yarn will plump up again after being a sweater for 8 years, but we’ll see. No swatch, just jumped right in! I’ll knit several inches into the main pattern, soak and block it, evaluate, and either carry on or frog and adjust.

Back to song titles for my sweaters. Woohoo! I need new music. After the dissertation…. This one is “Millstone” by Brand New. As the defense draws near, I spend more time reflecting on who I was BTD (before the diss). Almost done.

I used to be such a burning example
I used to be so original
I used to care, I was being careful
Made sure I showed it to those that I love

Okie dokie! I forgot that Andrea knits super tight, lol. Even with dk yarn, 10s were way too big. My 51” body was 64”! Ripped it all out and switched to 8s. Since the ribbing doesn’t need to contract, I knit that on 8s too. I only just started the body again, but 2 rows in, the gauge is looking much, much better.

Blocked out to the perfect dimensions! I did not measure the sleeves as I blocked, which I should have done. They needed to be stretched wide instead of long (not that I stretched them, just laid them out). When I wore it, they were just a bit too long for me. I kept having to push them up. It is a JOY to wear! Except one thing: the neck keep stretching larger and larger. Not the ribbed part, but where it joins to the sweater body. I think I read that someone did a single-crochet ring right there to tighten it up. I shall try the same. Otherwise, I really love it!