WIP Week | Insouciant.

...the first of two sweaters and another project inspired by my "day job" for the shop. The pattern came out three years ago...at the height of my "I'm never going to sew another seam again" thing. And I didn't seriously consider knitting it until last month when we featured the pattern in a newsletter. Yep, fast forward three years and I've lost my fear of seams (some might say I'm loving them with all the fervor of the newly converted...but I digress)...and this simple silk tee stole my heart*.

So I swatched and got gauge (had to go down a needle size), cast on and made swift progress through the back and started the front ... before I took the project to Florida two weeks ago. I made it to the front neck decreases and stopped. Still not believing I'd actually be able to knit the whole sweater in just three cones, I wasn't prepared to deal with knitting with two strands of the silk when I had just a single cone (cone #3) and what appeared to be a very little bit of the second cone left.  I set the project aside and wondered how to tackle it.

I considered knitting a third Color Affection using whatever would be left of cone #4 - it would coordinate great with my sweater :-)  I should've trusted Julie (the designer) and wound cone #3 into two balls before I left.

today's photo prompt was a great inspiration!

Because this morning when I finally got back to it, it worked out fine. I finished that first side of the front with about a yard of cone #2 left. I split cone #3 into 2 balls (easy when you have a scale - I wound the cone into a ball and weighed it - 41 grams - and then wound 20 grams of that ball into another ball...you can see them in the photo below).

Then - with the wonderful company of Last Tango in Halifax - I finished the front and knit the first sleeve. I typically knit the sleeves together so I can be sure they match, but that would mean four tiny balls of yarn and really, that was too much! (it's also just 68 rows and I plan to knit sleeve #2 tomorrow...before I forget anything).

So... much pleased with today's progress. And feeling like this one is nearly finished!

*but not my wallet. Habu's Tsumugi Silk isn't expensive, and the smallest size takes just three cones. That means a hand-knit short sleeved silk tee for less than $55 - and most of the other sizes would be under $70. I think that's a bargain!