Well, boys and girls,

Goddess didn't work out like I hoped. The drape wasn't as dramatic as I wanted it to be, the armholes bag out at a weird angle, and it wasn't as broad across the back as I thought it should be. There were parts of the fit that I really liked, and some of the neckline issues could have been solved with a looser tubular cast on (although that would require re-knitting the whole piece), but the reality is that there were some elements that were inherent to the design and they are, ultimately, flat out deal-breakers for me. I intend to take it apart and re-purpose the yarn elsewhere (it is, after all, soft, high-quality cotton in a nice sagey green color) but I lost momentum when I thought of ripping out all those long hours of stockinette. Perhaps another day. Also, a modeled photo to come (so you can see what I'm talking about).

There are other things on my needles, but they have mostly fallen into that abyss of knitting oblivion that, if I'm not careful, just about everything I work on goes to. But that's not why I'm here, and that's not why we're talking.

I've mostly been too busy to knit (between school and work, I'm essentially working two full-time jobs), but the semester is winding down and I'll soon only have work occupying my time (and I'll also have more money). Besides, a close friend asked me to teach her to knit recently, so the factors really came together nicely (a nice pattern sitting in the back of my mind, a fella to knit for, and the time and opportunity to put into it).

I showed Tweed's example of the pattern to my fella when he asked me to make something, and he really liked it. Next, I searched for wool that the boy might deem soft enough, and that would, hopefully, be cheap enough for a knitter on a budget. Knit Picks' Wool of the Andes comes in the right weight, in a color the boy liked, so I bought a ball and knitted up a swatch. It passed all the tests, so I have been working on a new swatch with the cable patterns (almost all of which I have to figure out myself). The charts are unclear in the paper pattern I bought, and the back center cable I'm using doesn't seem to have a chart anywhere in the internet ether. Meanwhile a sweater's worth of yarn is in the mail.