The 48” sweater would fit me, but then I’d ONLY be able to wear tank tops/cami’s under this sweater. I’ll be making the largest size with the smaller sleeves (hello, scrawny arms) so I’ll have more options for what to wear under the sweater. :)

I started out using Glitterspun until I realized that I wouldn’t have nearly enough. Looked into ordering more, then discovered Lion Brand has discontinued the yarn. Arrrrgh. Had already knitted 15” in the round by this point. Frog, frog, frog. Dammit.

~~~
10/11/10 Sporadically (of course) working on the sweater. Got about halfway through the first repeat (in the round, natch! Seaming? Yuuuuck!), when it occurred to me: Self, perhaps a sleeve would be an easier way to check gauge? And not so much frogging if it doesn’t work? Yeah. head-desk

So. I haz a sleeve! And the gauge is pretty damn near spot-on! OK, the rows seem a bit off, but not so much it’s noticeable. I’m making the sleeves several inches (read, about 5.5-6) longer than the pattern requires as I am possessed of the Stuart Boarding House Reach(TM). I tried tying said sleeve onto my tank top, and it fits! Yay! Errr, now I have to do another one. and the body. slump

9 Dec: After much procrastinating (aka “Well, I really should finish these gloves since it’s cold and they’re kinda needed… and I really ought to do this other project, too”), I have finished the 2nd sleeve. Woot. Now a (hopefully) short break as my fingers recover from the marathon knitting session of the last couple of days. Err, I was rather… determined to finish that sleeve… Heh.

30 Dec: As of 12:30 am, I’ve finished the body! Woot!!!! All I have to do is attach the sleeves, and I will be done, baby! Honestly? If I were the sort to wear sleeveless sweaters, I’d stop now & just hide the ends. It looks that good. But… yeah, I’d never actually wear it (maybe occasionally over a long sleeve t-shirt, but never over a tank top which sort of negates the point of this being a most-of-the-year sweater). So! Sleeves! And then pictures!

24 Jan: So, I attached the sleeves and was all excited: Wash, minimal blocking, & WEAR! Yeah, not so much. The set-in sleeves aren’t very set-in. Hrmph. As in, the seam is about 1.5 inches down my arms. Which causes the sleeves to hang down past my fingers. And no, I didn’t put in a lifeline before starting the shoulder shaping. And no, I don’t want drop shoulders. Frog pond!! Again.

So. New plan: Make the body at the 52” size, but then during the shaping for the top, reduce down to the 48” size. This should have the added benefit of a neckline that’s better suited to my shape and not exposing tank/camisole straps (well, more than the nature of the lace will anyway, but at least the straps will be under the lace).

Scratch that top shaping. Instead, I’m using Paula Ward’s Easy Knitting Design to calculate the exact shaping needed so the thing fits properly. I’m currently (6 Apr 2011) working on the first sleeve, also following her pattern. We’ll see how different the lace looks when done top-down….

13 Apr: Right sleeve done!! And it fits beautifully! Now I have second sock, err, sleeve syndrome. (We won’t discuss how it went from being a tunic-length sweater to a dress because I was knitting at work and not paying attention to length before I separated front & back, right? Right!)

24 May: Finished!!! Well, except for hiding ends, washing, & a final blocking. No pictures yet.

19 Mar 12: Finished hiding all of the ends. Washed. I think I’m going to shorten it, because it really is crazy-long.

21 Nov 12: Shortened it to a more manageable length. It’s a tunic-length sweater now instead of a knee-length dress. Now I just need to get good pictures. :)