A year later… This is one of my favorite sweaters. I can dress it up with tights and a short skirt and boots or slouch it out in jeans. I usually wear the turtle loose, not rolled down, sometimes with a big pin and/or a scarf tucked inside. It looks great. Now my daughter wants one!

2/27: finished. Overall, I think I like the pattern but am still not sure about using this yarn. Will wear it a few times and see if it grows on me.

Just a couple of tips: the biggest one is the pattern calls for knitting the turtle separately and sewing it on. No need to go to that much trouble. Just pick up the stitches from the neckline from the inside so the selvedge edge shows and save yourself some fidgety finishing. Otherwise, cast off very loosely, or, as I did, you will have to take out your cast off row and do it again.

Otherwise, steam it flat and you’re done.

Oh and five skeins was plenty for the smallest size. I have about 30 grams of wool left from the fifth skein.

2/4: up early from the snow day phone call from school. Finished the back. Really conflicted. I might like the pattern more than I like this yarn. But it’s going really fast and so I think I’ll finish and see where I am. There’s just enough chance that I’ll like it.

Besides, I don’t have a clear idea of what else I would do with the yarn. Maybe a lap blanket? But I only have six skeins. And buying more would be a classic example of ignoring sunk costs.

1/28: Have already started and taken this out 2x. First, I don’t like the way the increase is worked in the stitch next to the edge. It leaves holes. So I moved it to the 4th stitch. Looks much better and makes a nice curved edge.

Then, as I went to enter it here, I realized one of my basic assumptions was off. I thought I had worsted weight yarn. So my plan was to use a size 8 needle, knit a swatch, and simply follow a bigger pattern size to get the small size I wanted. Well, indeed I have aran weight yarn. So I am going to take the 9 rows I’ve knitted out and and start a third time with size 9’s and follow the smallest pattern size.

Why not just continue? Because the yarn I’m using has shorter yardage than the yarn in the pattern and I have only six skeins… which might not be quite enough as it is. Using a smaller needle and a larger size pattern will only make any yarn shortage more acute. And since the yarn store is 3,000 miles away getting more might take a little doing.

Anyway, will report back when I start again and have something to say.