I love texture.  I love dolman sleeves.  I love oversized tops and I love hoods.   What can I say?  I love this project!  However, I wasn’t thrilled when Vogue Knitting, 360 suggested muppet-like.  (Keep in mind, it was knitted in purple.)  No, I do not want to look like a muppet nor did I “see” muppet when I fell in love with it.

I am not familiar with Cascade Yarns’ Kid Seta nor the loop stitch nor zig zag rib; all beautiful, however…   all three caused this project to feel endless and created much anxiety for me.  The yarn itself floats in air and defies gravity.  Just pulling it from its skein was a timely matter.  The stitches clung to the wooden needles, they were difficult to count, and they needed stretching to see where to knit into them.    Hubby’s commentary about the yarn did not help matters.  The loop stitch is made throughout the entire body (as you can see) and is done every fourth stitch.  Knit 3, then loop stitch.  The loop stitch is made by knitting into a stitch, then winding yarn around your thumb and needle 3 times into the front, back, front, back, causing the loops, then to knit those 4 stitches together and pull taut.  Each loop stitch probably took a minute, maybe two or three and that was after I got good at it.   The zig zag rib was equally timely in its construction.  Let’s just say, this project took forever to make.  And the worst part (for me) was the inability to rip out.  When you pull the loop stitch taut, it is like securing the stitch or creating a knot, which is a good thing for its durability.  However, the fibers of the yarn with the loop stitch made the fabric virtually unable to redo.  So, I knew that if I needed to re-knit any of it for fit reasons or for re-shaping, I would need to cut out the mistake rather than pull it out so I purchased three extra balls of yarn to insure enough yardage.  And, I used two of those balls.  Transitioning to Addy Turbo Lace metal rounds made for some (minimal) ease and speed (barely) of the knitting.  Swearing a lot along the way helped, too.

All that said, I cannot tell you how pleased I am with this project.  You could ask me… was it worth it?  Do you love it?  Would you make another in a different color?  And, as any true knitter would say…. Of course!  And the knitter, at least this one, would not remember any of the frustration that occurred along the way.

Here I am at the beautiful, albeit frosty Niagara River, early April 2013, in my silver-grey loopy hoodie, designed by Jeannie Chin (kudos to her) from Vogue Knitting Fall 2012 and pants from the fabulous, Lululemon.