My only ambition today was to finish up the second sleeve. I decided to go with the same kind of look as in the pattern book and make the sleeves different as far as where the striping pattern was concerned. I only have one complaint about this color way -- I wish they hadn't put quite so much grey/black striping in the mix. It is much more dominant in the knit up garment than I thought it would be from the swatches I've seen. But this is a relatively minor complaint. When I look at the sleeves together in the picture it bothers me much less than it did while I was knitting them. I guess I am only happy when I am knitting in color.

Our original plans for the day fell through, however, due to an all day rain, and I had some extra time to assemble the sweater in. Here's the result:

This sweater is still quite a ways from being finished. All the edges have to be crocheted yet and a set of buttons have to be attached. I tried it on and am generally pleased with the fit. It's definitely not a loose fitting sweater. It's going to need that crochet edging for me to have any hope of ever buttoning it. The proportions are all correct, and the sleeves are long enough, which is the most important thing at this point, as I wear very few of my cardigans buttoned up (I can already picture it over this little black turtleneck that I love). The edging will also add a level of structure to the sweater that it doesn't have yet.

But I think this garden is going to have to wait patiently for more rain. It's my Mom's birthday next weekend and I have to get a little something going for her before we head to Ann Arbor. I swatched for that project too, and am pleased with the result (pictures tomorrow, maybe). So I'll be casting the real thing on tomorrow once I figure out what kind of cast on I want to do...