Half a Collar for May

When October rolls around, I am a happy camper. It usually brings that delightful cool fall weather where you don't yet really need a coat, but it's just the perfect time for busting out a favorite sweater. It's a time where I start to think that moving wool fibers through my fingers is a real pleasure and I anticipate what yarn in my stash might become what sweater or other cold weather garment. Here in the midwestern United States, the trees are beginning to change and so even though we all know that winter is coming, nature is giving us one final blast of color before we get to see a higher percentage of white and grey.

Except that this last week has been more reminiscent of July than of October, including high humidity. And just about the last thing I want to do is think about wool sweaters. So May, and a couple of other wooly projects that need to be completed (like my Ab Fab Afghan) have been a little neglected.

May and Half Her Collar

Fortunately, cooler weather is supposed to be just around the corner, which has been the one thing that kept me plugging away on May's enormous collar. This collar turns out to be the exact reason that it is always good to buy a little more yarn than you think you need. I had to use a size larger needle for the body of the sweater, so I should have used a size up needle for the garter stitch borders as well (it was two sizes smaller than the body needle). However, I liked the density of the fabric when I used the three sizes smaller needle (I like my collars to be a little stiffer especially in soft squishy yarn like Cashsoft) that the pattern called for and didn't think it would matter all that much. And in terms of overall look, I don't think it does matter that much. In terms of yarn usage, it matters a great deal. I expect, by the time the other half of the collar is complete, that this collar will take up the better part of three balls of yarn.

May Collar Detail

This collar is made in two pieces and then seemed when they meet. At first I thought it was kind of stupid not to knit it all in one piece, then I realized that it would be difficult to judge where to start the shapings on the second half and that the edging might be slightly different looking if one were doing decreases rather than increases, so I'm following the instructions as suggested. However, rather than binding off each piece as they describe, I'm thinking of doing a three needle bind off in hopes that it will create a smoother more invisible seam at the back center

I'm hoping to get started on the second side tonight. The nice thing about a garter stitch collar -- it's easy to knit in the dark while watching TV, which is eminently important in my house when you are trying to stay cool.

In the "arrggh!" file, I realized that I have now posted the same picture of Z twice. Clearly I love that picture. It's also one of the pictures I have on my desk at work. But with the nearly 3 million pictures I have taken of her, you'd think I'd be able to come up with something original every Friday. Ah well. I'll work on doing better on that account this week.