Stitch Diva pattern: Goddess, size large
Elann Peruvian Highland Silk, Celadon 2117

Wednesday night, I remeasured my gauge swatches and found that I get gauge with US #5 needles, so my concerns about drape have been alleviated.  This is still not going to be as slinky as the Louet Opal called for in the pattern, which is fine by me.  I didn’t use the tubular cast-on instructions from the pattern (I prefer to start with a crocheted chain provisional cast-on) and worked a few rows of the neckline pattern stitch and then packed up my commuter project bag:

Marked-up printout of pattern, scratch paper, pen, yarn, stitch markers, project on needles – must remember to add nail clippers

Thursday, I took the bus to work and it was wonderful.  Air-conditioning that really works, no need to pay attention to the road, a fully-charged iPod (currently holding several podcasts worth of Car Talk, Fresh Air, and This American Life), and a knitting project.  I was a little miffed at having to pause when it was time to transfer buses.  After work, I knit on the bus to the dentist’s office ("healing beautifully") and knit in the waiting room.  After running some errands and browsing the craft book section at the big-chain bookstore, I headed over to Mocha Java early so that I could get dinner out of the way before the Aloha Knitters meeting.  And I knit some more, and continued to knit during the meeting, which is kind of unusual for me (I will drink lots of tea and chatter, yes, but knit?).  I did put the knitting down to dive into the bag of sock yarn that Keohininani brought, and to squee over the maneki neko stitch markers Barb gave me in exchange for some yarn I’d given her (no good photos of those items yet). Vron spun up some pretty purple yarn on a pretty purple drop-spindle, and I kept knitting. 

Today I knit some more on the way home (I drove to work but carpooled home because The Teen needed the car), and now I have…

…decided that it’s a good thing I’m not planning on wearing this until October.  I’ve gotten through one ball of yarn so far and I’m currently about 1/4 of the way through the armhole shaping section.

Looking at the photos of the back, I was thinking about adjusting the pattern to make smaller armholes.  Then, while swatching, I was thinking about the wool/silk blend I chose and how it might be a little silly for me to have a sleeveless sweater in this blend.  A better choice for a warm weather top would be something like bamboo, rayon, or cotton.  It would also be nice to have something warm that would also be a little dressy.  I was wearing my enormous hooded sweatshirt at the time (it’s been raining a lot and has been cool but not cold), and while a big baggy sweatshirt is fine for much of my life, it would be nice to have something I could wear going out.  So, to make a warmer top (that would still be not too warm for Hawai’i) and not have to make alterations to the fit, I’m thinking about doing sleeves.  3/4 length at most.  I’m debating as to whether the sleeves should be done as a tube, or split open on the top in keeping with the chiton-inspired look of the top.  I could leave the sleeve tops open from the shoulder to the hem of the sleeve, possibly putting in decorative closures so the sleeves could be worn closed or open. I’ve ordered 5 more balls of yarn for it (I had to order more yarn for the NAOSS anyway…more on that later).

I’ve also been working on a second swatch using #3, #4, and #5 needles, to see if I get a drapier fabric that I like better.  This will mean reworking the pattern if I do change the gauge.  The fun never ends here!