I got some snazzy blocking wires for Christmas, which are in place in the picture, even though you can't actually see them. This was the first time I used them. They were really easy to use and my edges are definitely nicer than usual. Although, now that I look at the picture, I'm not sure what's going on with the weird lump on the sleeve...
Since that picture, I've sewn most of the pieces together, and knit the front bands and collar. The bands and collar took forever--I understand that they're wide (4 inches), and that the sweater is hip length (and that I'm tall-ish), but good heavens! I never counted the stitches per row, since I suspected the number would be disheartening, but each row took 15 minutes, and the collar and fronts bands used up HALF a skein of yarn (Schaefer Anne comes in 560 yard skeins, so that's 280 yards)!
I may need another speedy sweater break before I sew up and set in the sleeves.
(I'm thinking about making a tunic/dress out of some purple wool boucle I bought at Thanksgiving... maybe with pleats at the neck, like Manu... but the fact that it's purple worries me. Maybe I also need a break from knitting purple? Also, maybe a dress/tunic is not actually speedy, and I'm just distracted by the prospect of knitting on size 7 needles, rather than sizes 2, 4, and 5 as used in my current projects?)
