I finally hit the spot where I needed to start the short rows for the straight bottom.

After tons of pondering, “oh yeah, that’s the way to do it” I bit the bullet and just started.  It’s only knitting right?

There were a couple things that made this more complicated than the simple math I thought I’d have to do:

• The hip decreases fell in the oh-so-convenient place that they’re concurrent with the short rows for the bottom.
• The asymmetry means that each side’s short rows go at a different rate

I’ve been trying it on every 6 or so rows to make sure it’s still working.  So far so good.

I think I’m about halfway done so (maybe?) I’m done with the hardest part?

Oh and I’m happy to report that it looks like the color got dark enough at the bottom that the black (not really black, more like an off-black) should match the edge at the end of the short rows.

I can’t believe I’m saying this but I think I’ll be wearing this at Rhinebeck!

I’ll catch you on the purl side.

It’s been over a month since I last worked on her.  I just need to do the hip increases and figure out how to make a straight bottom.

In other words, I still have a chance of getting this done in time for Rhinebeck.

I have to thank Christy for the motivation.  She let me know that she’s almost done with her cabled pullover to wear to Rhinebeck.  Hearing that just made me realize how much I want to wear a handknit on the fairgrounds that Saturday.

I still have a decent amount of work to do, and as I knit doubts creep in over whether this unusual shape will

• look good on my body shape
• fit well

Those doubts make me procrastinate working on Sugar Maple and find excuses to cook, start new projects and *gasp* even clean.

I just need to power through and try to make it work.  The yarn is awesome – hello cashmere – and the colors are SO me.

I’m going to think about the yarn and the colors and knit a bit more.

I’ll catch you on the purl side.

So, I’ve changed my Rhinebeck goals.  I’m going to finish Sugar Maple and then one other project out of the others (not sure which one yet).  It’ll still be more than I’ve ever knitted just for Rhinebeck and I’ll still be able to walk around the fairgrounds on Saturday wearing a top that I made.  Not exactly what I had planned but it’ll still be good.  It’ll still be Rhinebeck with its gorgeous fall foliage and crisp mornings.  I’ll still get a ton of time to hang out with Christy watching DVDs of West Wing and Gilmore Girls.  And of course there will be yarn shopping.

And I’ll do all of this without 2 months of insane stress and anxiety.

I’m mostly ok with this

Are you curious where I’m at with Sugar Maple today?  I haven’t knit since last Sunday so I don’t have a lot of new progress to show you.  I did bind off for the sleeves and got further on the color changes – that was fun!  And starting the waist decreases is always welcome – yay, less stitches!

I’m glad to be seeing new colors, but I’m a bit concerned I’m not going to knit through the entire ball and get to the black.  I envisioned the bottom part of this top being black, but I’m not sure it’s going to get there quickly enough.  The bottom tip of the V is about an inch above my waist right now.  I’m hoping this really eats up yarn!  Either way it’s gorgeous and the cashmere in this yarn makes for a cushy, cozy top.  I won’t be suffering regardless, it’ll just be a bit different than I had envisioned.  Only one way to find out – knit on…

I’ll catch you on the purl side.

I can finally really see a color change!

Oh, and I tried it on and it fits too.  Phew.

Up next is binding off the arms and then lots of straight knitting with a few decs and incs to continue the V.

Now, I have to admit that I’m having my doubts about finishing 4 projects for Rhinebeck.  I worked up a spreadsheet and I need to knit 350 yards per week to make it.  This week I knit 197.   I was in project planning, stopping, measuring and calculating mode so I certainly didn’t knit as much, but that’s also a part of knitting projects.  Plus I’m way behind on other things I enjoy doing – blog reading, Ravelry browsing, flickr stalking and even cooking.   I’m not sure if 4 are even possible at this point.

And yeah, I’m a bit bummed about it.

The good news is I have some time off coming up and plan to get some extra knitting time in, so I’m going to hold off waving the white flag for a couple weeks.

I’ll catch you on the purl side.

And I’m in love. So much so that the anxiety over screwing it up made it so I couldn’t bring myself to CO the day it arrived. Have you ever experienced that?

I finally settled on a size, acquired the right needles and cast on by mid-day Saturday. I’ve only done a few rows but plan to get a lot done today and it looks like I should start to see the pink shade change soon. Exciting! I’m hoping that the color gradations encourage me to knit more. I’ve never done a fingering weight top before but I think this yarn could be the thing to make it a success.

As a reminder, I’m making Sugar Maple.

As for planned mods, I only have 2 right now:

• Vertical bust darts
• A straight hem along the front

I think the bust darts will need to be in the side seam to avoid skewing the look of the biased front. I may play with casting on some additional sts at the armhole too but since this is top down I’ll try it on as I go and decide on the fly.

New KAL!

Andi started a finish it along to encourage us serial cast-on-ers to finish projects too. I counted up my active WIPs and counted 11. I want to get these 4 done before Rhinebeck

• Sugar Maple
• Color Affection
• Moyen Age
• Once Upon a Leaf

That’s 4,100 yards to knit by mid-October – 320 yards per week.  Doable but tight.

If it wasn’t for the KAL I wouldn’t have done the math on how much I needed to knit.  I’m glad I know now.  Thanks, Andi!

If you’re interested, Andi setup a Ravelry group to help KALers with support, encouragement, and maybe even a little tough love.

And with that, please excuse me while I knit knit knit.

I’ll catch you on the purl side.