Challenges in Knitting And Beyond

I really love the idea of an Olympic Challenge. Aside from being a fabulous excuse to sit and watch the actual Games it's nice to challenge yourself.  Maybe the level of difficulty doesn't quite rise to the level of the giant slalom or skeleton (yikes!) or figure skating but a well chosen project that goes a bit beyond what you've done before can be every bit as daunting.



This year I decided to knit a sweater for Miss M as my challenge. It turns out that choosing the pattern was the most difficult part of this knit. It was complicated because I wanted to knit a rainbow and I ordered a set of rainbow yarn that I then tried to match to a pattern. Should the rainbow be at the yoke? Should it be everything but the yoke? Colorwork? You can see the problem.



After weeks of sifting and sorting patterns on Ravelry I finally found Lillian Lucy by Ann Molvik. The simple body was perfectly suited for a rainbow and I loved the sweet ruffles at the cuffs, neck, and bottom. In this case the rainbow was not just bright, it was practically neon, so I tried to balance it with soft grey for the ruffled bits.



This was such an easy knit.  Once I figured out how many inches each stripe ought to be I flew through the knitting on the body. Then came the sleeves and not only did I have to figure out how wide each stripe should be - I had to make sure I had enough of each color.  Because I was so nervous about it I weighed each remaining ball of yarn and kept doing so as I knit the sleeves. In the end I had plenty of each color.



I really love this sweater. It all came together so smoothly that I finished in one week flat. That includes the blocking, the installation of the zipper, and the covering of the inside of the zipper with pretty ribbon. It's a new personal best for me.  I guess I'll have to reach higher next time.