Trying to knit

I woke up the other morning with my left thumb knuckle swollen, hot & "take your breath away" painful. I spent the day soaking it in hot water whenever possible & wishing for more fingerless gloves - with a stiff barrier around the thumb so it wouldn't get touched!!! Do you KNOW how many times a day you NEED that thumb???? I do. So much for my knitting time!

I decided I need a sweater - NOW! So I dug out Arvik & have been knitting like mad to finish it. Got the sleeves almost long enough & then discovered I don't have enough spun yarn to finish the body! How did that happen???? I guess when I made the sweater a little bigger & put the seed stitch border on it, I forgot that seed stitch takes a lot more yarn than a little garter ribbing. sigh . . . And I'm not happy with the sleeve - which you can't see - that's almost half grey & half black. I think I'll frog it back to the grey & use the black in the body where it won't be such a big block of color. Will Arvik ever get finished - yes. In my lifetime?? Dunno. Maybe I'm trying too hard, maybe I should just make the sleeves shorter & JUST GET IT DONE. Maybe it should have some LACE so it needs less yarn.

I don't want to work on Ginny! With Spring coming, it will be too warm to wear!! the Scheepsjwol Luzerne is a winter yarn. So I dug in the basket & found the Moss Stitch Blazer by Dawn French & Sylvie Soudan that I started eons ago in the Fuchsia Dalesman wool from Birkland Brothers. I bought several skeins each time I went to the store or saw them at the Fibre Fest because it was old stock in colors that couldn't be duplicated. And I bought a LOT of skeins! I found a complete back & two pockets but, I'd never finished the rest. Now, my favorite, ratty old sweater is in the same color & pattern but in acrylic. I've loved it for years & still got compliments until it became so ratty I couldn't wear it in public anymore. I still curl up in that sweater when I'm cold at home. The color in this picture is pretty close to the actual color of the yarn for a change too!!! The cat can't have it until I find something else to wear!!!
So, having made the decision, I cast on for the right front. And I'm knitting as fast as I can. I think this will make a wonderful spring sweater until I can get some more shetland spun up to finish the Arvik sweater.

I even swatched the Briggs & Little Anniversary yarn that I bought for the Carpenter Sweater in the Moss stitch pattern. I think I really like it as well. I was going to knit myself one the Wonderful Wallaby sweaters but again, the Wallaby is really a winter sweater - especially in the heavy B&L. But, the Moss Stitch Blazer has an open front & can be worn as a jacket & might be okay for spring & fall wear. Have to think about it some more - I still have a LOT of the B&L in the Anniversary Blue yarn. Maybe I'll actually get a couple of sweaters for myself this year!!