Fall Begins

Ugh, why does the camera cord go missing everytime you want to upload pictures?

Anyways, I managed a crazy workaround so that I can show you what I was up to all of October. Knitting a sweater faster than I ever have before. I skipped NaNoSweMo this year because I did it a month early. It was one of those things that just consumed me and I did not knit anything else. I'm blaming the yarn, and the need to feel like fall was upon us even though the weather and the calendar were at odds with one another for this displaced New Englander. I'm calling is my Fall Begins sweater for a couple of reasons. First I cast on on October 10th, which is (in my old world) the beginning of fall, which I completely missed this year. Fall really invoked the homesick chez Science and Craft. Second, I finished on Halloween, which was very weird around here, since kids didn't have to wear jackets over their costumes, but there was a little chill in the air that made me feel like it might eventaully get below 70 here.

Here's the deal:
Pattern: Summer's End free on Ravelry from Overbrewed.
Yarn: Classic Elite Skye Tweed (Rav). color Dungeon (1275), just under 9 balls. Sadly this is the last of my stash of this discontinued yarn. I bought it at Webs 2 years ago with the intention of making a scarf. Why I bought a sweater's worth I don't know, but it was a happy accident in this case.
Needles: US size 7 and 5. I went down a size from the pattern based on my cobblestone swatches, it worked out ok.
Size: Small. This was not the size I initially choose based on my measurements, but when I thought about the number of stitches that I had just used for hub's sweater, and considering the ratio of him to me I went with the small. I compenstated in the chest area with some short rows.
Mods:

• The short rows obviously.
• I lengthed the sleeves to be full length (16" instead of the pattern designated 12").
• I added two rows of garter stitch more than the hems called for, same at the waistband. At the hems because I wanted them to match the button bands. At the waist because I thought it might provide a little more shaping, it didn't.
• 3 button holes instead of four. This was dictated by the buttons I had on hand. 4 would have been overkill.

Thoughts: Overall I'm pretty happy with it. In retrospect I would have added about another inch between the short rows and underarm. But it works ok on.

And here's one more thing, I had another ball of the yarn leftover and I just wasn't done working with it: So I made a little hat. Following this pattern, minus the pom poms and ribbing. I'll never wear the two together, that violates all kinds of fashion and knitting rules, but we did combine the photo shoots :)

Fortunately, it did get a little chilly here over the weekend and I got to wear the hat for all of 10 minutes at a shuttle stop. The sweater made the trip to Utah with me a couple of weeks ago and it saw snow, so I don't yet feel that I have to completely abandon my love for wool!