Getting somewhere...

It is amazing how the last few rows of knitting seem to take forever. It took me three days to finish the double border (those 10 rows of knit or purl) on the body of the sweater:



I'd post a picture of me wearing the sweater, but I don't think I can take a good picture by myself, and my photographer is still sleeping. Let's just say that this is a very shape-enhancing sweater, and it hugs all the right curves. I am somewhat amused by the fact that the model in the magazine wasn't particularly curvy, to say the least; this looks amazing, and much better, on real people.

I am particularly pleased and tickled by the waist cables, and the magic they do pulling the fabric in:



Let me also mention that I am very pleased with the Silky Wool. It feels rough and scratchy at beginning, but it is very even and makes beautiful fabric.

And now for the technical stuff. The pattern says you should end the middle cable with row 30 of the chart, but the sweater in their picture obviously does not; it has one ending 3-3 cable crossing. I like that feature, as I feel it "closes" the last repeat and matches the first 3-3 crossing at the beginning.

Gretchen mentioned the problem of the raglan increases, which do not turn out symmetrical at all. Here is the top part of my sweater:



In the first few rows near the neck you can see the jagged line you get if you follow the directions. In the later rows, I got a smooth line by doing the stockinette increase one stitch earlier than the pattern suggested. You still get the increase, but I think it looks better. I hate frogging, so I left the few ragged lines in place, but I wish I'd realized the problem earlier...

Now, about those sleeves... I have a feeling they will take forever.